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jcanracer
Posts: 4,343 Moderator
Dania Beach 04/06/19 (sorry no pics)
jcanracer
Posts: 4,343 Moderator
Went to Dania Beach last Saturday around 5:30am and saw Ricky and one of his friends setting up their motorized PAs. I launched a few minutes later as I took my time getting my stuff together (I'm very rusty now, takes me a bit of time to get the hang of things again). I used my Hobie Compass this time, it doesn't get as much use as my Revo, but I thought I would give it a shot this time. Launched into flat but breezy conditions.
Couldn't find bait at the pier, seemed like all I could sabiki up was sargassum! With darkness fading I put out a small spoon and pedaled out deeper. Some time later I put out a yozuri and headed for deeper water. Had no fishfinder, so I was going off of memory of pedal-time. There were a few mats of sargassum and I had to clear the lines often, but I did manage to get a hit somewhere in the 100ft depth. I was grateful for the drag scream, but it was short-lived and the fish spit the hook. I cleared the line and made a large circle. I was rewarded with another hookup, this time I landed Bonito #1.
I continued heading out, but with the wind coming from the east I wasn't making much progress. I dropped the jig a few times to see how deep I was. I think I must have been in about 150 when I got a good bite, but it let go of the jig. Judging from the tooth marks, I suspect a kingfish got the jig but not the hook. Oh well. Another few drops produced Bonito #2, bigger than the last one, but not the target species.
I met up with Ricky as he had netted some ballyhoo and offered me two live ones. I was grateful for the bait and tried to stay in the same kingfish depth as he had gotten one just 20 minutes earlier. I started to notice a few things though:
1. the waves were getting up to 2.5ft with occasional 3 footers
2. the compass steers like poop in these conditions
3. I was getting seasick (I blame the drinking the night before)
So I decided to call it a day, trolled the bait back into shore with no more hits to show for it.
Overall a short day, home by noon, nothing to show for it but still happy to get my saltwater fix.
Couldn't find bait at the pier, seemed like all I could sabiki up was sargassum! With darkness fading I put out a small spoon and pedaled out deeper. Some time later I put out a yozuri and headed for deeper water. Had no fishfinder, so I was going off of memory of pedal-time. There were a few mats of sargassum and I had to clear the lines often, but I did manage to get a hit somewhere in the 100ft depth. I was grateful for the drag scream, but it was short-lived and the fish spit the hook. I cleared the line and made a large circle. I was rewarded with another hookup, this time I landed Bonito #1.
I continued heading out, but with the wind coming from the east I wasn't making much progress. I dropped the jig a few times to see how deep I was. I think I must have been in about 150 when I got a good bite, but it let go of the jig. Judging from the tooth marks, I suspect a kingfish got the jig but not the hook. Oh well. Another few drops produced Bonito #2, bigger than the last one, but not the target species.
I met up with Ricky as he had netted some ballyhoo and offered me two live ones. I was grateful for the bait and tried to stay in the same kingfish depth as he had gotten one just 20 minutes earlier. I started to notice a few things though:
1. the waves were getting up to 2.5ft with occasional 3 footers
2. the compass steers like poop in these conditions
3. I was getting seasick (I blame the drinking the night before)
So I decided to call it a day, trolled the bait back into shore with no more hits to show for it.
Overall a short day, home by noon, nothing to show for it but still happy to get my saltwater fix.
Hobie Kayak angler for life!
Replies
Gogs and pilchards seem to work better for drift or kayak speed of trolling.
I know we troll them, but people also troll a variety of other long baits as well. My grandfather was a captain out of Canaveral many years ago and they decided a few years one would use ballyhoo and one would use mullet. There was no discernable difference in catch. So perhaps they just arent what those fish are keying on in that type of habitat there. Do you see many of them schooling in deeper water?