Ft. DeSoto 3.11.19 Hopeful signs..

[seabird]

I went fishing with shadowxmas at Fort DeSoto. We fished from 10 am to 1 pm at the small pier. I landed a 14.5 inch mack on a silver cordell spoon on the outgoing tide. We also got a lot of snake/lizard fish. We must have seen millions of small baitfish in the very clear water. Big schools of them. There was fog out there until almost noon...and the fog began to come back around 530pm. Oddly enough, no one else caught a mack or a pompano. I did have another decent sized mack hit but it slipped off the hook.

We took a break when tide slacked and then started to come in. We then fished the Gulf pier for half an hour. Tide was really strong incoming. I lost a sabiki rig when a big fish broke my line. Reports from that pier for most part not good but we did see a lady cleaning lots of whiting and a few others with sheephead. No one from what we heard caught any mackerel there either.

We tried a couple of other spots at the park and I managed to get a nice fat 9 inch spot tail pinfish. From the signs we saw, good fishing may well start tomorrow. I plan an outing tomorrow as well.

[sigeptrooper02]

Did you eat that pinfish?

[seabird]

Mar 12, 2019 7:40:44 GMT -5 sigeptrooper02 said:

Did you eat that pinfish?

Yes, I will. Spot tails are good,less bony than regular pin fish. Did you keep one of the sharks you landed at Madeira Beach? Shark is real good.

[seabird]

I went out for a shorter time at the smaller pier today the 12th, from 930 to 12 noon. Skies were cloudy and the winds had shifted to the NE and it seemed a bit cooler. Wonder if a cool front slipped in.

The fishing was very slow. No macks or pompano at all. Less bait and they were deeper. All I got on the spoon was a few snakefish and a leather jack. Got a couple of pinfish for bait but no takers on those.

Note: I checked Bay news 9 weather later and they said a cool front was moving here this morning. No wonder the bite was off!

[sigeptrooper02]

Mar 12, 2019 14:32:48 GMT -5 seabird said:

Mar 12, 2019 7:40:44 GMT -5 sigeptrooper02 said:

Did you eat that pinfish?

Yes, I will. Spot tails are good,less bony than regular pin fish. Did you keep one of the sharks you landed at Madeira Beach? Shark is real good.

I did not keep the sharks, I rarely do. Once last year I kept one. - if you keep them, bleed out then ice immediately. When you get home cut into steaks and then soak in milk for several hours. Then marinate and throw on the grill - tastes like chicken!

[seabird]

I kept 2 I caught last December at Ft. Desoto on separate days. A blacktip and a bonnet head. The blacktip was better. We are only allowed (good rule) to take 1 per day. Bonnet heads are a relatively common shark. I clean and bleed them soon after landing, then ice them right away. I marinate the meat as well. Very good taste and no bones!

[seabird]

Note: Given the reports from SSP for past 2 days, would have been better off fishing there. versus Ft. DeSoto.