Working nights has it's advantages. You get to meet other "night" people. Those folks that don't sleep and wander around in the darkness whilethe world sleeps. Some of these folks also fish. So when they aren't fishing they are looking around in the dark for signs of fish. I got it on good authority that several of those schools of pogies that have been seen around the area have taken up residence locally. My "night" people confirmed this. SO this morning since the weather was MUCH better than forecasted I decided to see if Mr. Big would take a fat juicy pogie.
I ran out of BOurne around 0730, it was dark, overcast and fairly calm. A perfect day for fishing. The weather had cooled off the water 3 degrees and the air an easy 20 degrees from my last trip out. But still I pressed on. I hit the first spot that I was told held bait and I looked everywhere for signs of pogies. I found nothing. I moved to the second spot and sure enough I found what I was looking for. Several good size schools of pogies 14"+. It took me about 30-45 minutes to fill the livewell with a snag hook.
Then came the big decision, where to fish them. I would have fished them near the rest of the school, but the whole time I was making bait I never saw any sign that the pogies were being bothered by fish. Just me and an osprey. So I figured with the canal giving up a few fish around 40" I'd head that way. If big rubba got fish to 40" then 2# of pogies should get me some love for sure.
I ran over to the west end of the canal and began to drift on the west running tide. I hit all the rips and seams I could find. From the MMA to the end of Stoney point I worked it all. I ran 2 rods at a time to better my odds.
After about 30 minutes and 2 missed run offs I finally hung a fish. The over eager 33" bass had the huge pogie land the hook lodged deep in his mouth. I had a request from a friend for a bass for dinner so I kept this fish as my first one of the season.
For the next 3 hours I drifted pogies through some great water. I had run off after run off including a few doubles. Only problem was the fish were all 24-28" long and they couldn't eat the pogies. They just beat them, grabbed them and spit them. I got to watch the entertaining but disheartening show almost every time. No amount of dropback would help. These fish were just oo small for the big bait.
So around lunch time I finally decided that sleep was better than this and called it a day. My friend met me at the ramp and now Capt Chet and the Admiral will be dining on fresh bass tonight.
Final tally one overly eager bass around 12-14#. There were two guy in a Whaler near me and they were doing pretty well on the small fish on lite spin and fly. I saw no birds. I marked almost no bait except when I got the pogies. The water was 54-55 degrees where I was fishign but it was 61 in the back bays with the bait. I had most of my "attempts" on fish in the 20' range. The fish were right on the drop off of the canal. With all the run offs and fish willing to attack the pogies I don't think it was a tide or a conditions issue I was having. I just think that there were no big fish around at this particular time.
Overall it was fun to fish the pogies again. I want to do allot more of it this year so I figured I start early. Apparently TOO early. The forecast looked poor till Sunday so I saw this window and took it. The up side to the trip is at least Capt Chet will have a nice dinner.
__________________
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
