Exotic Fish on the Dania Pier

This fishing trip was definitely one to remember. I went with Danielle and Zaide to Dania Pier from about 4:30 to about 6:00 in the evening. Once we came in, we checked out the bait shop on the pier right before the entrance. I had sabiki rig, a Japanese rig with small hooks on small colorful lures that are attached to one line. I was going to use that, but I figured that some frozen shrimp wouldn't hurt. After all, I had two rods and only one of them had the sabiki rig on. We walked on the pier to the place that we wanted to fish. Not the very end, but where the the sand ends and the seagrass/reef starts. You can see this by looking at the water seeing when it starts to turn darker. We cut the shrimp into very small pieces and put them on the hook. I put the pieces of shrimp on the hook, but it wasn't working too much, and the line was tangled. Things were not looking very good. The sabiki rig was not working, and the lines were tangled and it took us about a half an hour to finally get settled. Dani then came up with an idea. The sabiki rig is meant to be just put in the water with no bait on the hooks and to be pulled up and down very slowly. Dani thought that if the the fish aren't biting it, then we should try to put small pieces of shrimp on the hooks and seeing if that works. I agreed, put the shrimp on, and dropped the rig in the water. Just then, birds came to steal the shrimp. I gave the pole to Dani and I shooed away the birds. Since Dani was holding two rods, she had to give the rod with the sabiki rig to me because a fish was on! She put her rod aside and helped me reel it in. Soon we saw a big, white thing on the rig. It was a fish! We got it higher and onto the pier! It was a Redband Parrotfish! A very good sized parrotfish on the sabiki rig with shrimp to start the day! I unhooked the fish and threw it back. The line was tangled, so Zaide worked on the line. Soon enough, he untangled the line and I put bait on the hooks. I dropped it again and waited for a bite. Soon enough I felt nibbles, then the rod tip dropped and the line was moving. Fish on! I reeled it in and I caught a Smooth Trunkfish! A Trunkfish is an exotic fish in the shape of a box (also called boxfish). What an interesting catch! I rebated the hooks on the sabiki rig and dropped it down again. I felt a tug, so I reeled in. The line was somehow stuck on the piling of the pier. I tugged at the line and it became free from the piling. But, I still felt a bite. I reeled in, and sure enough, I caught a Black Margate. A Black Margate is a type of reef fish found in South Florida, and this was my first one. An exciting catch. Because my hooks were stuck on the piling, it took off the sinker. Zaide and I went back to the store and bought two pyramid sinkers and two bank sinkers, both 2 OZ. I tied on another pyramid sinker and dropped the rig down. The sun was starting to set and you could see the cruise ships leaving the Port of Miami. This was an awesome day on the water, but it was not done yet. Just then, I felt a tug on the shrimp on my other rod with the egg sinker and hook, and the fish was on. I reeled in, and caught the last fish of the day. It was a Doctorfish, a type of Tang! What a great way to end a great day full of exotic fish, milestones, and Miami ocean and sunset scenery.

Tips and Tricks that I have learned:

• Sabiki rigs work, and if not, try putting small pieces of bait on it.

• The Dania pier is a nice place in Miami to catch cool, exotic fish on the ocean to get a nice breeze with awesome views.

Stay tuned, new fishing tips, tricks, and trips coming soon!

Tough Tilapia Luck

Today, I went fishing in the C-8 Canal in Miami again. This time, it was with Ben and my friend, Thomas. We went to the ledge and looked down. A whole school of tilapia and Cichlids were passing by. I put a piece of bread on the hook, and we dropped the lines down. Once we dropped it down, the fish started to nibble. Then, a big Tilapia came and opened its big mouth and sucked the whole piece of bread in one bite. I realized that my hook was in that piece, and started to slowly reel and pull up. Then, the rod started to bend and the fish went crazy. FISH ON!!! It started to take the line off of reel and made that beautiful fishing sound, EERRRREERERRRERERRR! I managed to reel it up to the ledge, and I was about to puck the fish up. But, just then, the line got caught in the wood and when the fish turned it snapped the line. Remember, according to the IGFA fishing rules, if the fish comes close enough to the structure that you are fishing off of, it is a catch. But, nothing feels better when you get to bring the fish up and truly win the battle. I tied on a new hook, put another slip shot sinker on, put the bread on, and dropped my hook in the school again. The fish came in and were nibbling at it. This time, a Cichlid came and gulped up my bait. Instantly, the reel started screaming and the line ran off the reel with the drag. The strong fish swam franticly and made it hard to reel in. Finally, I tried to reel it in and get it up, and the line broke. I lost the fish. I have yet to bring up a cichlid or a tilapia from the canal. I will soon, I hope.

