Been A While
Bassin Assassin
Posts: 1,271 Officer
Since I posted a report. Been doing some fishing and some catching, but nothing of any size. Anything large that I have had on recently has broken me off or just come unbuttoned. Finally have something worth reporting.
So I hit the LMR around 11am today and fished till dark. Water was low and a little stained. Temps were 62-66 and the wind was blowing pretty hard out of the east. Hit the bridge first and first fish I caught was a 21 1/2" red on a the 4" mullet in space guppy color. After that a small 18" snook. Decided to hop the lure on the bottom for a while and connected with a 21 1/2' black drum..first ever on arti. No more strikes there so up to a point on the river. Nada. Water was still low and contemplated hitting a nearby bay that I have done fairly well in. I am glad I did. Got in there and seeing fish moving. First fish was a good sized jack right at the boat.
Getting near 2pm and working the 3" DOA electric chicken on 10# PP w/ 30# leader. Reeling in and my lure gets crushed. Set the hook and a big fish takes off for deeper water. This fish is peeling line and my drag is screaming. I turn on the tm and begin to chase it. Another couple of surges and the fish comes up shaking its' head. It's a monster snook! I back off on the drag and play it. It seemed like forever and had to be at least 10 minutes. The fish just wouldn't quit. Gain line and she takes off again. Finally get it close and get the net under her. It's in, but she surges and gets out. Another couple of minutes and I finally slip the net under her, drop my rod in the boat and grab the hoop with both hands.She's a slob! After a quick pic and measurement, I get her back in the water. I held her there for a long time to revive her. She was pretty lively from the start and begin kicking immediately. I let her go and she swam slowly under the boat. I stood up and saw her take off. She measured 42".
It is all gravy after that. I ended up catching 7 more small snook, a rat red and a pretty decent red of 23". I lost a number of small snook also. It was a good day.
Final Body Count
Snook - 9 (8 smalls and a 42"er)
Reds - 3 (Rat, 21 1/2" and 23")
Black Drum - 1 (21 1/2")
Jacks - 2 nice sized ones
So I hit the LMR around 11am today and fished till dark. Water was low and a little stained. Temps were 62-66 and the wind was blowing pretty hard out of the east. Hit the bridge first and first fish I caught was a 21 1/2" red on a the 4" mullet in space guppy color. After that a small 18" snook. Decided to hop the lure on the bottom for a while and connected with a 21 1/2' black drum..first ever on arti. No more strikes there so up to a point on the river. Nada. Water was still low and contemplated hitting a nearby bay that I have done fairly well in. I am glad I did. Got in there and seeing fish moving. First fish was a good sized jack right at the boat.
Getting near 2pm and working the 3" DOA electric chicken on 10# PP w/ 30# leader. Reeling in and my lure gets crushed. Set the hook and a big fish takes off for deeper water. This fish is peeling line and my drag is screaming. I turn on the tm and begin to chase it. Another couple of surges and the fish comes up shaking its' head. It's a monster snook! I back off on the drag and play it. It seemed like forever and had to be at least 10 minutes. The fish just wouldn't quit. Gain line and she takes off again. Finally get it close and get the net under her. It's in, but she surges and gets out. Another couple of minutes and I finally slip the net under her, drop my rod in the boat and grab the hoop with both hands.She's a slob! After a quick pic and measurement, I get her back in the water. I held her there for a long time to revive her. She was pretty lively from the start and begin kicking immediately. I let her go and she swam slowly under the boat. I stood up and saw her take off. She measured 42".
It is all gravy after that. I ended up catching 7 more small snook, a rat red and a pretty decent red of 23". I lost a number of small snook also. It was a good day.
Final Body Count
Snook - 9 (8 smalls and a 42"er)
Reds - 3 (Rat, 21 1/2" and 23")
Black Drum - 1 (21 1/2")
Jacks - 2 nice sized ones
Improve Our Fishery - Practice Catch and Release
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Angler Action Program: IAngler app trip log on your phoneYou said you were using a 3" DOA, were you straight retrieving or were you bouncing it off the bottom as you mentioned earlier in the post?
Nice one! Was it caught on top? "If it ain't caught on top, it don't count." How many snook that size have you lost to catch that one? I unfortunately am still paying my dues.
Oh I figured I was done when I didn't get her in the first time. I was sure she was going to get off, slice my leader or the jig head would pop out of her mouth. I approached her from an awkward angle with the net the first time and didn't get the front of her head in first. Quite an adrenaline rush to finally get her completely in the net.
Awesome snook.
17 ft. Ankona Native with 40 hp Suzuki 4 stroke - Skini Rennie
care to show how you do it? Always looking to learn a new trick.
Glad to hear a report from you.
I used to use Gulps when I first started out Harry. I had no clue how to fish for saltwater species so I started with Gulp, which definitely catches fish. Eventually I moved on to soft plastics and small swim baits. My normal bait is the Rip Tide Mullet, but they stopped making that bait in the electric chicken color. I went to ****’s and they were selling the CAL ec in the 50 pak for $15 and it was buy one and get the other half price. Couldn’t pass it up since I want that color in my arsenal. I really like that color, especially in stained/murky water.
After I bought the CALs, I was pulling it through the water right at the boat checking the action. The tail was barely moving at slow speed. That is no bueno. So I was thinking how can I improve that. I thought about the Saltwater Assassin swim bait and how the CAL and that bait have basically the same profile. Besides the size difference, the SA has a narrower section right before the tail. This allows for better tail action. The CAL is pretty thick right before the tail, especially for such a small bait. So I took some scissors and trimmed off a bit of the main body and half of the tail section on the bottom of the bait. It made a big difference and the tail moves from side to side at a much slower retrieval speed, which can be very beneficial when fishing in cold water. This is what the unaltered and altered baits look like side by side.
With the two tone CALs, it is much easier to trim. I just trim off the green part on the bottom right before the tail. The tail action is improved significantly and despite a decrease in the amount of plastic securing the tail, I have not lost a tail when I have caught a fish.
I caught this 30.5 inch snook on the Manatee River yesterday on a similar ec CAL w/ trimmed body. The tail was fine and I was able to use it the rest of the day. So my advice is to trim your CALs. I feel certain that the improved tail action during a slower retrieve will help fish hone in on your bait with their lateral lines, especially in murky/stained water, and put more fish in the boat.
TampaBayKayaker
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When the water is stained or murky, less sunlight penetrates the water and fish are much lighter in color and so are the bait fish. Just like fish coming out of deeper water are much lighter in color. That is why I think this color is effective...at least that's my theory.
They run different specials all the time have to keep a look out. I have yet to see the deal you have found on the website. But they will always have the color your looking for. I have had a lot of great success with the 3" root beer chartreuse shad tails with a red jig head in dirty water. By the way I am not affiliated with DOA. You catching anything good lately?