Headed back to hoopers from Smith Island this morning. Flat calm, hot and beautiful out, but no fish to show for it. Around 11:30, we had made it back almost to the mouth of the Honga, when my girlfriend spotted a school of bait. Having seen nothing else, we stopped short so as not to spook the school, and on the finder were a lot of fish holding tight to the bottom. I gave her a stingsilver, and boom, she hooks a weakie. Then another! I dropped a stingsilver down as well, and boom, I hooked one. We caught a few more for the next hour, with some rock, blues, and croaker mixed in.
Just as the outgoing started, so did the breakers, and a lot of them. We headed over, and started nailing fish left and right. Kendra hooked a fish that set the drag screaming, and her as well, she got it to the boat, and she's yelling "that's the biggest fish I've ever caught!" I looked at it and thought, wow, a nice rock, but no, it was a huge blue, like one of those ones you see in the reports coming from Jersey and Cape Cod. Biggest I've seen in the Bay since I was a little kid and you could catch blues with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back. I grabbed the leader, which means a catch, to pull it in and unhook it for her, when the leader snaps. She started screaming at me for losing the fish, I tried to tell her that the leader counts, but trust me, that was not good enough.
At any rate, by now, I had switched to the fly rod. I had caught a few rock and blues with it on a half and half. Kendra yells about something, so I put the rod down to see what's up. I fix the problem, and notice we are out of the strike zone. I had just put my rod down on the stern, and thought it was safe..... well, I'm an idiot, and it was not safe. I fire up the boat, and start heading to the next pod, when I notice that my fly line is whipping out the stern. Before I can stop the boat and grab the rod, THE WHOLE RIG FLEW OUT THE BACK. I had no time to jump in off the moving boat, so I just watched as the rod sank. I'm sure a fish was hooked, as that rod flew of the back like a bottle rocket, so if any of you catch a a fish with a charteuse over white half and half stuck to its lips, and the line still in the water when you bring him up, keep pulling that line, you may find yourself a new rod.
After that fiasco, I tried my floating line, which worked ok, but I got tired of watching Kendra pull in nicer fish from the depths, so eventually I switched over and started reeling in the better grade of fish. Ended the day catching my first ever Spanish in the Bay, my biggest ever Weakie (20"), and countless rock and blues. Truly an awesome day, so good I'm not steamed about the rod, just mildy upset...
Great fish report pbramble... Everyone has lost something over the side...I know I have many cell phones in the abyss...I tried calling to see a fish would answer but it hasn't worked yet...
That little Mackeral is fat as a butterball. Great story. Can we get a pic of the poodles please? Details man, details. Thanks for the report.
HOLWACHAGOT
Not much more to the story. The fish were there, we used mainly stingsilvers and similiar lures, but they were so thick anything would have worked.
Karl, they are not poodles, and they are banned from my boat. You have to be housebroken to be on my vessel... or at least in a diaper. You marginally make the cut.
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