Another Great Day Across the Street

Today was yet another great day for fishing in sunny South Florida. I woke up, looked out the window, and immediately called Arky's Live Bait to ensure they had some live shrimp waiting for me. It was a great day to fish. The temperature was in the 80s, there was a nice breeze, and not a single cloud in the sky. I went over to Arky’s, bought 2 dozen live shrimp, and then prepared to catch fish across the street from my house in a saltwater canal connected to Biscayne Bay. We started off by dropping our shrimp down near the dock into the clear water, and, sure enough we instantly started feeding frenzies. Schools of Snapper, Jacks, Pinfish, and more were fighting for our bait. Less than five minutes after initially putting the baits in the water, Jacob and I doubled up and caught a Mangrove Snapper each. The catching continued as Jacob then caught 2 more Mangroves and a Needlefish by suspending the bait on the surface of the water. I caught 2 Mangroves and a Schoolmaster in the same amount of time. We had our eyes on the Jacks and bigger Snapper, however. Jacob, once he started targeting Jacks, even had a Jack bite his shrimp, but then it spit it out only for a puffer to eat it and get hooked. Jacob then caught a Mangrove Snapper on the next drop. After catching those fish, Jacob went back to the house to bring some bottles of water. Meanwhile, I saw that the school, for the most part, had moved over to another part of the dock while the Jacks were still under me. I dropped the shrimp in front of their faces, and they couldn’t resist it. Two or three Jacks fought over the bait until one took a big bite and I set the hook. It put up a nice fight. Jack Cravalles are considered by many to be the best fighting saltwater fish pound for pound, and I strongly agree. I brought it up just in time for Jacob to see. We unhooked and released the fish. Then Jacob finished off the shrimp by surprisingly catching the only Pinfish of the day. This was surprising because Pinfish had made up around 40-50% of the school and yet we had only caught one all day. That was the last fish of the day, and Jacob and I went home satisfied. It was a great day to be outside catching fish, in late fall where the weather is just right in Miami. Today helped me really appreciate the area in which I live, where beautiful fish that are fun to fight can be caught literally right across the street from my house. Overall I caught 5 fish and Jacob caught 6, with my 9 inch Mangrove Snapper being the biggest fish caught, not including the Jack or Needlefish. We fished for about two hours combined.

Today was great. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving Dock Fishing

It was Thanksgiving, and so I met up with family once again to eat, watch football, and go fishing! My cousin, Nathan, and my brother and I went over to the dock to cast a few lures in hopes of enticing any fish down there. On the second cast, Nathan casted out by the piling, and reeled in his lure.  During the retrieve, we saw a flash in the water, and the line got tight. Fish on! He reeled in while I grabbed the line and pulled the fish onto the dock. We caught it. A nice Jack to start off the day. The fish were there all day under the dock, but we only managed to catch 2 in about 30 minutes combined fishing. One time, I hooked one at the surface, but it came loose. Another time, Jacob and I brought a fish close to the dock, but it then powered under it and broke us off. We caught the second fish by using a white bucktail jig under the dock to imitate an injured baitfish. Overall, we didn't have much time to fish but it was great to be back at it, especially since I hadn't had the time to fish since August.