Super User SirSnookalot Posted October 5, 2014 Super User Posted October 5, 2014 In 30 years of fishing in Florida I have never been so disappointed. For most of the year I was catching snook, lots of barracuda and this past July and August went wild with tarpon, so don't cry for me, lol. We now have the fall mullet run, should be catching fish left and right but it's not happening with me or anyone. There is just too much bait and it's near impossible to catch snook on artificial, been through this dozens of times. We should be catching bluefish and big jacks on the beach, they just are not showing up. If the fish aren't here, they can't be caught. Today there is a change in the weather, cooler with a stronger north wind, rougher northeast swell hopefully will bring some fish into the area. Seeing as there is an incoming tide could be lots of seaweed coming in, will be jumping my leader up to 30#. Quote
OntarioFishingGuy Posted October 11, 2014 Posted October 11, 2014 I've seen video of the mullet run. I would love to go down to Florida and see it. Quote
Super User everythingthatswims Posted October 11, 2014 Super User Posted October 11, 2014 I would stick a 12" mullet on a circle hook in a heart beat! Quote
Smokinal Posted October 11, 2014 Posted October 11, 2014 Snook, could the fish actually be there, just not eating your stuff due to so much natural food? When the stripers run up here, I've had days where there were stripers busting all around the boat and we never caught one. I think they are so focused on natural bait they will not eat anything that is not an exact match. Quote
Helluva_Engineer Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 Snook, could the fish actually be there, just not eating your stuff due to so much natural food? When the stripers run up here, I've had days where there were stripers busting all around the boat and we never caught one. I think they are so focused on natural bait they will not eat anything that is not an exact match. This is exactly what's happening. It's happened to me before more than once. Mullet so thick the fish can't even see your lure. Best chance during times like that is to anticipate when a fish is going to crash a school and try to cast into its wide open mouth. 2 Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted October 12, 2014 Author Super User Posted October 12, 2014 I've seen video of the mullet run. I would love to go down to Florida and see it. It's pretty much over, very short lived this year. This past week we have been getting non-stop ladyfish action for about 45 minutes just prior to sunrise, then the bite goes dead. Those ladys give one heck of a fight, they are junior tarpons. I would stick a 12" mullet on a circle hook in a heart beat! And so do all the other meat hunters. Heavier reels and rods, 50# line with 80# leader or wire, drop it along side the jettie and just lift one up. The goal is to get a slot which is 28-32", nice fish but not a big one, believe me if no one is around they take home any size. This is exactly what's happening. It's happened to me before more than once. Mullet so thick the fish can't even see your lure. Best chance during times like that is to anticipate when a fish is going to crash a school and try to cast into its wide open mouth. Yes this is exactly how it is, I've been thru it dozens upon dozens of times. You just gotta keep casting non stop and hope you get lucky, it's very frustrating when you know the fish are all over the place. Quote
Super User everythingthatswims Posted October 12, 2014 Super User Posted October 12, 2014 It's pretty much over, very short lived this year. This past week we have been getting non-stop ladyfish action for about 45 minutes just prior to sunrise, then the bite goes dead. Those ladys give one heck of a fight, they are junior tarpons. And so do all the other meat hunters. Heavier reels and rods, 50# line with 80# leader or wire, drop it along side the jettie and just lift one up. The goal is to get a slot which is 28-32", nice fish but not a big one, believe me if no one is around they take home any size. Yes this is exactly how it is, I've been thru it dozens upon dozens of times. You just gotta keep casting non stop and hope you get lucky, it's very frustrating when you know the fish are all over the place. Does it hurt the population when slot fish are kept? Meat hunting is pretty typical in saltwater from my experience, I keep lots of saltwater fish but I always obey regulations... Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted October 13, 2014 Author Super User Posted October 13, 2014 Does it hurt the population when slot fish are kept? Meat hunting is pretty typical in saltwater from my experience, I keep lots of saltwater fish but I always obey regulations... I grew up fishing freshwater, the mind set between salt and fresh fishermen is miles apart IMO. In my observation the overwhelming majority of salt fishermen, even the sports minded, are there to take home their catch. I do not see selective harvest, the care for the environment, honoring bag limits if any here in the salt. I won't rag on all them as I do hang with fly fishermen and guys like myself that are there strictly for the sport of it and release about all of their fish. Hard to say whether the fish population is hurt or not, I suppose there may be a difference between migratory fish and resident ones, but I do feel taking too many fish affects the food chain. Every year people take out thousands upon thousands of blue runners, they seem to come back in great numbers every year. On the opposite side Ma & Pa Kettle (that's what we call them) come down from Ohio every year for 3 months, they fish only for sheepshead. They take all legal fish back home with them, they do wonder why they catch less every year, they are not sportsminded c&r freshwater fishermen. I do have a number of people that don't like the fact that I won't give them fish, there are some that I do but I do put a limit on it. As much as I love salt fishing, the care and responsibility is no where on the same level as it is in freshwater. This is what the mullet run can like some days\ 1 Quote
jaysen Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 i see this too when fishing in florida and new york. many of them dont care about the law and just want a free meal they can brag about. i think the big issue with caring for sw is that the ocean is so vast and the fish you release will be moving along never to return, and many new fish will be there to replace it within a few hours. i think we all know this is a false mentality, but the size of the ocean kind of plays on those ideas. Quote
Bassun Posted October 22, 2014 Posted October 22, 2014 While I am a CPR fisherman in most cases (I will catch and use livebait at times), I don't have a problem with people harvesting legal fish to eat. I would rather see slot fish ate then a trophy slapped on a wall... Especially with the better replicas out there now. I don't suspect that legal non-commercial fishing would have a major impact on most of the fish. There are surely a few scenarios where it could, but as a whole I think a regulated fishery is capable of supporting a good harvest, so long as they are havesting within the limits of the regulations. Honestly, selective harvest can even help a fishery - notably smaller ponds and lakes with too little natural predation. It's my opinion that the damage to most fisheries comes from commercial over-harvesting and polution. Quote
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