What I learned from this trip:

• As pressuring as it is to finally bring up the fish at the end of a fight, you need to keep calm and be wary of what your doing and be patient, or you will make mistakes.

• Cichlid and Tilapia are very feisty and put up a fight. Be sure to tie on your hook very tight and maybe have a bigger line pound test. Come prepared when fishing a canal here in Miami.

Stay tuned! More fishing tips, tricks, and trips soon.

South Florida Canal Fishing

For this trip I went fishing with some of my friends at school. We went in one of the locally-known brackish water canals in south florida. Freshwater fish such as Peacock Bass, Largemouth Bass, Tilapia, and Ciclid can be found in these canals, along with saltwater fish such as snook, tarpon, and the occasional Jack. It was a cloudy, gloomy day, but that did not stop us. Two of my friends, Ben and Santi, found a spot near the weeds where we figured the fish might be. We got some bread and ripped it up into a few pieces. First, we dropped the bread in and no fish bit it. We were walking and casting in all different places trying to find the elusive fish. Finally, I dropped my piece of bread under some weeds, and sure enough, I some a school of Cichlids and an Oscar nibbling at my bait. I called Santi and Ben over, and tried to snag the pesky fish. We felt the tugs, but the Ciclid would not bite. I decided that the pieces that I ripped for myself were way too big. I ripped smaller pieces that just fit on the hook, then tried again. It worked! The fish nibbled and took the bait on my hook! But, when I reeled it in enough, I had found out that the Cichlid had not been hooked very well and it fell off when it came very close. If I had set the hook more properly, I would have brought the fish up. It's still a catch though! We tried more, but the fish were too hard to hook. Maybe I should try a smaller hook this time with a shorter shaft. Stay tuned! More posts coming soon!

How to Tie on a Hook

When fishing, you need a tight knot on the hook to make sure it does not slip off. This is a good way of tying the hook on. I learned it from the Mucho K, and I use use it all the time.

Pinfish Day

Today Jacob, Danielle, and I went across the street to the canal to go fishing. We used shrimp and chicken for bait. We caught lots of fish today, especially pinfish. First, Jacob dropped his line in the water, and sure enough, a pinfish bit the hook immediately. That was the first catch of the day! Next, I caught pinfish with chicken and so did Dani. I decided to put a whole shrimp on my hook to try to bring a swarm of fish. It worked, and a school of pinfish and mangrove snappers surrounded the bait. Then I felt a tug. I reeled in, and it was a mangrove snapper, the only one of the day! We caught some more pinfish, until Dani had a needle fish on. It was really fast! Dani and I pulled it in, and we caught it! Our first needlefish! Unfortunately, once we brought it up, it fell off the hook so I could not get any pictures. At the end of the day, We had caught 11 fish in total, Dani had 5 fish, all pinfish and the needle fish with me, Jacob had 4 fish, all pinfish, and I had three fish, a pinfish, mangrove snapper, and the needlefish that Dani and I caught together. Stay tuned! More posts coming soon!

Ocala Fishing

For this trip I am with my friends up in Ocala national forest in north-central Florida. We are on a trip to visit salt springs, and go fish while we are there. We went fishing with pepperoni at a grass area on the banks of a river flowing into Lake George. At first, we were using plastic lures. We were not getting any bites, so I threw in a piece of pepperoni to see if the fish would bite that. The water was very clear but had lots of shadows. After about 5 minutes of staring carefully at the pepperoni, I saw it jerk from side to side. "The fish are here and they are eating the pepperoni!" I told Davis to cut off the soft plastic and to bring me a hook. I tied it on and put on the pepperoni. Davis told me the right place to cast, according to where the fish are. I cast it out, and waited. The fish were starting to bite. Davis told me to be patient and not to try to set the hook. I was getting anxious. Finally, the bobber went down. Fish on! We helped each other reel it in. We caught it! A nice sunfish! Soon, my friend Cody had a big tug on his plastic bait! It was a bass! He tried to reel it in, but the shoal bass got off the hook. Later, the same thing happened. That was it for the day, but we had a fun time catching the sunfish and fighting the shoal bass.

Stay tuned! More fishing trips, tips, and tricks coming soon!

If You Have Any Questions...

If you have any questions about my posts, for fishing techniques, or anything else relate to fishing, please feel free to comment a question and I will answer back as soon as possible.

