Tropical Storm Beryl gave us in North Florida a nice start toward making up our exceptional deficit in ground and surface water. Just a start, though.
Lots of folks dread and despise ‘nasty’ weather. But these days, lovers of Florida’s waterways regard such events as godsends. In recent years we have come to appreciate any rainfall more than ever.
Good freshwater fishing reports have been scarce here for a long while, but there were sure some nice results as the rainy system approached. A fast-moving barometer often puts fish in an all-out feeding mood, and folks on the water over the weekend say the fish ate with abandon.
Cole Childers fished with Chris Towater and Mike Schoen on one of the smaller lakes near Melrose last Sunday. The atmospheric pressure was falling fast as a squall approached at noon. And that’s when a big fish took the black-and-blue plastic worm Cole cast into deeper, open water. Following a rod-bending battle, the three admired a very large bass.They didn’t take time to weigh the fish, but did measure it at 26 inches before releasing the beauty. The photograph I saw shows a thick, heavy-bodied fish — most likely the first double-digit bigmouth we’ve seen locally in a few weeks.
Fishing with his dad, Mike, young Michael Elliott hauled in the catch of his life Sunday. In an unnamed local lake, the Elliotts were looking for bluegill or shellcracker. For these, they used live worms and light tackle spooled with six-pound line and No. 6 light wire hooks. As it happens once in a while, two baits were taken at once, and neither by the target species.
Mike took one rod and handed 10-year-old Michael the other. The Newberry father-and-son commenced their unexpectedly long battles. Mike’s fish didn’t surrender easily, but he was able to bring it to the net relatively quickly. With this fish in the boat, the accomplished angler was able to coach his son, who carefully played his fish for 15 minutes. In the end, both fish lay in the bottom of their aluminum boat — Mike’s 12-pounder and Michael’s whopping 20-plus pound channel catfish. It’s a good bet that neither generation of Elliott will soon forget that moment.
Tim Jansen, his wife Vicki, and his brother, Tom added to the long list of impressive gulf cobia catches Saturday at Cedar Key. They set out chum while anchored on a grass flat, and before long Vicki tied into a giant ling. Using a medium-sized conventional outfit spooled with 20-pound test monofilament, she fought the powerful fish for a half hour before bringing it to gaff and into their 17-foot Stumpknocker. The 57-inch giant would later weigh 57 pounds.
Sunday, Tammy and Skip Cooper fished live bait near Cedar Key. The Gainesville couple was also looking to tie into a cobia, but when the big bite came, they were in for a surprise. More than 100 yards of braided line disappeared from Tammy’s spool in seconds, and the Coopers knew that this was no cobia.
“It took 15 minutes to see what we had … boy, what a beauty,” Skip said.
Snook are a scarce catch here at any size, and this was a very large one. Once in the boat, Tammy and Skip weighed the whopper with a Boga Grip and worked fast to get the impressive specimen back into the water. After a couple of quick photos, the 32-pound lineside swam off.
The more usual gulf prizes were also in good supply before the rough weather arrived. Last Friday, Bobby and Doreene Gaff, members of the Waccasassa Fishing Club, fished Waccasassa Bay through the outgoing tide. Casting jigs set under Cajun Thunder floats in water five-feet deep, they harvested a beautiful 10-fish combined limit of speckled trout ranging from 18-to-22-inches.
Offshore fishing ahead of the tropical system was apparently just as productive.
Robert Bautochka, Travis Perry and Loren and Troy Nanke fished off Cedar Key last Saturday. On their first spot in water 50-feet deep, live pinfish produced 10 amberjack up to 40-inches long. Soon, they headed to another spot that had produced grouper in the past. Their expectations were met with great action, but only out-of-season gags were present (or interested in their cut bait). At the third stop, the four anglers hit the jackpot. Here, nothing but hungry (and legal) red grouper bit steadily for two hours. Their combined limits filled two 120-quart coolers.
Red snapper season begins today in the Gulf. This will be a short, 40-day season, running through July 10. In-the-know deep water anglers all say that this will be a great opportunity to catch the bright red prizes.
Gary Simpson, a veteran tournament angler, operates Gary's Tackle Box at L & S Auto Trim.
