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Post by ChathamAngler on Aug 19, 2019 14:11:47 GMT -5
Hit the pier with my 3, 5 and 14 year olds from 8:00am to 10:30am on Sunday morning. Set up shop before the 2nd restroom. Fished both sides of the road. Outgoing tide, but not too strong and it switched to a slack tide for the last hour or so.
Pulled up a variety of small stuff. Mainly fished live and frozen shrimp, with some frozen squid chunks. Free-lined a few pin fish out to the rock piles but no love. Tried a small pin under the pier as well but no luck with that either.
2 undersized mangrove snapper (live shrimp)
2 baby gag grouper ~11 inches (1 on live shrimp under the pier, 1 on frozen squid out by the rock piles)
1 key west grunt (live shrimp) - fried it up and the kids loved it
1 lizard fish (frozen shrimp)
Way too many pin fish to count, but all 3 of the kids love catching anything.
There was a lot of seaweed floating through the pier and water was a bit brown (cloudy when I dropped a bucket down to get water to keep the pins in).
Also tried throwing a spoon for macks and a pink yo-zuri crystal 3D minnow, but neither got any action (was probably too cloudy to begin with, but my 14 year old wanted to switch it up).
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Post by ChathamAngler on Aug 19, 2019 14:16:48 GMT -5
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Post by phishead on Aug 19, 2019 15:21:31 GMT -5
Pure joy. Nothing is better.
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Post by seabird on Aug 19, 2019 16:17:05 GMT -5
Great family fun, thanks for sharing.
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Post by tears143 on Aug 19, 2019 17:52:58 GMT -5
Awesome fun! I will be heading out there tomorrow and Wednesday. Let see if I can get something  |
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Post by ChathamAngler on Aug 19, 2019 19:57:08 GMT -5
Awesome fun! I will be heading out there tomorrow and Wednesday. Let see if I can get something One of these days I’ll have to learn from the master! |
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Post by shadowxmas on Aug 19, 2019 22:09:04 GMT -5
Chanthamangler,great report and pics of your kids having a great time. Glad they caught some fish. That will keep their enthusiasm up. Having bad fishing days is also good as they can learn from their mistakes and if conditions end up turning bad,maybe being able to turn it around by switching baits/techniques.
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Post by shadowxmas on Aug 19, 2019 22:31:57 GMT -5
Chanthamangler,great report and pics of your kids having a great time. Glad they caught some fish. That will keep their enthusiasm up. Having bad fishing days is also good as they can learn from their mistakes and if conditions end up turning bad,maybe being able to turn it around by switching baits/techniques.
If the pinfish and pigfish are larger than 7 inches they can be good eating. Squirrel fish 7 inches or larger are also good eating. The filets may end up small and require more filets for a meal. Cutting the heads off,gutting and scaling the fish to cook them whole is also good.
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Post by tears143 on Aug 20, 2019 6:35:37 GMT -5
Awesome fun! I will be heading out there tomorrow and Wednesday. Let see if I can get something One of these days I’ll have to learn from the master! Me too |
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Post by phishead on Aug 20, 2019 6:42:08 GMT -5
Chanthamangler,great report and pics of your kids having a great time. Glad they caught some fish. That will keep their enthusiasm up. Having bad fishing days is also good as they can learn from their mistakes and if conditions end up turning bad,maybe being able to turn it around by switching baits/techniques. If the pinfish and pigfish are larger than 7 inches they can be good eating. Squirrel fish 7 inches or larger are also good eating. The filets may end up small and require more filets for a meal. Cutting the heads off,gutting and scaling the fish to cook them whole is also good. I grill all my fish whole if they are 12” or less. Too much meat wasted on a small meal as it is. But with kids that may not be a good idea |
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Post by sigeptrooper02 on Aug 20, 2019 8:11:28 GMT -5
Chanthamangler,great report and pics of your kids having a great time. Glad they caught some fish. That will keep their enthusiasm up. Having bad fishing days is also good as they can learn from their mistakes and if conditions end up turning bad,maybe being able to turn it around by switching baits/techniques. If the pinfish and pigfish are larger than 7 inches they can be good eating. Squirrel fish 7 inches or larger are also good eating. The filets may end up small and require more filets for a meal. Cutting the heads off,gutting and scaling the fish to cook them whole is also good. I grill all my fish whole if they are 12” or less. Too much meat wasted on a small meal as it is. But with kids that may not be a good idea Do you scale them first when you cook them whole? |
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Post by phishead on Aug 20, 2019 9:10:20 GMT -5
I grill all my fish whole if they are 12” or less. Too much meat wasted on a small meal as it is. But with kids that may not be a good idea Do you scale them first when you cook them whole? Heads off, guts out, belly meat off and scales off. I love the crispy skin flavor. Light olive oil and Tony’s seasoning or Everglades. I don’t use seasoning with large herb pieces as they burn and give off bitter taste. |
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Post by carlf on Aug 20, 2019 9:26:47 GMT -5
Nice day with the family!
We bake most "panfish" these days; whole, just remove scales, guts and gills. Lots of meat around and on the heads.
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Post by ChathamAngler on Aug 20, 2019 11:54:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the cooking suggestions. Have not tried cooking any fish whole to be honest. We'll have to give it a shot one of these days soon.