Friday Fishing Frenzy

This fishing trip was incredible. I went to my friend, Austen's house to fish with him and Davis. We went fishing in the canal. It was a Friday after school, and we had just made the plan. It was a clear, breezy day, which was surprising considering that the whole week had been gloomy and rainy. When we got to the dock, we saw that it was really low tide. We were discouraged, but we didn't know what was coming. I brought chicken and garlic to use as bait. Fish started coming as soon as I dropped the bait in the water. First, Austen and I started to catch puffers and in 8 minutes, we had already caught 6 fish! Davis caught a pin fish, the first pin of the day!  We kept on catching fish. Every time one of us dropped the bait, a big school of mangrove snapper, pinfish, and grunts would fight over the bait! We found some pots or holes in the ground where the fish would pile up. We would cast there and catch fish. It was amazing! We were running out of bait when we had already caught 20 fish! This had been a successful day, but it was not over yet, we dropped some bait, and we got a toadfish, a type of sandfish! It came out of nowhere. We saw how it blended in with rock and plants on the bottom. We had caught what I call the super slam of the saltwater canals here near Miami, Fl. Grand slams are when you catch a group of three fish in one day specific to that area. It is a super slam if you catch another species of fish along with the three. I have a few in my fishing goal list. I would say that the three fish in the grand slam would be the puffer, Toadfish, and pinfish/or grunt/or sailors choice-and add a mangrove snapper for the super slam. We had caught the super slam! We ended the day with a total of 23 fish caught, 15 caught by me, 7 caught by Austen, and 1 caught by Davis. The most fish I had caught personally in a day were 22 on Pier 60 in Clearwater. All of us together had beaten that record by one! I on the other hand had caught 15. A lot of fish! Stay tuned! More posts coming soon!

The Mangrove Snapper Trip

Today I went fishing with Jacob and Zaide. We went fishing for Mangrove Snapper across the street, but we caught many more fish. We bought shrimp to use because I found out after last time fishing in the saltwater canal next to biscayne bay that they like fresh or live shrimp, not old hot dogs and chicken with garlic. I cut them into pieces and dropped them in the water. I saw a mangrove snapper come and nibble at Jacob's and my bait. It kept on taking the bait away. I cut a smaller piece and tried again. Sure enough, the snapper took my bait. It took off away from me once I hooked it, but I reeled it in. I caught the mangrove snapper. Jacob then was determined to catch a fish. He caught a blue striped grunt, AKA sailor’s choice. We kept on fishing, and Jacob caught another Sailors Choice! I then dropped the shrimp in, and waited. Little fish were nibbling, but nothing big. Out of nowhere, a puffer fish came and bit the hook. I reeled it in and caught it! Jacob finished the day by catching a puffer, too. This was a very fun day to fish, and I am very happy to have fought the mangrove snapper, which always goes away once I put the bait in the water. Stay tuned! Posts coming soon!

Tuna Fishing

      Today was an interesting yet disappointing day. I went to Newport Beach at 4:30 in the morning because we were there for the 3/4 day boat, Patriot, Which caught a variety of fish that I would like to catch. Instead they put us on a boat called the Western Pride, and they didn't tell us why until after the boat came back to the dock. It was because the Patriot was already booked as a charter for that day, so they put us on a three quarter day boat which went for 200 lb bluefin tuna. We probably would have chosen one of the half day trips and some money back (since we booked online and half day trips cost less).

      I went fishing today with Dod Shlome. We have been talking about going on a 3/4 extended (12 hours) fishing trip to catch big fish. We boarded the boat at 6 AM and got going. We stopped at a live bait platform like in San Pedro, but nobody would use the sardines. We would all use lures and cast them out for a feeding frenzy. On the way there, one of the crew members called everyone in to have a seminar on bluefin tuna fishing. The first words he said were: "You didn't think we would be catching bass, did you?" Calico bass is the first fish I caught at the Santa Monica pier. The crew member told us about how big bluefin tuna are, up to 250 lb, and how they would be the fight of a lifetime. One of the crew members told me that a man once died while fighting with these fish because he was under so much pressure and adrenaline. The fish was landed by his friend who was also on the boat. He told us how we would have to look for "foaming" in the water. Foaming is when the water at the surface looks white because of the bubbles caused by waves of the tuna eating sardine bait schools from the bottom and chasing them to the top as they jump to catch the small fish, and birds diving down in the water to catch some. We would have to cast the lure into the center of the waves, wait, then reel in very fast. The crew member told us that bluefin tuna fishing in Southern California is rarely as good as it is this summer. All of these made me excited for the trip.  When we went outside again, we saw a grey whale and dolphins. We had seen a seal at the live bait platform. After waiting for about 2 1/2 hours, we saw foaming and called it out. We drove to it and cast out are lines. It was hectic!

