It’s that time of year I where sort through all the carnage from the spring and summer, service the boat, take a deep breath and just regroup. I still fish but the fall/winter just seems more relaxed.
What broke: VHF radio, Rig Hook, Bait well fill pump, Live well recirc pump, Two lockable hatches, two starting batteries, grapple anchor, and keyed start switch. Fried drags on two older Penn 209s. Lost Penn 309 on new Saltist rod over the side due to inattentiveness and a monster bite.
What worked: Drifting shell. For me, this was the spring/summer of the speckled trout. Windy condition limited our fishing area which actually may have helped us. We found a few areas that would start the day reasonably clean and them muddy up with the wind. We could catch near limits of good sized trout before then. Simple worked best. Shrimp under a popping cork then grind away.
What worked: Daiwa Sealine SHA. Awesome performance started with big drum in spring, finished with kings, ling and snapper. Perfect. I will by more. I wish they made one with a levelwind.
What worked: Ribbon fish under a balloon. Always produced in late summer. Lots of kings, a few ling, even a barracuda or two.
What worked: Staying flexible. We slammed the fish several times on our second and third choice locations when our best plans failed.
Lessons learned: You can never have enough dead shrimp. Rod leashes are a good idea especially when everyone is using your rods. Big ladyfish make great cut snapper bait. A 60 lb drum on 50lb test with the line wrapped around the roller tip can be a problem. Puppy drum can suck a dead shrimp off a circle hook and never get hooked.
And finally,iIt's a long limp back from the rigs with the Mercury in protection mode.
Edited by A draper (11/15/11 05:47 PM)
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