Irish Seaduction Fishing

01/17/2022

Irish Seaduction Fishing Report:
Taking a Break and New Beginnings 10/16/21 – 01/14/22

Target: Reds, Trout, Snook, and Sheephead

Location: Ozello and Yankee Town

Time: Variable

Launch: Ozello Public Launch and Bird Creek Boat Ramp

Air Temp: 50-80

Water Temp: low 60’s

Wind: Variable

Tide: Mostly negative tides

Well hello my Irish Seaduction Fishing fans! It has been three months since I have been on here to post a fishing report. I have been fishing during that time and absolutely killing it overall. I did have one slow bite trip right before a front pushed through. I have been consistently getting out every couple of weeks since my last post in the middle of Oct. But I just took a break and fished. No thoughts about making a post and I barely even took the time to take pictures. It felt good to put that aside and not worry about “Oh I need to get a shot of this or jot down some quick notes for a post”. It kinda carried me back to the time before social media when most of us didn’t have a camera or a phone when we fished. If you did have a camera or phone it had to be a waterproof one, which back in the day was an investment. So, I am back in the saddle again putting pen to paper or text to screen I guess is more appropriate.

The locations I have been fishing were determined by wind and tide conditions on those given days. It has been an even mix between Yankee Town and Ozello. Ozello is just a lot easier to stay out of the wind. The types of spots at both locations are the same, bigger back bays with good structure, 2-3-foot-deep pockets (or deeper) at dead low tide, and multiple feeder creeks dumping into them. While you may see lots of narrow creeks with obvious deep spots in them on Google maps, they typically have to much current and no bait in them this time of year. The fish want areas to warm up with little to no current. When you find these types of bays, they will produce fish all through the colder months.

Both areas have produced even numbers of fish using live shrimp almost exclusively. I have averaged 15-20 reds, 5-10 trout, 3-5 sheephead and the occasional snook per trip. The most consistent rig has been two feet of 15-20 # mono leader tied to 10 # PowerPro with 3/16 oz bullet weight and an Owner size #2 circle hook. Do your best to drop this rig in the potholes or on hard bottom. If you land it in grass and haven’t gotten bit, just slowly lift the rod until you feel it pull free then let it drop again. It will usually get smacked right as it clears or drops.

The second rig for the shrimp has been 10 # PowerPro tied directly to a Cajun Thunder small cigar float with 20 # mono leader length determined by where it is being used but somewhere between 12”-36”. I use the same Owner #2 circle hook and pin the shrimp through the horn sweet spot. You can use a split shot if it is a longer leader, but I prefer letting the shrimp go where it wants to. This usually accounts for most of the sheephead and works well when they are tailing in super skinny water.

I have also been doing my best to target negative tide days during the outgoing tide. Ideally having a high tide early in the morning allowing me to get where I want to be without polling to get in. Then setup on the edges of the deep pockets and wait for the fish to stack up. If you are not getting bit almost immediately then move around the area until you find them. If you are in the right type of bottom, I promise you they will be eating. The trout in these back bays will usually be at the lower end of the slot limit. If you want bigger trout, they will be parked in the deeper potholes out at the front edge of creek mouths or outer barrier islands.

My last trip was on 12/27/21 and was an absolutely epic day. I went out with my friend Jason Glidden on the maiden voyage of his Gheenoe Classic into the wonderful world of flats fishing. It was also his first time out on the flats. He has fished party barges offshore before but never inshore. We launched at the Ozello public launch and headed out front to start.

A large pothole in front of three creeks put us on a very fast limit of trout up to 21”. During the bottom end of the incoming tide Jason caught his first trout on a Slam Shady 2.0. As soon as the tide stopped, we head into the back country. We had to poll most of the way into our primary goal. Shortly after arriving Jason caught his first red. It was a rat but still his first. Ten minutes later he had his first snook also on the Slam Shady. Now we are only about two hours into his first day and he has his first slam all caught on the Slam Shady 2.0.

Right after he landed his slam I hooked into a very solid red on the bottom rig. I handed the rod off to Jason to let him feel what a bigger red felt like. And he got the full Monty, every time it got close to the boat it took off ripping drag. All Jason kept say was “Dear Lord” over and over as he is primarily a ditch pickle fisherman. The smile says it all with his big fish on the day at 22-inches.

