BigBendFishing.Net

Visited SMNWR yesterday before sunset, to see if the recent drop in refuge creek temps sent the trout fleeing for warmer water. Found oodles of finger mullet in a mudbottom canal, then freelined some in a creek stretch that has been producing for weeks. Nada. Trout are gone from the shallow creeks!

On the way back to Lighthouse Road, I made one castnet toss into a usually reliable mullet hole, to avoid a total blank for the evening. No mullet, but four of the biggest pinfish I've ever seen; all over 9 inches. At home, I filleted them & used fresh lemons to "cook" them & sub them for trout in my ceviche recipe.

It was hideous. But now I can cross pinfish off the list.

Next experiment: pickled mudminnows!

Bummer


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Must have been the ceviche. Seem to recall trying pinners years ago and they weren't too bad. Probably fried in cornmeal, though.

The thought of pickled mud minnows, on the other hand, almost made me heave my bagel and cream cheese this morning.

great post

Fried Pinfish isn't so bad. When Andrew was younger, he mostly caught pinfish while playing around in the floor of my boat and chopping all of my new plastic jig bodies into 1/4 inch pieces with my braid scissors. When it came to fish cleaning time, he would get upset if I didn't clean his fish too and fry them up. The Pinfish fried up real crispy like a small bream.

- Steve

I've now tried at least five different species for my ceviche recipe (which is the most-requested fish dish among my high school runners when I cook for them).

In general, the lighter the fish flesh, the better it turns out. Flounder and largemouth bass work best for me. Those pinfish had darker flesh, almost like a jack.

I wasn't joking about the mudminnows. Guess I'm running out of topics to write about for Coastal Angler Mag.

A primer on how to score the best fishing and boating bargains on Craig's List would probably be a big hit.

I'm voting for a primer on how to avoid contact between a skeg and submerged rocks...

GaryDroze wrote:It was hideous. But now I can cross pinfish off the list.

Next experiment: pickled mudminnows!

When we go to Amelia Island on vacation, I always fish the intercoastal behind an abandoned restaurant. Usually catch some really big pinfish around the pilings and save them. They are good fried.

Here's a quick primer on getting deals: look for loss leaders at the big box sporting goods stores, and combine those deals with short-term coupons for percent off. I literally just came home from Sports Authority with a Sun Dolphin Excursion 10ft fishing kayak for $173, including tax. It was listed at $399, but SA reduced it to $189 for the weekend, and I had a narrow-window 15% off coupon that I was saving for just such a deal. They were not too happy to let it go that cheap, but a deal's a deal.

A teacher's salary is a great motivator to research these limited-time opportunities.

If anybody wants an entry level fishing kayak for $230 FIRM (still a good deal) contact me. It is wrapped in store plastic. If I don't sell it by Thanksgiving, I'll hide it deep in the coastal swamps of Apalachee Bay, where I'll hike out to it at low tide & hop in when the incoming tide gets too deep to wade! By the way, I bought the last one in Tallahassee.

For DixieReb & others who gushed about fried pinfish: Thanks! Next time I'm going with hot grease and cornmeal!

What are the details on the kayak for sale... Brand and size is all I need, I can then search it on google to take a look.
Thanks

When my kids were small and I took them fishing we of course caught pinfish. They wanted to keep them, so they got fried up. Pretty awful, IMO.
Can't think of anything else much lower on the eating scale I have actually cooked voluntarily.
I'd skip eating those when there are so many better fish around. Spanish or bluefish are far better, and I won't even keep those anymore, except for grouper bait.
If pins were something the commercials fished in federal waters and they were remotely edible there would already be a year round commercial harvest and three day recreational season, one fish bag. Or is that red snapper? I forget.

Sun Dolphin 10Ft Excursion Fishing model. Olive color. Google away!

Caught several under sized trout and one red in the east river launching from the SMNWR last Tuesday.