As you are reading this, if all goes well, I should be on my way back to West Virginia and my Foggy Mountain. It's always hard to leave at the end of vacation, but it makes it a little easier to know that I have a place down here anytime I want. It has been a great two weeks and has helped develop my new hobby and love for Surf Fishing! The last few days of surf fishing went well....
The last few mornings have began to blur together, but each morning has been a great experience. With the help of JM of Something's Fishy, I have managed to find a love for a new form of fishing, Surf Fishing. It was an interesting adventure in the salt water! The last four days I've only managed to catch two more sand sharks, but I did load up on quite a few more whiting, with a few that rivaled my personal best (sadly, I didn't get to measure them). The most interesting morning was the morning that I couldn't catch anything but Channel Catfish, when the first one hit I wasn't even close to knowing what was on the end of my line. The bite didn't feel like anything I had reeled in before, but as soon I saw those whiskers I knew what I had caught. With my last bit of shrimp and last cast today, I ended up landing my largest catfish of the trip. I couldn't help but laugh as I returned my that catfish into the ocean, because all I could think was I could be home catching catfish but I had to come all the way to a sandy shore in Florida to do it. I wouldn't have it any other way though!
My last morning fishing and releasing the last fish I caught that day.
Although, I am sad to leave behind the salty shore, John Denver said it best when he said, "Country roads, take me home.. To the place I belong.. West Virginia, Mountain Mama.. Take me home, country roads.."
This is a whole new version of an "On the Water" report, normally it is a post about me running up and down the river banks. That's not what's happening this time, this time I am thigh deep in salt water. I have been a little busy fishing the last few day as well as laying on the beach and just relaxing, since I am on vacation, haha. But I will get everyone caught up with a quick overview of each day I went fishing as well as a few pictures.
July 22, 2011
This day went great and horrible all at the same time, it was the first time I set foot in the water attempting to be a surf fisher. It went well I hooked up with two whiting, but the managed to get off roughly, five to ten feet from me. This was due in part to the fact that I was using store bought rigs, and not the homemade ones JM had instructed me to use when he was giving me advice early last week. This instilled the confidence I need to know I could catch fish, and the need to start tying my own rigs. Since I started using my own rigs, I haven't lost a fish.
July 23, 2011
My First Surf Fish
Armed with my own rigs I gave it another try the next evening after a day on the beach. I wasn't expecting much as the other fisherman around where not catching much, but I was hopeful. Apparently all I needed was a little hope and dumb luck, I managed to land my first fish only a few casts in that evening. It wasn't a beast, it wasn't even the hardest fighting fish, but it was my first. It was a seven to eight inch Whiting (See picture left). I was ecstatic, yes even for a little fish like that, but what I was about to catch next would put a smile on my face you couldn't wipe off. As the second wave of people came to the beach they slowly started pushing me away from where I was fishing. I decided walk down the beach to avoid the swimmers and surfs and it paid off. I cast in and was starting to wonder how a larger fish would feel if it hit, luckily I didn't have to wait long, I felt something tug on the line, it wasn't much of a fight, but it was a 15 inch Sand Shark (my largest thus far). It was only a baby, but for a redneck from West Virginia it was amazing to catch even a baby shark.
July 24, 2011
First Catch of the Day
Sunrise
After catching my first fish and shark while surf fishing, I was hooked (no pun intended). Cassie and I decided to get up and early and head to the beach for some early morning fishing. It paid for itself, just with the sunrise and calm of getting to sit on the beach with no one around you. I did manage to catch three Whiting and another Sand Shark, nothing very sizable, but it was fun to be catching fish in the ocean with some amount of regularity.
July 25, 2011
Another morning, another beautiful sunrise and another round of three whiting and a sand shark.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm on vacation. I first thought I would take a two week hiatus from Foggy Mountain, the physical location and the blog, but I was only able to leave one behind. I've been slacking a little as of late, so I figured this would be a great time to get caught up, but over the next week and a half everything (excluding TCT) will have a salty twist to it.