We spent the day moving from pothole to pothole till we found the right one. Then it was game on. We had fish on almost every cast with multiple doubles for the last two hours. Totals for the day were 35 reds, 12 trout, 2 sheephead, 4 snook, and assorted ladyfish, jacks, and snapper.

We were out of time, bait, and deep enough water to get out. We did find out that Jason’s Gheenoe requires six inches of water to pole out and only five inches to float and get dragged out by both of us lol. At the end of a very long day that soft bottom drag of 50-feet felt like a mile but we didn’t care. We were both all smiles all the way home. Until next time keep’em tight and CYA!!!

11/28/2021

Let's beat the front

11/25/2021

Oh I wish these guys were in the US

11/05/2021

Training Question??

Disclaimer: No fish were caught in the making of this post!
Alright fishing peeps, I am working on an idea and looking for some feedback. I believe there is a niche to be filled with some personalized one on one face to face fishing training. Would you be interested, and would you be willing to pay for said training? What say you???
Any and all comments or questions are welcome and you can PM if that works better for you! Until next time keep’em tight and CYA!!!

10/31/2021

Wow this looks amazing

The island’s cloud-covered mountains support fragile heath vegetation. Rainforest and eucalypt forest descend to a mangrove-lined channel in the west with bays, beaches and rocky headlands along the east coast.

10/23/2021

Irish Seaduction Fishing Report:
Perseverance and Big Pumpkins 10/15/21

Target: Snook and Reds

Location: Yankee Town

Time: 06:30- 15:45

Launch: Bird Creek Boat Ramp

Air Temp: 68-84 blue bird skies

Water Temp: 73-76 degrees

Wind: started NE @ 5 mph ended W @ 10+ mph

Tide: Short incoming till about 10:30 then a very slow outgoing

For those that know me or those that have been enjoying my past stories for a while know that my mind wanders during seventy-five minutes of staying between the lines. Today was no different with one exception. I was focused on coming up with a good opening for the good day I was determined to have. The power of positive thinking was hard at work!

Seeing as we are halfway through October and closing in on Halloween a theme fell upon my drifting thoughts as the eerie sound of Vincent Price’s voice and laughter began to dance across my neuro receptors.

The demons, ghouls, and unholy monsters slid through the pre-dawn landscape in search of their life sustaining need and desire for human blood. They became more frantic as the tik tok, tik tok of the approaching dawn closed in. They needed to feed and soon.

Desperation drove them to use their fetid breath reeking from the rot of decaying flesh to create some evil magic. As they exhaled their sinister molecules, they began to form a wet grey mist. It rolled out and enveloped the forest extending their hunting time protecting them from the full light of day that will drive them back into the shadows of the underworld.

As the chilling shroud wrapped around the oaks overhanging my road to freedom the drooping moss suddenly sprang to life. The now slime covered tentacles slapped across my windshield to halt my escape from certain death!

Or it could just have been some moss hanging to low, a smelly dead deer on the side of the road, and a foggy morning on my way to Yankee Town with Michael Jackson’s Thriller playing on the radio. I will let you decide, but I was the one there. Now it is time to collect some pumpkins to carve!

Perseverance
noun
1. persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
"his perseverance with the technique illustrates his single-mindedness"
(Google’s definition)

I can’t think of a better way to describe the days events than that definition. It was a day full of ups and downs that ultimately led to my supreme success. After my near brush with the undead I arrived at Captain’s Cove Bait shop in Yankee Town to find that death had beat me there.

They had a pump failure overnight and lost almost all their bait. I could only get 2 dozen mostly small shrimp and the same in mud minnows. Now that’s disappointing, but it tis what it tis and we shall overcome the minor inconvenience. A short time later I was skimming through the dawns early light towards my first stop. As always, the salty marsh air was pleasantly refreshing especially after the putrid whiff earlier.

