A good friend who lives in Atlanta came down for the weekend- He is a lurker on the board and goes by BigDaddy.
He had never been on the flats- our last trip was on the Hooch North of Atlanta for Freshwater Trout and Bream.
He drove down on Friday arriving in the evening- With the "tides" it didn't look like we needed to head out early- so we took our time getting out.
We drove to Panacea- stopping along the way to pick up a fishing license, Ice and some drinks.
We got gas and ice from the Marina at Hookwrecks. The ramp at Rock Landing is still open- but they are cutting up the old dock.
Running out was calm and smooth- could not have asked for a nicer day.
We ran out near Piney and started seeing glass minnows and pelicans diving- I thought Macks?
I quickly tied on two clarks with about 15" wire leaders... 4-5mph was the ticket.
Dave's First fish off the flats and his first Spanish Mackerel
Dave fighting another one
Wed had constant action for the next few hours- Its hard to quit when they are biting!
We caught most on straight spoons but did get a few on a mackerel rig... no rhyme or reason on the color they liked.
The fish were between 6 - 12 feet, Water temperature was 69-70, key was running breaks- we would almost always catch a fish when we went over a drop off.
An artsy shot with the spoon of choice...
The box was filling so we thought its time to go in and have a late lunch /early dinner at Hookwrecks.
After a dozen oysters, grouper sandwich and a Shrimp PoBoy we were ready to try something new.
We ran back out to one of my trout spots...
Dave was introduced to the Cajun thunder & Gulp Combo after a little casting practice he had wonderful success.
Trust me - he was smiling on the inside!
For the next hour or so we had a regular trout bite- caught 20 or more with 7 keepers.
1/2 on the Cork/jig combo and the other half on topwater.
I had one string of five fish on five consecutive casts.
Also picked up a few random Spanish and a Blue!
All were caught within 100 yards of one spot- no need to move.
We ran in at dark to find the beautiful sight of the dock and restaurant at night. I love that place.
We pulled the boat out - got more Ice and had a couple
talking about the day.It was late when we pulled in and we were tired- so the fish cleaning waited till after church today.
Final Count
28 Spanish, 7 Trout, and one Blue.
Not bad for Dave's first day on the big salt pond
