“But I got to stop wishin', got to go fishin' Down to rock bottom again Just a few friends, just a few friends” (pictures)

#1,378
#1,378
Went down to Vilano Sunday. Was on the beach at the crack of dawn and seems like half the fishermen still beat me out there. Wasn't nearly as windy as last weekend but the water unfortunately was still pretty muddy. Not even my custom long cast surf rods could make it out into the clean water, which we could easily see from the surf. So no luck on keeper pomps still. Caught another two small ones. Aside from that, the muddy water brought in the cats and sharks. Probably caught at least 30 gaftopsail Catfish (would have been a good haul for the folks that eat them) and only one hardhead Catfish, which is incredibly unusual for me at least. Usually when I get in the Catfish bad it's mostly hardheads and one or two gaftopsails. Caught a bunch of little bonnetheads and blacktips, and a couple bigger ones 2+ feet that put a bend in the rod. As for Whiting, it wasn't a bad day. If we were keeping them we probably would have gone home with at least 8 or so including one bull, but we weren't keeping them. Ran into a couple schools of little jacks that would double us up. One Giant stingray that took 20 minutes to get in. Also randomly reeled in a giant blue crab i ended up cutting up and using for crab knuckles bait.

Still looking for that clean water.
 

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#1,379
#1,379
Whitings/Sea Mullet coming over the rail on the webcam pretty much every time I've looked at the page
seeent a couple of black drum (prob 10#) and blues (prob #5) come across the rail. It's pretty cool. The people fishing there know where the cam is and make the effort sometimes to hold up the big ones so the pier cam can see.
Piers have "cultures," and the culture of this one is one of the best.
I'm planning to go on the 5th through the 14th (gotta do June) and have already made reservations. It was about $1500 (9 nights), and the pier has a pretty good restaurant (or used to). At least one day, I will go to Bogue Inlet Pier on Emerald Isle, though.
I'm excited checking out these pier cams. Like I said, the bite's been good.
It looks like the lady beside the cleanin table might be a UT fan.

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#1,380
#1,380
This pier is open 24 hours, and is about 10 miles I'd say from Seaview.
The winds are blowing straight out of the west. @MercyPercy is that the best one for Florida Atlantic side?
It is crazy this is the end of the pier right now:
1744774336102.png

like 6 ppl on Kure, and it looks like at least 3 ;pin riggers for King/Spannies. Water like glass. 5 MPH out of West
1744774537656.png


Ocean Isle turned off the lights.

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#1,385
#1,385
joevol33 said:
That us a good'un!
Click to expand...

20" and fat. Tasty too! The biggest one I ever caught out of that creek I believe was 25". Would have been an awful day if not for the big trout. Not sure what it was but they just weren't biting. Only caught a couple other trout the whole time and both were too small to keep. Couldn't catch a single red even with live mud minnows. Parked under a bridge (mostly to get out of the sun and heat) and dropped some shrimp right down by the pilings for Sheepshead. Heard folks had been catching them lately. Not me. Just some bait stealers (probably pinfish) taking the shrimp off. Fished some mud minnows on heavy jig heads on the bottom under the same bridge looking for a flounder. Nothin.

We'll see if i feel up for surf fishing in the morning lol
 
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#1,386
#1,386
#1,391
#1,391
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#1,392
#1,392
Had a decent little past couple days creek fishing off a dock. Don't necessarily want to be catching mudfish and gar but at least they put up a fight. This little gar is really nothing compared to the monsters I have been seeing out there, literally 1/3rd the length of the jonboat lol. Also manatees.
 

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#1,393
#1,393
MercyPercy said:
Red breasted Sunfish right? Those are the most common type of bream I catch in the creeks around here along with Bluegill though the Bluegill seem more ever present while the red breasted Sunfish seem more seasonal. I think they are two of the more brackish water tolerant bream which makes sense.
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Yes. In the carolinas those dark, red-bellied ones are called shellcrackers, which are highly tolerant of brackish water. When we had our place in so car, i could catch a shellcracker on one cast and a striped, jumping mullet on the next....hook and line...which nobody does bc they net them...my mothers fav fish to catch was the big jumping mullet, which the neighbors smoked and ate and i used for cut bait on the pier or in the surf
 
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#1,394
#1,394
MercyPercy said:
Had a decent little past couple days creek fishing off a dock. Don't necessarily want to be catching mudfish and gar but at least they put up a fight. This little gar is really nothing compared to the monsters I have been seeing out there, literally 1/3rd the length of the jonboat lol. Also manatees.
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Love the spot patterns on the reds....theres a bait shop at atlantic beach nc called "chasin tails" with a drum tail on the shirt.
 
#1,395
#1,395
GordonC said:
Yes. In the carolinas those dark, red-bellied ones are called shellcrackers, which are highly tolerant of brackish water. When we had our place in so car, i could catch a shellcracker on one cast and a striped, jumping mullet on the next....hook and line...which nobody does bc they net them...my mothers fav fish to catch was the big jumping mullet, which the neighbors smoked and ate and i used for cut bait on the pier or in the surf
Click to expand...

Thats interesting. Down here we call the redear Sunfish "shellcrackers" I'm pretty sure.

I've heard good things from the older generation about smoked mullet. I've never tried it yet but I sure as hell see a bunch of Asian ladies at the shrimping docks during shrimp season keeping all their giant mullet and I don't think they're going Tarpon fishing lol so some folks are keeping the tradition alive
 
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#1,396
#1,396
MercyPercy said:
Thats interesting. Down here we call the redear Sunfish "shellcrackers" I'm pretty sure.

I've heard good things from the older generation about smoked mullet. I've never tried it yet but I sure as hell see a bunch of Asian ladies at the shrimping docks during shrimp season keeping all their giant mullet and I don't think they're going Tarpon fishing lol so some folks are keeping the tradition alive
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Over around cedar key where I go smoked mullet, and mullet dip are huge. Even our friends make it, and most restaurants on the water have it at least once a week.
 
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#1,397
#1,397
MercyPercy said:
Thats interesting. Down here we call the redear Sunfish "shellcrackers" I'm pretty sure.

I've heard good things from the older generation about smoked mullet. I've never tried it yet but I sure as hell see a bunch of Asian ladies at the shrimping docks during shrimp season keeping all their giant mullet and I don't think they're going Tarpon fishing lol so some folks are keeping the tradition alive
Click to expand...
Ok yeah i had glanced at joe's pic, and it would need to be a little darker to be a shellcracker, I think. Sunfish can be very tricky (like sharks) to identify as a "purebreed."
 
#1,398
#1,398
joevol33 said:
Over around cedar key where I go smoked mullet, and mullet dip are huge. Even our friends make it, and most restaurants on the water have it at least once a week.
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I knew a dude from I think Laurens, SC who cut out the little mudtrail and fried em. They had a place beside ours. I mean it tasted like other fried fish.
 
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#1,399
#1,399
Maybe that man's last name was Laurens. I dont remember. Anyway, he taught me quite a bit in terms of prepping fish: soakin blues, spanny macks, and black drum in milk. Also with the spannies, add a little italian dressing to the milk.
 
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#1,400
#1,400
I’ve had smoked mullet. On the Georgia coast, older folks would catch them with cast net, just as they would shrimp.
 
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