Great Fishing at Orange Lake Resort

           I was just on a trip to Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, and of course, I had to fish. There are many lakes at the resort, and this time I tried two of them. I caught some cool fish and even learned some tips and tricks for next time. For both of these trips, I went with my brother, Jacob and we used hot dogs as bait.

Lake 1:

           The first lake I tried out was the one that I had fished at last time I had been at Orange Lake Resort. We remembered what we had learned from last time, with the help of Barry. We held the line close to the rod in order to feel the nibbles easier, which ended up helping us. We started out optimistic and ready to catch many fish. It was slow at first, but we finally had a bite after about 15-20 minutes. I caught a bluegill! Our first fish of the trip. We were fishing for a bit longer, and then had a much stronger bite. The line was losing its slack, so I reeled in and set the hook. Instantly after starting the fight, I could tell that I was fighting a big fish. Jacob and I ended up reeling in a big Bowfin! That was a new, and unexpected fish for us. The Bowfin was huge and was above average for its species. Son after, I was reeling in my bait when I saw a catfish chasing it. I knew that I was about to catch one. Sure enough, I had a catfish bite on my next cast! Jacob and I reeled in and caught it! It had put up another good fight. Upon seeing the fish and its distinct spots, I could tell that it was a Brown Bullhead. We were excited to have caught our third fish, and we let it go. Before we left the lake, I caught a sunfish. The 4 fish we had caught that day were awesome and kept our hopes up for the next day. Day 1 was a great day for fishing, but we weren’t done.

Lake 2:

           The next day, at another lake, Jacob and I went fishing again with the rest of the hot dogs that we had as bait. It was a bigger lake, and the edges of it had some weeds that could snag our line. We decided to drop our bait in a cleared spot with no weeds in it, hoping to catch the Bluegill that were frequently swimming in the area. We could see the fish there because the water here was very clear. For a while, the blugill were not taking our bait. I decided to rip off some small pieces of the hot dogs and throw them out as chum. Before long, 5 bluegill were in the area and crowding our baits. Soon after, Jacob has a fish on and reeled up his bluegill! Our first fish of the day! We kept on throwing out chum and more baited hooks for a while, and we had some nibbles, but we didn't have any bites. We were about to leave, so we decided to drop the line one more time. Some fish were crowding around, but then I had felt a nice tug. I had another bluegill bite! I reeled up our second fish of the day and the sixth of the trip. It was also the last of the trip. Before we left, something unexpected happened, that left me curious. A Largemouth Bass, which normally does not try to eat hot dogs, came to crowd of bluegill and even ate my hot dog! I tried to set the hook, but alas, I was too late. This left me very surprised. Although we had a great trip, Jacob and I left thinking about that Largemouth Bass.

Overall, our six fish on two lakes were very fun to catch. Our biggest were the Bowfin and the Catfish, the Bowfin being a new species for me. I will definitely be fishing the next time I'm at these lakes.

Stay tuned! More fishing trips coming up soon. Tight Lines!

Fishing on Chasin Finz

        Today, I went fishing with Shlome, my uncle,  on the Charter Chasin Finz with Captain Josh on a half day trip out of Hollywood. It was a really fun trip and Captain Josh was a great help.

        We started off the day waking up at 6 AM. We got ready and anxiously drove to the dock, wondering what we would catch. A bit after we got there, Captain Josh arrived. It was cool of him to still take us out even though he didn't have the mate and he had to set up all by himself. The boat was pretty big and very  comfortable. On the way out, he let us drive the boat, which was pretty interesting. On the trolling lines there were divers, which are used to keep the trolling lines deeper than staying at the surface.

        After a little bit, we hooked onto a fish. I hurried down the ladder and started reeling in the line on the right side of the ship. When I brought the diver all the way to the rod tip, Captain Josh brought in the rest by hand. It was a Cero Mackerel! A great way to start off the day. We put it in the cooler and put the rebated hook back behind the boat to start trolling again.

        After a little while, we had another bite. I got to the rod, and started to reel in. It was heavy. Captain Josh had told us on the way to the spot that we should reel them in at a steady pace. I was not reeling it in so steadily, so I told Shlome to take over for me. He reeled in until the diver came and Captain Josh brought in the rest. It was a Blackfin Tuna! A beautiful fish. To catch any kind of Tuna was on my fishing bucket list, and now I can cross it off!

        Unfortunately, we didn't catch any fish after that. We circled around a drop off, and even had a bite, but we didn't bring anything else up. If we had a full day, we would probably have caught more.

        When we got home, Shlome and I fried the Mackerel and seared the Tuna. This trip was great and we will definitely fish on Chasin Finz again.