A stunning sunrise greeted me at destination number one, a mid-range oyster shoal that is the gateway to a large bay. The cuts between the rocks and oysters hold good fish on these slower tides. Second cast with a live shrimp and a 24-inch snook was the first to join the party. A couple of casts later a fat 20-inch red is on the deck. I made quick work of ike jime prep and into my onboard icehouse he went. For those not familiar with “ike jime” watch this Salt Strong interview DO THIS To Properly Harvest Your Catch (The Ike Jime Method)
It makes an amazing difference in the quality of your catch. I was shocked at how much better the fillets tasted from my last trip, awesome stuff.

Okay school is out, back to fishing. A bit of a lull passed before my drag started screaming. As I put the breaks on the runner I could feel the steady thumping of the elusive Mr. Crevelle. Always a fun fight but not the second flats pumpkin I am looking to bag that day. The jack swam off and took the bite with him. Time to move.

Round two was another choke point at the opening to a back bay. I only managed to lose a Live Target sardine swimbait to a nasty rock to deep to recover my ten-dollar lure. The first of two to go missing through the day. I very rarely lose them and two in one day was a first, OUCH!

I then headed into the back which had all kinds of birds working hordes of bait. There were glass minnows, finger mullet, and needle fish everywhere. While this is awesome to see it tends to make the big guys lazy as they can be very picky about what they want to eat. With no signs of fish busting the bait in the open water and the 3.5-foot flood tide well into the mangroves I switched tactics.

Skipping baits back under mangroves can be extremely effective and highly frustrating all at the same time. Even being rigged completely weedless you will get snagged, and you will get broken off. But man when it works it is so much fun pulling fish out of them. The downside was that being close enough to the mangroves to preform this feat of magic meant suffering the maddening clouds of noseeums. Dear lord every inch of exposed skin was getting chewed on. In my case that was my hands and face.

I had about an hour left until slack tide while I punched the openings of the mangroves with a Z-Man Jerk Shad in Shiner color on a 3/0 Owner weighted twistlock hook. About ten minutes into being eaten alive a fat lower slot snook blew out of the mangroves and hammered the Z-Man. He continued his charge right past my bow out into open water. It was all looking great right up until he went around a limestone oyster covered boulder. My 10 # Power Pro parted like soft butter and lure number three is gone. HHHHHHMMMM deeeeeeep breath and several expletives later I am re-rigged AGAIN and back at it.

The next snook went the opposite direction and spit my shad into a snag. I started to laugh and I was promptly rewarded with a mouth full of noseeums. Can you feel my frustration building yet??? But wait there was more fun to be had! I spotted a couple mangrove roots being moved around at the front edge and thought “Here we go”. A perfect cast and retrieve drew out a stud over slot red who tracked it all the way back to me. He merely waved at me on his way out UUUUUGGHH. At this point I was happy the slack tide had arrived. At least the little vampires got a meal out of it lol.

I was hoping to get off the water around noon but had an alternative plan in play just for this scenario. I had one last spot in mind that I knew would have reds and possibly some snook at the right time in the outgoing tide. So, I headed to a point out front to wait out the tide. It was also a good excuse to let the wind scrub off the freeloading insects that were driving me crazy.

Nothing was at the point other than calm and solitude to reset my frazzled nerves after the last hour and that was perfectly fine. I spent the time checking gear getting ready for the final assault on the pumpkin patch.

About two o’clock I headed back into another creek that feeds another back bay. This creek you must be extra careful getting into as it is a minefield of rock and sharp edges. A couple hundred yards inside there is a tide pool pocket in-between the boat motor scrap yards. I push poled my way along the edge to above the pool without spooking any fish. So far so good. I staked out about thirty feet past the pool and dropped my remaining mud minnows into it on #2 Gamakatsu circle hook with a 3/16 oz bullet weight in front of it. That first bait wasn’t down more than five seconds before it got smashed by something heavy which came off almost immediately. I thought “Come on cut me some slack here”.

I threw the next victim to its certain death and was rewarded with an instant hit and the battle raged. Strong current, big fish, and light tackle equates one heck of a good time. A big “Hell Yeah” went off as my very fat 24-inch bright orange pumpkin slipped into the waiting net. He joined his smaller cousin on chill status. Over the next hour I caught six mangrove snapper (all to short), two cats, three rat reds, and two more stud reds at 25 and 26.5-inches.

