Mikey D Fishing held its inaugural Rookie Fish Camp over the past two weeks. As we were beta-testing the concept, we looked for the perfect subject. And we could think of no better one than ... a golfer. A sportsman who spends his days chasing little white balls around manicured fairways and greens, riding in a cart, hailing down the beverage girl, and at the end writing down numbers that really don't mean much in the galactic sense. (Apologies to the golfers out there. Can't help myself.
Fortunately, we had the perfect candidate just a few houses away from the Cape Escape. So we drafted avid golfer, neighbor and friend Anthony Canade, and put him through the ringer.
Well, maybe not the ringer. But we fished pretty hard with him over two sessions at Secret Beach. I'd have to judge the camp as a success. After the first session Anthony became proficient with casting, hooking fish, and losing jig heads on underwater obstructions. After the second session he demonstrated proficiency in an unsupervised setting, continuing to hook fish, and losing jig heads to underwater obstructions. Most importantly, he had fun.
Another reason the camp was so successful was that the fish cooperated. We fished outgoing tides on both days. A consistent bite from Flounder, Trout, and Pinfish. White Berkley Gulps proved effective as well as Z-Man and Savage shrimp soft plastics.
I haven't seen Anthony's golf clubs on E Bay yet, and he's not yet ready to wade out in the bay. So, we may have to set up a third camp session to fully bring in into the cult.
PB Redfish. This past weekend Capt. DiPaola spent a few days at Cape Escape to get some fishing in. The solunar calendar predicted great fishing. And it was, maybe not in numbers, but with one big fish.
We waded down at the mouth of Plantation Creek on the incoming tide in the late afternoon on Friday. Tossed mostly plastic shrimp soft plastics. The bite was fairly consistent, and we landed a few Trout (a good sign, as long as we don't have a harsh winter). Then, it happened. Joe's spinning rod bent over, line started peeling off, drag started screaming, and Joe was along for the ride. At first it looked like a Ray might have taken the shrimp. I was more optimistic, waiting for the fish to turn, an indication that it was a Red. And it turned. Joe got the fish within 20 yards or so, and when we saw the huge tail come out of the water, we confirmed a big Redfish.
Took a bit of time to get her to us, but a beautiful fish of 40". We got a quick pick, and revived her until she slowly swam off under her own power.
There may not be many slot Reds out there, but the opportunity to tie into a monster kind of makes up for it!
Product reviews:
Z Man and Savage Shrimp soft plastics. All saltwater fish eat shrimp. So do not go out without some of these in your bag. Both catch fish, and stand up pretty well to all the other critters out there which you don't want to catch but also like to munch on shrimp. Both are pre-rigged and weighted. All you have to do is tie it on, cast out, bounce the bottom, and wait for the take.
Pros of the Savage is that it is rigged weedless, which helps if you're fishing over grass. Downside is that the hook eye tends to pull through the lure after a few fish, requiring it to be pushed back through. It's also pretty expensive; $12 for a set of 2. The Z-Man is a bit more durable, and less expensive than the Savage shrimp, at around $8. But the hook, while rigged through the top of the plastic, is not entirely weedless.
SharkBanz. After my encounter with a shark while wading a few weeks ago, I purchased a product call SharkBanz. The product uses magnets, encased in a band that you strap across your ankle. There's no assembly; you just strap it on, cut the strap to fit, and go. It comes in a box specifically designed to protect the band from other magnetic objects, or devices like cell phones, which can be damaged by the band.
The idea is that the magnets mess with a shark's magnetic field, causing it to turn away.
Does it work? Well, maybe. I haven't come across a shark since I started wearing it, which is a good thing. But there are a lot of Rays out there. And they apparently have the same sensitivity to magnetic field distortion. I did notice Rays would swim in my direction, stop about 3-4 feet away, hold for a few seconds, then swim off. With a discount, the SharkBanz sells for $120.
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