Live Shrimp Fishing

I haven't caught a fish since summer, and so it was cool to get back to fishing, especially with a type of bait that I don't use so often, live shrimp. We got live shrimp at around 2 from a place in north east Miami, Arky's Live Bait. It is a great bait shop and it sells lots of good supplies including aerators and different types of baits. I then went across the street form my house to the canal connected to Biscayne Bay and went fishing with my brother, Jacob. On the first drop, Jacob had hooked on to a fish. His rod was bending and he fought it for a little bit until he brought it up. It was a big Yellowfin Mojarra! We measured it and we found that it was 14 inches! I don't have a picture of the measurement of the scale because I was rushing to dehook the fish as it was out of the water for a while. 14 inches is a big Yellowfin Mojarra, so I regret not doing so. After that, I caught a puffer fish, which I was trying to avoid because of its big, sharp teeth that have even cut my hooks. Surpringly, it was easy to dehook. The last fish of the day was a Mangrove snapper. It started to rain, so we went in. Even though it was sunny before and during most of the fishing trip, I am not surprised because of the unpredictability of Florida's weather. This was a good, fun day of fishing, and I was glad to get back at it again. The canal is best at high tide, so next time I will try to fish at the right time. Tight lines.

New Del Mar Fishing with Jacob and Shlome

Today I went on a great half day fishing trip on the boat New Del Mar of the Marina Del Rey Sportfishing company. We went from 12:30 to 5 P.M. I wanted to go fishing on a boat with my Uncle Shlome, especially because we didn't get to catch any fish on the trip from Newport Landing last year and the mistake they made by putting us on the wrong boat. We went out with my brother, Jacob, too. On the way out of the marina, we stopped at a floating live bait stop. Two main differences that I have found on party boats in Southern California and Miami is that in SoCal the boats have a big live well on the back of the boat and is not only easy for people to take live anchovies, but at every stop a crew member stands on top of it and throws out some live anchovies to chum the water. Another difference is the useful floating live bait shops on the way out of the landings/marinas. After the bait shop, we were ready to fish. We went south along the coast for about an hour and a half until we got to the surprisingly very inshore kelp beds off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes. Other than live anchovies, cut squid was another available bait. The squid would end up being way more effective. Everyone on the boat started catching right away. We were catching Sand and Calico Kelp Bass. Despite the fact that the boat was catching, Shlome, Jacob, and I weren't. Until finally Shlome felt something and then set the hook. We reeled it in and we caught it. A Barred Sand Bass! Our first fish of the day! Soon after, Shlome had another fish on! He was reeling in, but then the fish got the hook stuck on the thick kelp. The spot was really cool. Not only were people catching fish, but the huge volcanic bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula was an interesting sight to see. Later, I felt something on my line, so I started to reel up. I stopped, and the rod didn't bend, so I knew that there wasn't a fish. But as I was reeling up the rest of the line to check if I had bait, a fish took the Squid. I reeled the fish in with Jacob, and I caught it! A Calico Kelp Bass! A Calico Kelp Bass was one of the first fish I had ever caught. I had wanted to catch another one since then not only because they are really fun to catch, but the picture I have of it is not a great one and it doesn't show the intricate pattern on its side. After releasing it, we went to another spot because the water became colder, which tends to make fishing slower. For our next spot, we went about a half hour north up the coast until we were near Redondo Beach. The way the houses were set up was and it was really cool to see. Jacob and Shlome were the first people to catch fish, and they did so immediately. They had a double hookup of mackerel that they brought in, only to dehook them and have another double hookup! They caught those, too. By then, I was really excited for this spot. We kept on fishing and we kept on catching. At the bottom, I started to feel nibbles. I was pulling the line a little to make the bait move until I had a fish! The rod bent and I reeled it up. I caught it! It was an Ocean Whitefish! We kept it to eat that night. I caught another Ocean Whitefish from the bottom before I decided to fish near the surface again. I could see schools of Mackerel were swimming by about 5 feet below the surface of the water so I dropped my piece of squid there and watched. Soon the school came and the ravenous mackerel were crushing my bait. When I saw a mackerel eat the squid and then swim quickly while my rod was bending, I jerked the rod up and started reeling to set the hook. I caught it! Jacob and I kept on fishing like this for the rest of the time at the stop. Shlome went to the other side because he saw people catching more Ocean Whitefish, but he ended up not catching any fish. When time was running low we went back to then dock at Marina Del Rey. I caught 14, my brother caught 17, and Shlome caught 4. When we went home, we fried the Ocean Whitefish and used it to make delicious fish tacos for dinner. This was a really fun trip and I learned a lot. I hope to be fishing on this boat agin. Tight Lines!