New Year's Solutions

Happy F-ing New Year people of the sea! (That ‘F’ word is actually ‘fishing’)

Okay, let me start off by saying that the fishing everywhere has been downright incredible. Maybe we can thank the reduction in gas prices for the influx of fishing reports coming in, or perhaps it’s just going to be a good year.

I gotta start off by commenting on the red snapper fishing that has left smiles across many anglers faces for months now. Anyone with a boat can pretty much head out to 80-100’ out of the Port, Sebastian, or Ft. Pierce and pull in their 2 per-person limit of nice reds any day. It’s just that easy. And to be honest, they are not that picky either. Pick up a box of frozen squid and you can easily trade that in for some nice snapper dinners out on the reefs. Seriously.

With school back in session at UCF, I have many land-based obligations that draw me away from the sea, but I try hard to keep in touch with what’s going on over there. My buddies Paul and Josh don’t work the weekends, so they’ve been getting over to the Atlantic as often as possible. Get this. For the past six weekends they have limited out on red snapper while bottom fishing out of Sebastian Inlet. Add to that a variety of triggerfish, lane snapper, gag grouper, kingfish and cobia, and you can bet them boys are eatin’ well. Me, I’m stuck with Gordon’s fish sticks (ground up Pollock) and cans of chunk light tuna in water. (Which is most likely ground up porpoise)

To add to my landlocked irritability, I received an email this morning from Jeff Bragg who owns Bragg’s Roll-Off dumpsters. Attached to the email were a dozen pictures of some massive yellowfin tuna (SUSHI!) that he and some friends came across while trolling the “Otherside” of the Gulf Stream, some 80 miles out to sea. The biggest yellowfin weighed in at 88 pounds. They kept their limit of 18 yellowfins, 6 blackfin tuna, 4 skipjack tuna, and two nice dolphin. Jeff also told me that they released at least 20 short yellowfin tuna! Needless to say there was a puddle of water on my keyboard as I drooled away staring at the pictures.

The cooler morning temperatures make for some excellent flats fishing. Before I went back to school I spent a week camping in the Mosquito Lagoon. We had to purchase a permit to camp on one of the islands in the Lagoon, but for $10 a night you really won’t find any other accommodation with a better view! Every morning we woke up a stone’s throw away from some world-class grassflats teeming with redfish, trout and black drum. Add to that some weather which was absolutely perfect for sight fishing – bright sun, cool temps and NO WIND for days!! The trip couldn’t have been any better. We ate like kings dining on fresh-caught blackened redfish each night and drank like kings too. (Well, I’d say Natty Lite is kingly enough for a fishing trip)

I added a few pictures from our trip below. The schools of black drum were so big that you couldn’t see either ends of them. At one point while wading a flat on a foggy morning, my friend Park and I were literally surrounded by tailing blacks and reds. I mean there were 8-10” wide tails popping up around us in every direction. It was almost silly. We were laughing and the absurdity of it all. We ended up catching black drum and redfish all morning. It was sight fishing heaven. It was freakin’ awesome.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m itching to do some surf fishing. After getting into a pompano blitz last year while beach fishing in Indialantic, I’m ready for more. Nothing beats a cool, sunny morning of surf fishing with that clear green water and lightly breaking waves crumbling in. A pompano fiesta. Get you some sandfleas, some pomp rigs, sand spikes, and a couple bottles of cold beer to crack open after the first fish and you my friend, are living the high life. My Buddha-like prediction is that the middle of January and beginning of February will be best this year. I just feel it.

Alright, enjoy the pics and please send some in. Triplehelix@mail.com. Do it.

May the tides always take away what you don’t want and bring back to you all the things you love,

Matt B

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