Decided to head out to Fort Monroe to try to catch some Red Drum for TKAA August Tournament. I headed out around noon at the end of high tide to see if I can catch some on the outgoing. I launched and immediately headed to the docks and try under them. First cast out I got snagged and the current was moving fast. SNAP!!!! There goes my Penn rod on the dock pylons. Damnit!!!! I gather my other rods and put em in the rod pod and cast again. The gulp didn't even have time to hit the bottom when something nearly ripped the rod from my hand. The fish started weaving in and out of the pylons. I got up on side of one and I don't know what happened but splash!!! There I went my first turtle. I still had the rod and fish on the line. Thank goodness the water was chest high. I jumped back in the kayak and kept battling the fish. Mind you, I am only using a Penn Battle 2000 and a mojo bass rod so this fish feels huge. I land it after all that and am rewarded with a nice 18 incher. Sweet first fish of the day.
The rest of the time I spent was slow. I cast my line and was fighting the current the entire time. Not to mention the cold since I was soaked head to toe and the wind decided to pick up. Over the next hour and a half am get into a bunch of small fish.
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| Small 10 inch flounder |
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| Tiny Black Seabass |
I decided to cross back to hit the docks again and start casting a 5 inch swim mullet on a 3.8oz stand up owner jig head. Something was chasing the bunker all around and they were flying out of the water all over. Mind you this was less than 10 yards from the shore. I casted to them and I find out what was chasing them. Cutlass Fish, my first of the year. He was so photogenic so I had to take a few of them, not to mention he was smiling at me.
The tide was started to get really low and I casted a few more times. The 5 inch swim mullet yielded this nice FAT Red Drum. This guy was my fish of the day and hopefully will help out with the tournament. 5 Big Dots and a nice size at 18.25 inches.
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| Nice Dots on this fatty |
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| 18.25 inches |
Last few casts of the day ended up with 5 Spot all above 8 inches. 
Overall I was disappointed that I lost my rod and my hawg trough snapped in two, but the rest of the day and the time on the water was a blast. Hope to see you all on the water.
~~~~ MAKO~~~~
Nice catch dude.
ReplyDeleteNice fish, sorry to hear about your rods, those penn rods are stiff and kinda brittle if theyre bent the wrong angle or twisted. Next hawg trough you get (if you get one) you should shore it up by filling in the back side with the spray on insulating foam that you use for pipes, it strengthens and makes it float.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I need to get some new rods. The Hawg Trough was reinforced with foam. Just have to buy a new one.
DeleteCant go wrong with ugly stiks haha. 30$ and damn near unbreakable... Ive caught more fish on my ugly stiks than my 100$ and up rods, then again im a crap fisherman haha. I do like the penn reels though, for the money. Just not their rods.
Deletenever seen someone take pics of spot on a hawg trough and tiny sea bass before. Are they worth some points or something for a contest?
ReplyDeleteYup, I take the pics for the species. I got 5 species that day. You get points for them and it totals at the end of the month and the monthly totals are added to the year.
DeleteI take pictures of every fish I catch, just a personal record/thing I like to do, but thats just me...
Deletesorry to hear about the rod. thats always a bummer. Couple nice drum though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Man, It just gives me an excuse to buy new toys
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