Sight Fishing on the Coast [Archive] - Bodybuilding.com Forums

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bigdan

06-21-2008, 07:24 PM

I dunno if anyone here is into sight fishing on beaches (where you get high up on the beach to avoid spooking the fish and where you can see stuff better - then you cast towards specific fish you see) but I've recently gotten into it. I'm on the S Florida coast and have access to some fairly remote beaches where there aren't a ton of people - this makes sight fishing good because no one is there to spook the fish (but yourself).

While walking up and down the beach today I sighted a huge snook. It was a really fat one... they like to hug the shoreline cruising for baitfish. I paced it and managed to present my lure twice, and it was really interesting as I could see the fish and my lure and I actually saw the fish see my lure and circle towards it. Sadly, it wasn't interested in what it saw and cruised on (probably why it's so big and fat... smart fish :p ).

Anyhow, so I missed out on the big ass snook, but I later found something else interesting. At first I thought it was a snook, but it turned out to be a small shark! It was cruising along the beach just like a snook! It was pretty bizarre to watch the shark swimming along hugging the "lip" where the water goes from about 6" deep to a foot and a half or so (it was low tide). I'd say this fish was 3-4 feet long... probably a nurse shark. There were a couple other fish swimming with it that I couldn't identify. Naturally, I had to try to catch this shark. I tried to do this by pacing the fish and casting ahead of it so I could bring my lure near it without spooking the fish.

My first cast was unsuccessful. I more or less brought the lure on top of the shark but it wasn't going for it. My second cast wasn't successful either because when I threw my lure out I hooked up with another fish! I ended up pulling in a decent sized Senate (it's like a Barracuda... decent eating tho) which I tossed back. Unfortunately by the time I got that fish off the line the shark was long gone... it would have been cool to catch that thing.

Well I doubt a lot of people on here sight fish like me, but if you do I'd like to hear your stories if you have any. Also, I may have got some people interested in it... I must say, it's pretty cool to stalk your prey like a hunter would. Plus, you see a bunch of interesting stuff that you may not have otherwise seen if you are sitting in one spot or are right up on / in the water.

So if you are near a beach, I say bring a rod and give sight fishing a shot... you may catch something cool.

bigdan

06-22-2008, 08:38 PM

Well I went out again today.

It was about 4:30. It was a typical S. Florida summer afternoon. My parents were down at the beach earlier and said things looked great. A receding tide with perfect visibility... a picturesque day.

I had already decided earlier that day that I would test my luck again. As I stepped outside to grab my rod and gear I looked up and saw gray skies. Not a problem, little storms are a common occurrence here. A little passing rain isn't going to keep me from fishing the beach.

There are 2 beaches close to my house. One is a mile away, a straight shot down a road across the intercoastal. It's a fairly popular beach and it will usually draw a decent crowd on the weekends. I opted to head to a beach a couple miles north, on a nature reserve. On a bad day it will feature a fraction of the number of beach goers. On a good day it will be completely deserted. As I pulled up I noticed the wind begin to kick up. The clouds were growing darker. The parking lot of the beach was deserted except for an older woman rushing to get into her car. Awesome.

I get out on the beach and it is an impressive sight. On either side of me, North and South, dark foreboding clouds frame the picturesque blue sky directly ahead of me. I notice a sort of fog to the north. Only it's not fog... but a torrential downpour heading right towards me. I cinch down my straw hat and prepare myself for a beating. I feel like I'm in a field in Braveheart or something, nervously awaiting volley upon volley of deadly arrows. I can see the rain moving quickly across the ocean and pieces of scrub blowing across the sand. There is no turning back now.

I become completely engulfed in the storm. It beats mercilessly upon me and soaks me instantly. Lightning strikes the sea around me and thunder reverberates in my brain. It was actually pretty nasty weather and for a moment I turned to the beach hut/boardwalk next to the parking lot before I remembered my neighbor telling me how a bunch of people died under one of those things during a thunderstorm. Great. Looks like I'm gonna have to stick this one out in the open. I notice a pelican bobbing in the waves, completely tucked into itself. I mimic it's position the best I can. Sand stings my calves and the wind chills my bones.

After a while the rain starts to let up. Dare I cast? A huge bolt of lightening convinces me otherwise. I hold out a bit longer before making my way to the water. The tide is very low. The beach has a series of high and low points creating many sandbars and small channels. In some parts the water is ankle deep for 30 or 40 yards. The water is crystal clear, hauntingly beautiful in the yellow-gray post storm light. I see sand fleas scurrying around for cover and crabs eye me cautiously.

