I stopped at Bulldogs on 61st and bought dead shrimp and finger mullet. Bulldog is a really nice guy with good bait at fair prices. If you haven't ever visited him stop by. He has good prices on tackle and combos. He also has the cutest cat on 61st St. His cat brought me her toy so I could play fetch with her while Bulldog got my order ready.

The pier opened early at 7am for Martin Luther King holiday. I was there waiting for them to open. I had bait in the water by 7:15. Winds were light with light surf and swells 1-2'. The water went almost flat by late afternoon and the color improved. Water clarity was around 2" and a very sandy green color.

I caught a hardhead around 7:30 and then some whiting. At one point I had 4 rods out and fish on 3 of them. It was fun. Then the bite went dead around 8:30 as Pferox (Jim) arrived. Herbert77060 (Herbert) joined us later in the morning. Bigred64 (Daniel and his wife Mercedes) joined us in the afternoon. We were the TFF Mafia and ruled the pier. OK, so we ruled the pier in MY mind.

Around 11:00 my MH 9' rod took a big hit. I grabbed it and expected a big fight. The fish had drug line off the reel and bent the rod almost in half. I didn't get the fight. I reeled in and then there was a small run that pulled some line off the reel. After the run, I dialed the very loose drag down 2 notches and began to reel in again. I could tell it was something biggish. I was expecting a slot red or maybe a nice keeper drum. I reeled in slow, but easily. As it got near the pier I could see a big red, but I didn't realize how big. Once it got right to the pier it made a small run and fouled my line that was next to me. Jim grabbed the other rod and tried to reel it in and unsnag it. It was too fouled to unsnag. Some strangers came over and grabbed my pier net. They were yelling at me to be careful before it went under the pier and to lift the fish more. That is when I heard a loud SNAP and about 18" of my rod broke off. I grabbed the 30# mono leader and Jim grabbed the 40# mono leader on the other rod. We both hung on and lifted about 12" of the fish out of the water. The "netters" told us they couldn't get the tail. Jim told them "Its a big fish. Get the net deep". He told them only the way that Jim can express it. They did that, got the tail in the net and we pulled the net up. Once onto the pier we measured a 41", 30 lb 1 ounce, bull red. It is my new personal best.



Jim took a few pics of me and the pier crowd took my pic also. I got help lifting the net back over the rail and I lowered the red into the water. It was lethargic and it took me several minutes dunking and dragging it back and forth to get water into the gills. Then it swam off, slow and easy. The netters had changed nets and used a net without any knots in the rope. That is a huge mistake. My hands were almost burned by the rope trying to put the red back into the water. I was tired, sore hands from rope and mono but grinning from ear to ear. Then I got to thinking that maybe we should have gotten the 5' net the pier keeps in the office. A 41" red in a 36" net is a tight fit.



Back to reality, I realized that the rod was really broken. It was my favorite. Jim wanted a new combo so I bought it for him and he traded me the 9' combo for it. I had fished it for a few months and gotten real used to it. It caught a lot of fish. I should not have broken it. I got too excited listening to others instead of following my own instincts. At least, it broke on a big fish and not in a car door.



The bite returned to none or slow. A few hours later Herbert heard his heavy rod behind us bump. He grabbed it and the bend told me he had a big fish. I grabbed the net. He handled the fish like an expert. He let it run while out deep and brought it to the pier exhausted. It was easy to net. He had caught a 34", 22 lb 13 ounce, black drum. We had to take several pics to get Herbert to make a really big smile. The crowd had gathered and everyone wanted a pic of Herbert with his big fish.



As the big drum was laying on the pier a dad and his son were walking out the pier. I told the boy we catch drum like that for bait to catch the really big fish. The kid looked at me like he hoped I was crazy.

We released the drum. Like the red, it took some time to get the fish fully revived. Maybe, the cold water wore them out easier than usual.

Herbert texted the pic to his friends. Soon he was getting text messages asking what kind of fish it was. After explaining to several people, I told him to tell them he caught a PIGGY PERCH. We reclassified the species that easily.

A few hours later we decided to have lunch. I had some turkey bologna and liver sausage in the cooler along with a loaf of bread. Jim gave Mercedes some handy wipes he bought out of surplus a long time ago. She was a good sport about it and made sandwiches for herself and Daniel. We all talked and laughed for a while. Then we broke out the candy and ate M&M's for dessert.



The bite didn't start again until around 14:00. It was a very light bite. Jim downsized from 1/0 to #4 hooks and began to catch whiting. He met the guys fishing next to him and found out they were from Chicago, his home town. They started a whiting contest. Jim got a good head start but they started catching at a good rate. I was still using 1/0 hooks and got some light hits but no hookups. Daniel caught a keeper size whiting to keep him from being skunked for the day.

Around 15:30 Herbert packed up and headed home with only 1 fish for the day. A 34" PIGGY PERCH black drum. At 16:00 Daniel and Mercedes headed home with 1 fish for the day. Jim and I packed up at 18:00. Jim caught a lot of fish for the day.

We gave all our keeper whiting to a kid on the pier. He is a great kid. His grandfather or mother take him fishing 3-4 times a month. He stays so busy fishing all over the pier that he doesn't catch many fish but he is great at gathering fish that others don't want. He left with 4 sting rays and our whiting.

Most of the bite was on dead shrimp. Herbert caught his black drum on pink shrimp Fish Bites. I caught a hardhead and whiting on the same. I caught the bull red on half of a dead shrimp on a Mustad demon perfect circle 1/0 hook. I really like the Mustad demon perfect circle hooks in 1/0, 3/0 and 5/0. We tried crab FishBites, chartreuse shrimp FishBites, salted shrimp, salted squid, dead finger mullet without any success.

Broken rod, sore hands, new personal best. It was a great day.

Heck of a haul. Good job!

Congrats on the PB. We had a fantastic time, sorry about the rod. It was a great time with great people. As I always say on the pier the more the merrier.

Welcome to the "Broken Rod Club".

Nice job fellas....

We definitely had a fun day. Nice people, fish, decent weather.

this is not fair at all! I have been fishing 5 times this year and have YET to catch a single fish! We have fished the surf 3 times this year and none of us have caught a single thing! Used every bait available....



congrats though, good report

Meet us at the pier Sat and will give you some FREE fishing lessons. lol

Thx.

Me and my dad will be there on Saturday too.

We will be at our usual spot unless the fish move. I will be there around 7am and Pferox around 830.

Congrats on the monster bull!

Last couple of weeks started out slow for me, had to hang in there whining about not catching anything until the first dink hit the hook, then all heck broke loose, at least two or three of em after that. lol.

Great pictures! (Except for the broken pole!) Congrats on a PB. Will definitely have to come down and wet a line with y'all.

What an awesome report, Thanks, it was a pleasure to read

Come down and join us sometime. Every trip isn't a personal best or monster fish. But we make up for slow trips with our charm, personality and sense of humor? lol

We are going back again FRIDAY!!!! 4/19.

Going to see if we can do any good in the cold north wind, it being a post front condition, I'm not making any promises, but you never know.