AAAAAAHHHHH all is right in the world again (at least my world anyway). Out of bait and time it was time to head in. And the next hurdle that came my way was the wind had picked up a bit and switched to the west. This presented a long wet ride home across almost four miles of open water. Don’t care as it is all worth it.

I did have a first near the end of the ride back with a wave completely breaking over the bow of my Solo Skiff. Didn’t have any option as I was in the channel with a large center console heading out throwing a two-foot wake. Road over the first and the second one got me. She handled it perfectly while I got soaked, all good!! Now I have some pumpkin carving to work on. So, is this fantasy, or is it all just lunacy?? Until next time keep’em tight and CYA!!!

10/17/2021

Wow I am pretty sure Trace Adkins reached into my brain and made this song for me!!!

Subscribe to Trace Adkins and ring the "bell" so you'll be first to know about all the new music in store! Follow ▶ Stream: https://traceadkins.lnk.to/TraceA...

10/12/2021

This is priceless

10/08/2021

Spooled: Death of a Zebco

Late afternoon light flashed through the trees shadowing the dusty two-lane dirt road. My ratty blue Converse covered feet were spinning furiously propelling my five speed Schwinn at breakneck speed. As wind raced through my hair (pre bicycle helmet days) the knobby tires left a cloud of dust in my wake.
It is mid-summer break 1972 and I was hell bent on getting to my favorite pond to fish till sunset. My only fishing rod a Zebco 202 combo was trapped tightly between my hand and the handlebars. My small Plano tackle box tied to the same handlebars with some leftover clothesline was rattling like a toolbox in the back of a pickup.
As the pond came into view in typical ten-year-old fashion I slid to a stop allowing the rolling cloud of dust to settle in on top of me. I quickly retrieved my tackle box as the sun started to touch the top of the trees.
Small half-pound to one-pound bass were already hammering minnows along the shore. With my favorite Rapala minnow already tied on I went to work. Getting calf deep in the murky water and casting parallel to the shore I quickly caught a dozen or so d***s.
After satisfying my initial need to catch fish now I wanted to catch bigger bass. So, I made the switch to a natural worm color Crème six-inch plastic worm. It was rigged weedless to get past the field of lily pads that dominated my fishing hole.
The open pockets between the pads always held better fish and the following two cast resulted in back to back two pounders. The next location and cast resulted in this day being burned into my memory forever.
As I got into position the angle of the sun was creating a golden bullseye on the opening. I dropped the worm dead center. The calm surface instantly shattered as my green Moby Dick engulfed the bait and took off. It was the biggest bass I had ever seen and an absolute monster to me. In adult reality it was probably seven to eight pounds.
I set the hook making it just go faster. With line flying off my reel I tried to tighten the drag knowing I did not have much left. The drag did nothing at all to slow the fleeing beast. The sound of that line popping at the bottom of the spool felt like the end of the world. I stared in disbelief as the last of my line disappeared under the pads. I dropped the rod and screamed “NOOOOOOOO” at the top of my lungs.
A few seconds passed before my temper took over. I snatched up the rod by the tip and swung with everything I had in my young arms at the closest tree. The traitorous Zebco 202 reel exploded in a satisfyingly glorious shower of plastic and metal (the rod survived). An immediate calm settled over me as the debris scattered to its final resting place.
I remember looking back at were the line disappeared and thinking with pure determination “I will never have that happen again because of crappy tackle”. And I can say to this day that is the only time I have ever been spooled. I have come really close a few times and once all the way down to the knot. But that is another story.

My next dilemma was I had no reel to fish with. After saving my allowance I replaced it with an ABU Garcia 170 spin caster. The reel was retired eons ago but 48 years later is still working and in my possession. ABU Garcia still manufactures the 170 showing how successful a product it is.
The spooling and subsequent death of the Zebco set in motion a lifetime pursuit of excellence in quality tackle. While I still lose fish like any other angler it has not been due to poor tackle. I can also say I have never destroyed another piece of tackle on purpose, lesson learned.
All that being said, if you are in a position where you do not have the ability to run down the fish and you know you have no chance to stop them then the best course of action is to break them off. You certainly do not want a hundred yards or more of line left in the water to damage the aquatic wildlife.
I hope you enjoyed my trip down an old dirt road and maybe learned a thing or two. Until next time keep’em tight and CYA!!!