By now things are clearing up. It's still raining softly but I can see bright sky where there was once only gray. I get back up higher on the beach and start to cast. Birds are returning to the water, a great sign... there must be a lot of bait. It's not long before I sight my first fish. In the distance I see schools of bait jumping around. Things are popping. I move higher up on the beach to get a better view and to avoid spooking any potential target. I look for fish and try to cast so that my lure runs into their path. I find that generally, the snook are smart. They turn and follow my bait for a bit before swimming off to greener pastures.

I start experimenting with different lures. Since I'm new to fishing for snook and the season is only now starting to heat up, I haven't had any practice. I started off with some top water lures but they aren't taking them. I switch to a higher contrast diving lure, which generates some interest but ultimately I'm not getting any hits. It's at this moment I see a HUGE shadow a ways out in the water. I've seen a good amount of 2 foot plus fish, but this thing has to be at least 4 feet long. It's a gigantic snook and my pulse races as I fumble with my rod to cast in it's direction. Naturally I miss this fish and don't get so much as a second look, let alone a strike, out of it, but I watched it surface in the shallow water. It's got huge silver scales and large fins... it might have been a tarpon for all I know. I couldn't really tell from where I was standing. All I know for sure, is that it was fuking big.

Well at this point I change my high contrast diver out for something a little more natural. Really, I don't think it will do much because the water is so shallow, but I decided to throw it on because nothing else was working. It's a translucent silver/white diving plug that fades into a green top with a couple of red eyes for character. I found it on the beach last year and figured it was as good as anything else, so into the tackle box it went.

I cast it out and bounce it along the bottom, occasionally stopping and letting it rise a bit giving it a twitch or two. Perhaps it will play the role of a dying fish convincingly... perfect for an opportunistic snook. Well it doesn't take too many casts before it attracts the attention of a small school. I can't see exactly where my lure is due to some wave action but all of a sudden I feel tremendous pressure on the line. I jerk back instinctually to set the hook. A good sized snook is on the other end and it jumps clear out of the water. I can see it's silver belly gleaming in the sun as it crashes down into the waves. A couple seconds later and the pressure is gone... along with my lucky lure. When I reeled everything in it looks like it cut through my leader. Son of a goddamn bitch. The only freaking lure to get a hit and I LOSE it on the first bite. I was pissed. Mostly because I didn't have anything else that resembled that lure and also because I was SO CLOSE to catching a fish. That would have really made my day, especially after seeing literally hundreds of fish up and down the beach.

By this point the wind was dying and my spirits were hurt. Bugs were beginning to nibble on my sandy feet. I was thinking that I might have some similar lures in my tackle box at home, but it was already getting late and I probably wouldn't want to come back out after going all the way home. I put another lure on and did a few token casts as I made my way back to where I started and eventually packed all my stuff up for the day.

The snook got the best of me this time but now I know their game. With the right kind of tackle I am positive that I will bring in some serious fish. I bring my cell phone along with a camera to take pictures. I WILL have my picture with a snook before the summer is over... it's all a matter of time. :)

bigdan

06-23-2008, 06:54 PM

Well thanks to a couple nice comments about my thread I've decided to keep this going... I don't know where I will take this or for how long, but for now I'll just enjoy writing a bit about my fishing "adventures"

After narrowly missing some great fish yesterday I was excited about the prospect of heading back out to the beach today for some more fishing. I was near a Wal-Mart so $30 later I had a half dozen or so new lures. A couple natural colored bombers, a top water finger mullet plug, and a few spoons (I had lost my spoons in previous excursions).

The weather was similar to yesterday. Thankfully I missed the brunt of the storm but when I got out to my spot I found the beach deserted and the skies gray and overcast. Because there was no direct sunlight I was not able to see into the water like I was yesterday. I would be fishing by faith alone unless the cloud cover cleared. The first thing I noticed when I stepped onto the beach were big hooked fins circling a ways out in the water. The fins belonged to massive fish, no doubt tarpon, calmly feeding on whatever they found. At times, you could see their entire backs come out of the water, and their movements were very calm - no thrashing. I tried to cast out to them, but they were beyond my reach... besides I realized the futility of hooking one of these beasts. I'm using 10lb test on a medium action rod. I wouldn't be surprised it one of those fish snapped my pole in half.

So after a couple token casts, I went back to my post high on the beach and started working the shallows. I concentrated on hitting the deeper pockets and working the smaller channels evident in the lowish tide. I remembered that these spots seemed to hold the most Snook - and that's what I'm ultimately after... monster Snook.

