Had a banner day on the water yesterday March 28th. With my brother in law newly transplanted down here from GA, we had to get his saltwater fishing off to a good start. I knew the Tarpon and Snook had been really active on the West end of the River. I also knew the weather man was calling for showers all day that day. We took a chance and shot out first thing in the morning with my little Gheenoe in tow. We were fishing by about 7 and I had enticed a healthy Snook on a DOA Shrimp by 7:15.
Oh boy, way to start the day! We missed a few fish and decided to move to a little honey hole. I threw on a big super spook and the third cast produced a torpedo like explosion about three twitches past a submerged tree. I cast it out again and nothing. Couple more casts and KABOOM Snook number two, a real dandy!
We kept moving West and started to see a lot of Tarpon rolling and crashing Manhaden. Im talking a crash every minute or so. On more then one occasion we saw Tarpon coming completely out of the water with baitfish only escaping by millimeters. We switched over to Mirrodine XLs. I caught another Snook about the same size as my first one. Then we dialed in the retrieve the Silver Kings desired My B.I.L. (Josh) hooked up first, his Tarpon launched and hack poey, spit the lure. Seconds later it was my turn, perfect hookup! Great little fight, got him to the boat, and as I reached down to unhook him, I got a little surprise.
Im going to break away from my tales of epic fishing stories to eww and ahh you in another way. HORROR! So as I reached down to unhook this evil fish, he gave the perfect head shake and caught me with the other treble hook. I took a deep breath and looked at my finger, I was hooked past the barb, straight into the side of my pointer. OUCH! Even more exciting was the fact that I was still attached to a very well hooked and pissed off 3 1/2 foot Tarpon. We quickly netted him and got him in the boat. As he tried to thrash around, I held him down with my left hand as best I could. This is serious! Can't find the needle nose pliers! My brother from another mother found a backup pair of regular pliers and with some effort unhooked the fish and freed me. I quickly cut my line as Josh nursed the Tarpon back and released it. I took another deep breath and examined the sitchytation. I cussed a few good lines and decided there was only one way to do it. I had to push the hook point up and out so I could clip the barb off. As you may or may not know, barbed hooks don't pull backwards very nicely. We got the camera out and tried documenting this "how to" of sorts but it didn't really go as planned. Josh was so impressed by the seemingly endless collection of rare and sought after filth that I was verbally weaving together, that he unintentionally filmed most of it out of focus.
Here's a screen shot from the video. If you look closely, you can see the hook point, just peeking out.
I pulled and I pushed, I yelled and I hollered. I finally got the point of the hook about halfway out but had the darnedest time popping the barb out. Finally, I popped it out, finally!! I let out a good laugh, phew, we're past the halfway point! Found the needle nose and tried to snip the end off the hook but the pliers didn't have the umph. So, I simply bent the barb down the best I could and then slowly backed her out the way she came. A couple whoops, a splash of fresh water, a couple more whoops, a good chuckle, and I was fishing again. Wow and to even try to image what I would have done if I was by myself! Scary thought! From now on, you'll probably see me using lip grippers and wearing a holstered pair of quality needle nose! Spend enough time on the water and you to might start to get comfortable around hooks. Be careful friends and trust me, its not fun to get hooked past the barb!
Back to fishing :o) We casted a few more times to the Tarpon, a few bumps and misses. We decided we better try to catch dinner before the wind got to strong. By the way I didn't have time to snap a picture of the Tarpon I landed, sorry. I did however take a picture of the one scale he left behind.
We headed East to the nooks and crannies South of Tomoka Bridge. I cast out my trusty gold flake DOA Shrimp and POW, head thrashing mania, a nice keeper trout is on the stringer. The wind picked up pretty heavy and made fishing less fun, we got another nice Trout, thats dinner.
About to head back to the dock and I realized, I was one wish away from a grand slam. Hoooold up Joshy boy, I have just the spot to snag a quick red. We motored about 200 yards North, I cast a gold topwater Rapala into the mouth of a small feeder creek and there it was. He wasn't huge but he was the final piece to that days puzzle. Snapped a pic, set him free, and headed home.
What a horrible yet great day out on the water! Gotta love fishing!
Your Soar fingered friend,
Flip
If you have been thinking about booking a trip, now is the time. This is probably the best time of year to be fishing here in East Central Florida. For more information on my Guided Kayak Fishing trips, visit For Information on my guided kayak fishing trips, please visit www.FishTomoka.com Hope to hear from you soon.
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