Searching for Big Trout and Crashing Snook

 

My fishing schedule has diminished over the last few weeks with every day life getting in the way. Who needs to work anyway, oh yes...reality check. When family comes to town and wants to fish it's an easy excuse to push aside the keyboard and pick up the cork handle to get some lines wet. With much excitement I knew I was going kayak fishing, this time with my dad and good friend Danny Cabo. We set off for Fort Pierce, not extremely early, in time to stop for some coffee (my dad's third cup already) and breakfast.

I was hoping to put my dad on some redfish but anything tugging on the other line would make for a good time. On my third cast near some mangroves I fooled a redfish into eating my artificial and that brightened my hopes on putting dad on one. Unfortunately, after searching a few hundred more feet of mangroves nothing came to fruition. Dad started using some squid on the bottom and not long after we saw his rod bow down with ensuing fight, but a fish with venomous spikes near its fins doesn't exactly describe a redfish.

 

 

Danny and I parted off and drifted some flats, and as the wind picked up out of the east it was harder to see the potholes to throw around, so eventually it was just a barrage of blind casts. I had switched over to a highly reflective switch-bait in the dirty and dark water, getting strikes almost immediately from jacks and small trout so I kept throwing with anticipation on the next bite. Not long after, I set the hook into what I thought was another small trout, but boy, was I wrong. Immediately feeling the weight on the other end of the line I played the fish carefully until not long after it came to the surface, thinking it was a snook by the initial sight and length, my opinion quickly changed when I saw spots all along it's back. "It's a monster trout!" I yelled, immediately loosening the drag knowing how brittle their mouths are in combination with the small hooks on the lure. After another minute or so of carefully playing her, I was able to pull her carefully on board and hold her up to the camera. I was psyched!

It seemed like I had lost my fish catching mojo on several previous trips from not pulling up a decent sized fish or even a trout for what I can remember. Catching a nice girl like that definitely boosts your confidence and raises your mojo meter. You know what I'm talking about.

After releasing her the bite slowed down, except for the occasional school of jacks chasing bait on the surface, and with the rising temps and high winds we decided to call it a day.

 

 

 

Non-Paddle craft related; I walked the beach in Stuart one morning before work, hearing that the mullet run had started and I wanted to see for myself. The occasional pod of mullet rode the waves as I walked down the beach and it wasn't that impressive until the later hours of the morning where the mullet schools pushed in and the swing of the tide started the feeding frenzy. At this point in time, every wave carried the striped bait of all sizes with it, from finger to horse mullet. Upon every drop of a wave I could see green tails slapping around the surface and other snooklets chasing bait straight out of the water.

My first three casts resulted in three small snook, up to 24" in length. Ensuing casts every other throw brought in more small snook, until I set the hook on one and it went straight for some near by rocks. Palming the spool and getting her out as quickly as possibly I was able to change the direction of her heading and knew with my 30lb leader one of us was going to be happy within a few short moments. Luckily I was on the winning side of this battle and the hefty slot snook was kind enough for me to setup my mini tripod to take a few quick pictures.

More hits on my artificial presentations resulted in four more break offs due to my light leader that I was using but it was more than a good time! Get out there while the run is still happening and you'll have a great time!