For a while I wasn't having much luck and experimented with a couple of my new lures. After a bit I finally got a solid hit and I was able to properly set the hook. The fish fought powerfully and I was excited to have something on the line. It jumped clear out of the water twice and fought all the way to the end. While it was buzzing the line off my reel I thought for a moment that perhaps I had my fabled snook on the other end. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and I pulled in something that I couldn't immediately recognize. At first I thought it was a bluefish, then some sort of baby tarpon, and finally I thought it was a mullet. I still wasn't sure so I took a couple pictures to show my dad. (sorry the pictures are kind of crap, they are all done w/ a camera phone and it was raining :p):

http://hoo.la/f/2yFdN_IMAGE_012.th.jpg (http://hoo.la/v/2yFdN_IMAGE_012.jpg)

In this next shot you can get an idea of the size of the fish... I'd say somewhere between 16-18" but I'm not too good at that sort of thing. Probably weighed a couple pounds.

http://hoo.la/f/TpwcS_IMAGE_014.th.jpg (http://hoo.la/v/TpwcS_IMAGE_014.jpg)

Well upon returning home and consulting a guidebook, I figured out it was a ladyfish... sadly they aren't good eating. Great sport fish tho - I'd take one of those things on any day of the week.

Since I had my camera out, I figured that I might as well snap a couple pictures of the beach I was fishing on. Here is a shot looking north (everything you see is part of a Wildlife Refuge):

http://hoo.la/f/QhzCh_IMAGE_015.th.jpg (http://hoo.la/v/QhzCh_IMAGE_015.jpg)

And here is a shot looking South (there are some scattered beach houses as you move down the coast):

http://hoo.la/f/B1dCh_IMAGE_016.th.jpg (http://hoo.la/v/B1dCh_IMAGE_016.jpg)

You will notice the lack of people... I feel super fortunate to have found a place so isolated... I really feel like some sort of cast away when I'm out here by myself.

Well after that success with the ladyfish I continued to work my way up and down the beach. I made my way towards a bunch of birds on the shore. Birds are always a sure sign of fish and these were no exception. Their strategy is to let the big fish do the work for them. They chill on the beach by the waves and wait for the snook and other predators to run the schools right up towards the birds. The bait will often jump out of the water in a last ditch attempt to survive... often ending up on the sand where the birds simply pick them up for an easy meal.

I was casting into these schools and was getting sporadic hits. I ended up landing another lady fish. At this point I had been out for a while and was completely soaked by the ongoing rain. It was cool to watch the lighting out at sea flashing horizontally across the sky and the occasional gust of wind sent shivers down my spine. Finally, as the sun was setting the rain stopped and in the distance a rainbow emerged on the horizon. I would have tried to grab a picture but at this moment I had run into monster schools of fish - all sorts of fish were jumping out of the water in a total feeding frenzy. I saw what looked to be mackerel, mullet, tarpon, ladyfish, probably some snook, jack, and all sorts of things I couldn't identify. Behind me the sun was setting in a cloudy haze. The sky was a muted orange as if I was involved some sort of beautiful nuclear holocaust.

From there the colors radiated across the ocean and sky covering a full spectrum of pinks, purples, yellows, greens and blues. It was an absolutely beautiful sight and the fact that I was in the middle of a huge feeding frenzy made things damn near perfect. I was getting hits like crazy and pulled in another ladyfish and a small jack crevall before things calmed completely down. Sure I would have loved to have gotten something more exotic, but to be honest, just to be out there catching something was great. I managed to take a picture, which doesn't do anything justice... but if you imagine real hard, you might be able to picture yourself there... soaking wet, reeking of fish, and happier then a pig in ****. ;)

http://hoo.la/f/jjMwe_IMAGE_017.th.jpg (http://hoo.la/v/jjMwe_IMAGE_017.jpg)

TroJon

06-26-2008, 05:42 AM

I'm a big fan of fishing, but here in the uk I don't really fish, tried to take up coarse fishing with my m8, who's dad is a big time angler, and the rules here and stuff, just make it expensive and not that fun.

Down in Malaysia though, some awesome fishing I've done!

Do you ever fish with dead/live bait? In malaysia we use live prawns 4" or so, hooked through the tail end and one through the middle side of the creature so you get a double snag on the beast you're going to land and eat!

bigdan

06-27-2008, 03:27 PM

hey man, I thought I replied to your post the other day, but I guess not. I imagine the fishing in Malaysia is excellent. I know what you are saying - good fishing requires the right place to do it. I've lived in Texas and went to school in Louisiana and I rarely if ever fish there - more trouble then it's worth. Here in Florida, I feel bad it I don't fish. Hopefully you will wind up near some clear water in the near future.

To answer your question, I don't really use much live bait. The kind of fishing I do involves traveling up and down the beach a lot, and it's not really conducive of live bait. I will say that I think live bait is the best if you are looking to catch fish. Occasionally I will sit out in a spot and use live sand fleas for bait. Ideally I should bring a cast net out and go for live bait fish - if you use those your are virtually guaranteed to catch something.

TroJon

06-29-2008, 05:07 AM