Florida Pompano

Having demonstrated how to tie a typical "Pompano Rig" in a previous post, I would like to present to you the above photo as proof that the rig works.  While I understand that the Florida Pompano in the photo above is not of the gargantuan variety, they do range in size from one to three pounds on average.  A most special moment was documented on this particular trip to Vilano Beach at the St. Augustine Inlet in April 2012. The brand new, never before cast "Saltiga 4500" was in hand.  The pompano rig was tied and baited.  The first cast with the new rod, reel, and rig delivered to my hands for the first time ever a small Florida Pompano during low tide, between the sandbar trough, at sunrise.  It may not have been a big fish, but it was the target species, and that in itself speaks volumes of the level of understanding one must have for success.

So my first pompano story makes for a great segue (segway) into the world of Deep-sea Fishing.

Baaaaaaaaam, it happened.  Not to me, but on a deep sea charter Jennifer and I were on.  One of the crew decided to fish with us over a heavily chummed wreck in 200 ft. of water resulting in an event that has not happened on the Mayport Princess in over two years.  Yes, the elusive African Pompano nailed the bait and was landed on 20lb. test for the first time in two years on a vessel that goes fishing almost every day of the year.  We will explore deep-sea fishing more in the future with the understanding that when you lower your line into the water be prepared to hold on very, very tight.  That's all I have to say about that.  The incredible thing about all this is that once again, we had fun.

Gimme back my spoon

So I'm throwing a gold spoon last week when it was hit by an enormous bass.  We fought for about half a minute and then my line snapped.  Bummer.  So tonight I decided to head down to the pond with Jennifer to get my gold spoon back from that bass.  My lure selection was a new silver spoon with a red spinner.  I whipped my line out at least fifteen times before making the decision to switch to something more appealing for this time of day.  I had to perform well because Jennifer is not down with fish stealing my lures.  Naturally I selected a red and green, white bellied, diving, crank frog bait. This thing was phenomenal.  The first cast was a beauty and landed around thirty yards down the shoreline.  The lure landed, I pulled on it just a whisker and let it pop up to the surface, then I gave it a good yank while reeling in slowly. Wham! That bass hit that lure hard and took off for deeper water while my drag screamed out loud "Tighten me, tighten me!"  I obliged the drag screw and landed a nice bass as is evident in the above photo eagerly taken by my personal photographer.  The bass strike out of pure anger when the lures come cruising by their territory which is why they are so fun to catch. One must understand what they are hunting in order to select what to use to hunt it.  It was a nice half hour with my favorite Jennifer.  We had fun.

Pompano Rig

Knot tying is a skill often lacking in beginner fishermen.  Today I will address a common surf fishing rig primarily used for catching Pompano, and it will undoubtably land some Whiting as well.  The above illustration attempts to show the following components of the rig:  A 30" piece of 20-30lb test fluorocarbon line for the leader, two 2/0 stainless steel circle hooks, two plastic beads with hole through center, one metal swivel, and a 3-5 oz. Pyramid or Teardrop lead sinker. It takes about 3 min to build one from scratch once you practice a time or two.  I will post a video in the future demonstrating how easy this rig is to tie.  There are three basic fishing knots used here; the clinch knot (used to tie the line to the swivel), the spider hitch knot (used to make the drop loops) and the figure 8 knot used at the sinker end to tie the big loop.  The bait used for Pompano are usually the Sand Flea, but they have been known to bite on cut Whiting head as well as on a Pompano Jig, and even sometimes on fresh dead shrimp.

The two loop dropper rig I tied for demonstration purposes can be seen above.  Many of you might know how to tie these types of rigs, and many of you may knot have been boy scouts and might be clueless.  If you know how to tie these rigs then keep moving, this entry is not for you.  The beads are strung on the loop that holds the hooks so that the bait does not sit on the bottom.  During the writing of this entry, I was fortunate enough to get my Jennifer involved.  Class was now in session.  Jennifer will be building these things in no time at all.  We had fun.

Lunkers!

Another day has come and with it so have the bass.  My favorite setup, the watermelon lizard, works very well in the large lakes on a hot day when the bass head down into the deeper water.  You just pitch the lizard with a bullet shot into the deep and let it hit the bottom.  Once there, it's a little game of hop and stop.  Most of the bass I've been catching grab the lizard either as soon as it heads to the bottom or just after the first hop.  I like to set the hook quickly so that they can't swallow the hook.  They fight hard here and jump out of the water doing a magical tail walk.  One of the things I always do is safely remove the hook from the fish and not allow it to be out of the water for more than a minute.  Their mortality rate is very high in the days that follow dependent of where you hooked them.  My Jennifer showed up on her bicycle about twenty minutes of my arrival to the spot.  She was very happy taking pictures and watching me fish.  The sun finally set and the bugs started getting bad.  After 45 minutes and nine bass it was time to head home.  We had fun.

Largemouths, the basics

The newly acquired Daiwa Whisker Tournament Series SS1600 was only used three times before the line roller screw, a couple of washers, and the bail fell off.  Yes, while cranking in a lure, the reel suffered severe failure due to an apparent loose screw falling out.  It is my favorite medium size reel and I look forward to its return from the shop. Suffice it to say, I had to obtain a backup reel while the Daiwa gets repaired.  I'd like to introduce you to my backup reel, the Shimano Symetre 4000FJ, which is a magnificent reel.  It is by far one of the smoothest and most balanced reels I have used.  As soon as I got it home I spooled it up with some fluorocarbon line, and headed down the road on my bicycle with my wife to hit a couple of lakes and ponds. It was about an hour before dark, and we were both eager to wet a line as it had been a couple of days since we had gone fishing. Thirty five minutes and eight bass later, I was ready to call it a success.  We had fun.

Blog Dedication

I dedicate all the fun I have in my life to one of the best friends I have ever had, Brandy Whine, my late Basset Hound. She and I were close friends for over a decade.  Her clownish ways and management style were most impressive.  Her best trait was giving.  To say any less than that would be out of line.  Her heart was there for you unconditionally and her actions proved that until her last breath.  May she forever rest in peace and know that I will play like she did until the day we meet again. Brandy taught me about love, patience, devotion, commitment, trust, and most off all to play.  A master strategist, she took fun to a new level and dedicated her life to playing.  I promise not to mope but to have fun until I can play no more.  I love you Brandy but am not ready to stop playing yet.  We had fun.