Springtime!
- April 4, 2008
- 0 Comments
- By Story/Photos By Matt Badolato
Who doesn't love Spring? Seriously? It starts getting warmer, the birds be singing, the bees be buzzin', and the fish be bitin'!
As we surfers peel off our wetsuits and come out of hibernation, so do the fish. Warmer air temperatures heat the surface of the water and draw our favorite pelagic species to the surface. The dolphin fishing was pretty crappy in March and I can attest. We tried trolling three times in March and only caught one small dolphin. I would not consider considering myself a lousy fisherman, so I will blame the water temperature, which never rose above 73 degrees, even in the middle of the Gulf Stream. April is a different story. Already reports are coming in of big fish and good numbers of smaller fish.
April has already started out great with some monster dolphin caught out of Sebastian. This past Saturday, the crew aboard the Brassy Hooker ventured out to the other side of the Gulf Stream, some 70 miles out of Sebastian. Out there they did not find the yellowfin tuna like they had planned, but found another surprise just as good. While trolling, Brad Spaulding drove past a huge log and caught three 20lb class 'phins. When they circled back to throw spinning rods at the remaining fish, a HUGE bull shows up to crash the party. Morgan (last name?) threw out a spinning rod with 20lb test and the giant bull nailed it. After jumping six feet in the air and making some blistering runs, the crew was locked in for what would be a two-hour battle. When they were finally getting the big fish to the boat, the worst thing happened. The Penn Slammer rod broke cleanly in half!! Luckily for the crew who had already missed the huge fish with the gaff, the fish was tiring quickly and steel was finally sunk in his side. They caught the fish at 4:30pm and after boating it they hit the throttles and made the LOOOONNNGGGG run back to the inlet. Back at the port the massive mahi weighed 68 pounds!!! Yes, there is a six before an eight in that number.
Josh Huff from Melbourne headed out with a neighbor and friends for some bottom fishing on Saturday out of Sebastian. Josh said the bottom fishing was terrible and they only managed a couple red snapper and one seabass in two hours of bait soaking. He also mentioned that the baitfish were almost nonexistent at Bethel. They did however come across a beautiful weedline in 160' where they proceeded to land ten big, schoolie dolphin. Josh is one of my roommates here in Orlando and he brought back a whole dolphin in a cooler. We painted the fish up with yellows, greens, and blues and did a Gyotaku rubbing of the fish. If you don't know what Gyotaku is, Google it! It's a cool way to preserve an exact image of any fish you catch.
Also, a 52-pound bull dolphin and a 34-pound cow were caught 24 miles off of Fort Pierce Inlet this past Sunday. When these swells begin to die down and the weedmats form up even better, we may be in for a banner year of dolphin trolling here on the East coast!
My other favorite type of Springtime fishing would have to be for big trout. The trout start to feed in the early mornings while the baitfish are milling around in the shallows. The water is still cool early, so the fish will be very slow moving and so should your lure. I like to use natural colored jerkbaits such as black/silver or red/white and then switch to some funkier colors later in the day.(if you have to ask what funky colors are, you will never know, friend) Try the muddier spots in the morning and work the potholes and sun-filled grassflats later on in the morning and afternoon. You won't be disppointed. If the water is clear you may need to scale your leader down to 17 or even 15-pound flourocarbon. DON'T HESITATE TO DO THIS, you will catch A LOT more fish!! Trust me, I am the fish doctor!
Many surfers have an obsession with catching sharks, and now is a good time to start soaking those big baits off the beach. Try and release any you manage to pull in, and use circle hooks every time. They work great for hooking any kind of shark and are easy to remove. Remember, you don't have to paddle your baits out too far, sometimes the bruisers are right in the trough looking for....ankles.
Well, that's all I've got. If you've got any questions stop by Whitey's Bait and Tackle just two miles north of Sebastian Inlet or email me at Triplehelix@mail.com
Tight lines, thumpin' springtime-stalled-out swells, and Happy April Fool's Day,