       But, alas, we caught nothing and the school of tuna went away. This happened multiple times. Once, when we were driving, we saw a huge amount of foaming in the distance! We drove there as fast as we could and we did just what the crew member told us. We all wanted somebody on the boat to catch a tuna. The closest we came to catching one was when a tuna came and chased someone's line he might have caught the fish, if he hadn't reeled in too fast for the swift tuna. We ended up leaving with no fish, but the other boats did. As I said earlier, this trip was interesting yet disappointing day. I was happy that I got to experience tuna fishing, especially for the occasional bluefin in Southern California. I got to see a seal, a whale, and dolphins, and how "foaming" works. It was a good trip, but not what I signed up for or wanted.

Tips and tricks for the day:

Newport landing and Davy's Locker fishing trips are not too trusty, and research on what exactly every boat does and what you want to do before and after you book.

Tuna fishing is an interesting experience and can have you fighting the fight of a lifetime if you hook on.

Stay tuned! More posts coming soon!

22nd Street Sportfishing

        Today, I went fishing off a boat in San Pedro, CA. It is called the Monte Carlo, a boat made for half day trips for the 22nd street sportfishing buisiness. They have trips from 6-12 and 12:30-6. I took the second trip.

        I woke up today ready to fish. I had a good night's sleep thinking about where to fish. That morning, we thought to do something different. We looked up party boats that we could fish off of. We finally found one that we liked. 22nd street Sportfishing! My mom, Doda Annette, Jacob, and I booked the trip, got ready, and hit the road.

        When we got there, we bought the rods, hooks, and sinkers separately and then got on board. You have to set the rods up by yourself. Soon after the boat started to move, we docked right next to a structure on the water. It was a bait shop right in the harbor! The bait that we got was paid for by the boat. We saw seals jumping and diving around the shop while we were waiting. Once we got all of our bait, which was sardines, mackerel, cut squid, and other live bait fish. We set out to pass a lighthouse and go into the ocean.

       About 50 minutes passed before we got to our fishing spot, a place to catch sandads and sculpin. They have open tanks of the live bait and pieces of cut squid in the back of the boat for anyone to take. We used squid and small sardines to start. The first fish bit the hook. Doda Annette and I switched off reeling in the fish. We caught it! A sanddab! A sanddab is a flounder type fish, but smaller. It is a good fish to eat. Everyone on the boat seemed to catch a fish. We kept on catching sanddabs, but every one was catching a mix of sandads and sculpin. The person next to us caught lots of sculpin one after another. He was using a lure that had a lead tip which made the lure stay flat at the bottom. He also had a piece of squid on the hook. One time, we had a strong tug. Fish on! We reeled in as hard as we could, and we caught it! A sculpin! It was our only one of the day. Jacob caught some sanddabs. One was the biggest fish that he had ever caught!

       Since it was a successful spot we didn't move from it until near the end. Then we moved to a spot where people could catch sand bass and barracuda. Some people caught the sea bass', but most of the catches were barracudas. The barracuda is a fish on my list of fish to catch or fishing accomplishments. It was the first fish that I put on the list. I was excited and ready to catch one. I hooked a bait fish and dropped it down. After waiting for a bit, I felt a tug. The rod bent. I pulled up my rod to set the hook and....

       I missed. It was too late. I reeled up to see what happened, and I saw bite marks on the baitfish and its face was bitten into. I quickly put on a new fish, but no bite came my chance for catching one today was gone. Next time. There are barracudas in Miami too. I'll catch one someday.

       Today was a very productive day. We caught 12 fish total, 11 sanddabs and 1 sculpin. I caught or helped to catch 10 fish, and Jacob 4. I got to learn about catching barracuda. Today was a fun day of fishing.

Tips and tricks I learned today:

22nd street sportfishing is a good fishing service in San Pedro, CA, south of Los Angeles. The half day trips on the Monte Carlo take you to places to catch sculpin, sanddabs, sand bass, and barracudas. You can use live bait and/ or cut squid as bait. You set up the rods that you buy separate along with the sinkers and hooks.

A lead tipped lure can keep the lure flat and suspended over the bottom of the ocean.

When fishing for barracuda, be patient. Be ready to set the hook when the fish bites.