BigBendFishing.Net

I fished a tried & true strategy, Dog Island Shoal for whatever is out there. We tried a little near shore first but it was real quiet. It’s the middle of August so that’s no surprise. We headed to the shoal and it was crystal clear. I expected a little more stain. We saw a lot of loggerheads. We threw topwater first (always) & we caught 5-pound blues that were real hungry. What were snapper blues this spring are a lot bigger now. Tossing topwater to fast mean fish in crystal clear water is very cool. Our hope was to find big Spanish on top but that wasn’t happening. We did pick up 2 nice ones later on jigs. The Spanish roaming around by themselves are an odd pattern that started this spring & still holds. Maybe it’s a lack of concentrated bait. We switched to Mylar jigs tipped with cut strips and we were in fish all day.
Blues ~30
Spanish 2 (25")
Cobia 4 (~25-30â€

Good Report!

Sounds like yall had a lot of fun!!

GC, Winder Ga? My old band played at Chips a few times (Charles Atkins & the Blues Boys) I also worked two shows there with Sean Costello. That's a serious trip from there to here for fish. Dedication!

Seems like I remember you mentioning that when I first signed on. I've been to Chips a few times....saw Drivin and Crying there twice. Cool Place and still going strong last I heard.

It is a long trip (6 hours each way), but well worth it. I usually make it down 3 or 4 times each year...this year I've been 5 times and have at least two more trips on my calendar...hopefully more!

Lit, that's quite a veriety of fish. Sounds like fun to me.

Littoral:

Are you talking Dog Island Reef (your DI Shoal)? Or what?

EJ

Lit,
I was wondering the same thing as EJ. I sure enjoyed your report. It is fun to read of your "offshore" exploits after knowing of your prowess and scientific approach with the 'yak, etc.
One of he reasons I am gettin' new-boat itchy is a desire to go out on Dog Is. Reef, etc., at will. So, is that where you were?
I know, it's a secret, right?

Sounds like a great variety....
Take any pics of the fish or the water?

What's a leather jacket?

Trigger fish. Hard to clean due to tough skin. Good to eat.

Aucilla wrote:Trigger fish. Hard to clean due to tough skin. Good to eat.

Not quite.

A leatherjacket or leatherjack is a baitfish.



LEATHERJACK
(Oligoplites saurus)
OTHER NAMES: Leatherjacket, Skipjack, Zapetero
RANGE: All Florida and the Greater Antilles.
HABITAT: Open water of Gulf and Atlantic; also in bays and up coastal rivers. A schooling species, it's often found in company with schools of Spanish Mackerel or Jacks, feeding on the same small fry as the larger fish.
DESCRIPTION: Slender, compressed shape with pointed head and large jaws for its size. Leather skin is green above and silvery on the sides. Sharp spines on dorsal and anal fins can administer very painful puncture wounds.
SIZE: A few inches, rarely as much as a foot.
FOOD VALUE: None.
GAME QUALITIES: Poor.
TACKLE AND BAITS: The Leatherjack will take many different small baits and lures offered for Mackerel and other desirable species.
FISHING SYSTEMS: Not fished for deliberately.

Well dumb ol' me. I didn't know the answer but just did a way-too quick google and came up wrong! But it does look like there are two sides to the fish.

I found that some folks call trigger fish "leather jackets," as here is the URL for a picture of a trigger fish:

http://www.alibaba.com/photo/10612220/L ... d.summ.jpg,

and you can see in the URL that the name of the photo is "leather jacket fish." Here is the actual picture:



And lookee here: http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/W ... Y9AFG?open



Leather Jacket
Common names: Jackets, butterfish, triggerfish

Size limit: 20cm

Daily Bag Limit: 30

Possession Limit: 45

Numerous species with varied colour patterns are found inshore around Tasmania’s coastline. Distinctive long spine above the eyes and rough sandpaper- like skin make leatherjackets virtually unmistakable.
One species, the mosaic leatherjacket, grows to over 50cm in length and nearly 4kg in weight.

Several leatherjacket species are rarely seen by fishers due to their small populations or small sizes.

Common leatherjacket species are taken around inshore reefs and jetties. Best method of capture is to use small long shanked hooks on light line with fresh fish flesh or prawns for bait.

They are occasionally taken whilst flounder spearing at night.

The flesh is good eating if fish are cleaned and skinned shortly after capture.



Littoral is a scientist, so my guess is that he's with you Tom. My definitions don't look as convincing to me now. But Lit is the only one who knows the true answer! What was it, Lit?? A leather jacket??

Don't worry Aucilla, anyone can make a mistake.
I thought they were talking about ............................

Cran, you know we don't fish for that kind of leatherjacket over here in the U.S. (What's the limit over there?)

TC, we have so few of that species here, that they are protected.
Catch and release only.