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Post by sigeptrooper02 on Aug 20, 2019 13:57:42 GMT -5
Thanks for the cooking suggestions. Have not tried cooking any fish whole to be honest. We'll have to give it a shot one of these days soon. Yes, definitely appreciate the cooking tips. My whole life I have always filleted my fish, which I admit is not the best method with the smaller fish. I have ordered a de-scaler from amazon. Once I receive I plan to try cooking some of the smaller fish whole, both pan-fried and grilled. |
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Post by carlf on Aug 20, 2019 13:59:15 GMT -5
The best fish scaler i have found are the cheap metal ones from Academy & Walmart. I will see if I can find an image.
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Post by carlf on Aug 20, 2019 14:01:54 GMT -5
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Post by sigeptrooper02 on Aug 20, 2019 14:09:35 GMT -5
That looks exactly like the one I ordered, but the company was called Sea Striker, it was $5.49. I'm glad to hear you like it! |
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Post by phishead on Aug 20, 2019 21:33:20 GMT -5
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Post by phishead on Aug 20, 2019 21:36:09 GMT -5
My next cooking adventure is using banana leaves. I have a few banana plants growing so why not.
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Post by tears143 on Aug 20, 2019 21:48:52 GMT -5
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Post by phishead on Aug 20, 2019 22:17:49 GMT -5
The best fish scaler i have found are the cheap metal ones from Academy & Walmart. I will see if I can find an image. This is favorite. The tapered tip allows to get the hard to reach areas. |
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Post by justfishin2 on Aug 21, 2019 13:23:51 GMT -5
The best fish scaler i have found are the cheap metal ones from Academy & Walmart. I will see if I can find an image. Been using this style of scaler for almost 60 years now, don’t rust cause it’s stainless steel, and if you lose it just go to the kitchen and get another one 🤪  |
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Post by tears143 on Aug 22, 2019 9:08:38 GMT -5
The best fish scaler i have found are the cheap metal ones from Academy & Walmart. I will see if I can find an image. Been using this style of scaler for almost 60 years now, don’t rust cause it’s stainless steel, and if you lose it just go to the kitchen and get another one 🤪 Try the scaler I posted... works really good with fish that has big scale like snapper. |
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Post by ChathamAngler on Aug 22, 2019 13:32:17 GMT -5
Related Question:
Can you fillet fish at the pier and chuck their bodies over the rail? Or do you need to keep the whole fish until you get off the pier (at least all the parts)? Anyone know the regs?
And similarly, when you scale/gut the fish, do you guys do that at the pier and just toss the scales/guts over the rail? Or wait until you get home?
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Post by Mackerelman on Aug 22, 2019 13:42:09 GMT -5
Yes, You can Gut & Clean Fish at the Tables out at each Pier but In My Opinion, I would wait until You get home.
If You ever get stopped, then there are No Questions about Your Catch to answer for. Everything is there.
In the past, I have seen several people cleaning Undersize Fish out there & then they drive off like their Butts are on Fire.
And they escape.
I have known & seen a few instances in which people got caught & had to answer questions.
It wasn't pretty.
The FWC knows when a Fish it too small or questionable after it has been cleaned.
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Post by parkpass on Aug 22, 2019 14:19:59 GMT -5
Water pressure is too low out there, I need high pressure
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Post by SkyJay on Aug 22, 2019 20:44:51 GMT -5
Related Question: Can you fillet fish at the pier and chuck their bodies over the rail? Or do you need to keep the whole fish until you get off the pier (at least all the parts)? Anyone know the regs? And similarly, when you scale/gut the fish, do you guys do that at the pier and just toss the scales/guts over the rail? Or wait until you get home? When you get to court the judge will ask for a show of hands for how many people are in for a Marijuana Citation. Then, he'll ask for a show of hands for Fishing or Boating charges. Then he'll make the following offer to all the dumbasses that got caught doing various stupid shizit: 500 dollars fine and court cost with the option to pay it off in payments for one year. Withhold adjudication. ( that means it doesnt go on your record once you pay it off) this offer is in exchange for your no contest plea, and they dont merge multiple counts/charges. So, its 500 bux per ticket! Ask me how I know 🤓 the law says youre allowed to clean your catch provided all yer gear is put away, and youre not allowed to resume fishin once youve cut yer catch. Otherwise the officer will assume you are just trying to beat the bag limit regs and write you a citation for Reef, or Protected species not in whole condition, and each little fishy is considered a seperate charge. 👀 Thats a pretty expensive chance to take. Another side note that I would add personally is that the pier in my opinion is not the ideal place for food preperation. Theres so much Vibrio Fernificus and other bacteria saturating every square inch of ever 10 million bird turds that have ever been shat on the concrete out there, me personally I would wait till you get home. But thats just me. And for all the folks who are connoisseurs of Catfish, Stingray, Lizardfish, Bonitas, JackCrevalle and whatever other dam thing you manage to snag into, y'all can breathe easy cus these regulations do not apply to you. lol fish on |
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Post by parkpass on Aug 22, 2019 20:57:53 GMT -5
This is good stuff.......
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Post by Mackerelman on Aug 22, 2019 22:28:48 GMT -5
This is good stuff....... That is Exactly how it works. I have known people in the past that have lost their Gear & Vehicles for doing the same thing. Like I said previously & SkyJay just said, I would definitely wait until You get Home to clean Your catch. Only Your Wife & Kids can tell on You then. You can Con Your Wife & Kids but You cannot Con the Law, the FWC & the Cops. Bad Boys, Bad Boys. What You gonna do when they come for You. That is just My Opinion and I am sure that others that knows will share My Opinion.  |
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