Rain makes for good fishingBy Gary Simpson Gainesville.comMay 31, 2012 1:05 PMTropical Storm Beryl gave us in North Florida a nice start toward making up our exceptional deficit in ground and surface water. Just a start, though.
Lots of folks dread and despise ‘nasty' weather. But these days, lovers of Florida's waterways regard such events as godsends. In recent years we have come to appreciate any rainfall more than ever.
Good freshwater fishing reports have been scarce here for a long while, but there were sure some nice results as the rainy system approached. A fast-moving barometer often puts fish in an all-out feeding mood, and folks on the water over the weekend say the fish ate with abandon.
Cole Childers fished with Chris Towater and Mike Schoen on one of the smaller lakes near Melrose last Sunday. The atmospheric pressure was falling fast as a squall approached at noon. And that's when a big fish took the black-and-blue plastic worm Cole cast into deeper, open water. Following a rod-bending battle, the three admired a very large bass.They didn't take time to weigh the fish, but did measure it at 26 inches before releasing the beauty. The photograph I saw shows a thick, heavy-bodied fish — most likely the first double-digit bigmouth we've seen locally in a few weeks.
Fishing with his dad, Mike, young Michael Elliott hauled in the catch of his life Sunday. In an unnamed local lake, the Elliotts were looking for bluegill or shellcracker. For these, they used live worms and light tackle spooled with six-pound line and No. 6 light wire hooks. As it happens once in a while, two baits were taken at once, and neither by the target species.
Mike took one rod and handed 10-year-old Michael the other. The Newberry father-and-son commenced their unexpectedly long battles. Mike's fish didn't surrender easily, but he was able to bring it to the net relatively quickly. With this fish in the boat, the accomplished angler was able to coach his son, who carefully played his fish for 15 minutes. In the end, both fish lay in the bottom of their aluminum boat — Mike's 12-pounder and Michael's whopping 20-plus pound channel catfish. It's a good bet that neither generation of Elliott will soon forget that moment.
Tim Jansen, his wife Vicki, and his brother, Tom added to the long list of impressive gulf cobia catches Saturday at Cedar Key. They set out chum while anchored on a grass flat, and before long Vicki tied into a giant ling. Using a medium-sized conventional outfit spooled with 20-pound test monofilament, she fought the powerful fish for a half hour before bringing it to gaff and into their 17-foot Stumpknocker. The 57-inch giant would later weigh 57 pounds.
Sunday, Tammy and Skip Cooper fished live bait near Cedar Key. The Gainesville couple was also looking to tie into a cobia, but when the big bite came, they were in for a surprise. More than 100 yards of braided line disappeared from Tammy's spool in seconds, and the Coopers knew that this was no cobia.
“It took 15 minutes to see what we had … boy, what a beauty,” Skip said.
Snook are a scarce catch here at any size, and this was a very large one. Once in the boat, Tammy and Skip weighed the whopper with a Boga Grip and worked fast to get the impressive specimen back into the water. After a couple of quick photos, the 32-pound lineside swam off.
The more usual gulf prizes were also in good supply before the rough weather arrived. Last Friday, Bobby and Doreene Gaff, members of the Waccasassa Fishing Club, fished Waccasassa Bay through the outgoing tide. Casting jigs set under Cajun Thunder floats in water five-feet deep, they harvested a beautiful 10-fish combined limit of speckled trout ranging from 18-to-22-inches.
Offshore fishing ahead of the tropical system was apparently just as productive.
Robert Bautochka, Travis Perry and Loren and Troy Nanke fished off Cedar Key last Saturday. On their first spot in water 50-feet deep, live pinfish produced 10 amberjack up to 40-inches long. Soon, they headed to another spot that had produced grouper in the past. Their expectations were met with great action, but only out-of-season gags were present (or interested in their cut bait). At the third stop, the four anglers hit the jackpot. Here, nothing but hungry (and legal) red grouper bit steadily for two hours. Their combined limits filled two 120-quart coolers.
Red snapper season begins today in the Gulf. This will be a short, 40-day season, running through July 10. In-the-know deep water anglers all say that this will be a great opportunity to catch the bright red prizes.
Gary Simpson, a veteran tournament angler, operates Gary's Tackle Box at L & S Auto Trim.
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