3/11 Fort Desoto gulf pier

[wiscojigpitch]

Having only once experienced the bay pier we were not prepared for the current and waves rolling through the gulf pier. We were inadequately set up with 3/8 goofy jigs and were struggling to maintain bottom contact. There was a local throwing a sibiki with a large pyramid weight and catching Spanish Mack’s two at a time mostly undersized. He did land a large 18” plus Mack and the largest pompano I have seen in my short time fishing the gulf coast. I was lucky to have a sibiki in my small tackle box so I cut it in half and rigged our poles with two goofy jigs on the bottom of the line with a couple sibiki trailers up the leader. We managed to catch a lizard fish, two pins and a lady. All in all not bad for two novices who showed up with the wrong tackle and only had an hour to fish. I did see a pile of toadfish on the shore, I’m not sure if that had any correlation with red tide? Sorry if the pics show up sideways, I’m not very techy!!!

[tears143]

Throw the pompano jig behind the piling, the current is slower and you can jig with the 3/8 that way when you don't have anything that is heavier. Also beginning of the pier usually the current is slower than the middle and end.

[tears143]

Oh yeah what tide was it when you were fishing at gulf pier?

[wiscojigpitch]

I didn’t pay close attention as it was our only opportunity to fish. We were there from 2:30-4pm and most everyone was fishing the south side of the pier.

[seabird]

Did you have any luck on the party boat you were planning on taking?

[wiscojigpitch]

We had an absolute blast on the party boat!! We went out of tarpon springs on the two George’s party boat with dolphin deep sea fishing. It was a full day charter 8am-4pm. There was a front predicted to come through but the day started pretty calm. When we got past antclote key island the swells picked up considerably but the ride was fairly smooth going out. The deckhands stated that it was a much tougher bite than typical but we didn’t have huge expectations so we were very happy with our catch. I was annoyed at first because they were throwing our grunts back that were bigger or equal to the size we had kept out of a party boat in Clearwater a few years ago but as it turned out the average size was much larger out of tarpon. For me the money spent is worth the ride to and from the fishing grounds. Experiencing the intensity of shoulder to shoulder max efficiency fishing. Avoiding tangles while trying to keep your line as vertical as possible. Trying to get every second of fishing in before the next move all while getting rocked to and fro from the ocean swells. I love it!! The catch is a bonus. I believe we took 15 good size grunts home. I caught my first red grouper and a big puffer as well. My wife actually outfished my dad and I so that made the trip as well.

[wiscojigpitch]

I forgot to add, the wind picked up as the day went on. I am not necessarily an accurate judge but I would say swells may have hit the 4-5’ mark. People were laying on the floor in the center dining area green and miserable. To walk 20 feet to a booth my wife had reserved before we set off was almost impossible. I slammed into a guy. One step forward and then slammed into another opposite of him and finally dove into our seat. It was an intense experience but one I will never forget!