BigBendFishing.Net

Hey all. I've been lurking on this forum and finally decided to join and post a report. My friend Mark and I went out in his 14 ft. aluminum hull on Saturday morning. We hit the flats west of the LH at about 7:30 a.m. It was a little rough . Anyhow, the first fish was caught by Mark on a live shrimp....sailcat. Then we both hooked up with several lady fish and some short trout ( I was fishing live shrimp and a Mirrorlure ). We were in 1.5-4 ft. We decided to move further West to one of the poles with some shallow (2-8 ft) water and drift through one of our favorite spots and the water had flattened out nicely by then. The first drift had many shorts caught by Mark. I landed a blue and a nice Spanish Mack. The tide started really going out and we decided to stay in that spot and drift through 5 more times . Well, we caught fish every time. Besides numerous short trout, ladies and blues I brought in 3 spanish macks (the largest was 28 inches) and a good sized blue to put in the ice chest. Poor Mark only had one keeper trout and a small spanish mack. Water temp ranged from 71 to 77 degrees. We only used live shrimp and Mirrorlures. Water depths ranged from 1.5 to 9 feet (The macks were caught in 4.5 feet of water). I'd like to thank a gentleman at the boat ramp who gave us his only trout to take home......he didn't want to go to the trouble of cleaning 1 trout. Enjoy!

Good report.

Thanks! I grew up on the East Coast in Boynton Beach and most of the fishing I did there was offshore in deeper water. I REALLY like fishing the flats here now! Next question is how to cook the blue, I've never cooked a blue....I used them as bait before this.

Thanks for the report and welcome aboard, GW.

Can't help you with the bluefish, I generally toss them back. Way to fishy tasting for me.

Welcome aboard, G.

Can't help with the blue. I toss um back, too.

Blues. Filet and broil with garlic and lemon and butter. The fresher the better. They don't keep well. Real tasty.Good on a smoker too.

Thanks JT! I'll try it and see.

I normally bleed the blues as soon as I decide to put them in the cooler. My dad showed me that when I was young, so I can't tell you why, or if it actually has a purpose. I cut the dark strip out of the center of the filet (if the filet is big enough), season and fry. I agree they are better fresh, but have no problem eating after being frozen. I have also had them grilled (fresh) and they were very good. As a side note, we always have a couple jars of jalepeno peppers in the fridge. We put the juice on the filets and let it soak in, or eat with slices of the pepper (after they've been cooked)........

BD/TC: If I'm able to get to the tournament, keep me in mind when you catch a good blue. You know my fishing short falls, so I need the meat.

You got it.

Welcome and thanks for the report

I like to smoke blues and spanish (but I have a hard time keepin' 'em lit)

Seriously, do try 'em smoked and if you want to kick 'em up a notch, marinate them in olive oil, lemon juice and texas pete hot wing sauce

I reckon if you put enough Texas Pete on anything it'll taste good.

I'll keep you in mind, Ron.

It was a pleasure meeting you and the boys Saturday.

Cooked the bluefish last night. I'd filleted it out and started my cooking experiment. I broiled one fillet with lemon, garlic, olive oil and some fresh pepper. It was alright....kind of strong even though I cut out out the red line in the center of the fillet. I grilled the other fillet with some Adobo seasoning and olive oil. This actually came out pretty good (I'm partial to grilled fish). All in all I think I need to catch more trout! Next time I'll try 'em smoked. Thanks all.