Chores wrapped up, I headed down to the Merry Pier for a couple of hours late afternoon Saturday. I figured I’d burn through a dozen select shrimp, and be on my way. The dock was fairly crowded, but no fish were evident.

One dock denizen tried my trick from last week- drop a lizard fish down among the pilings, and see if any snook were hanging around. They were there. In seconds, he was struggling with a huge bruiser, probably approaching 40″. His 50 lb. braid and 60 lb. leader held up fine, but the fish managed to throw his hook, and was gone.

So, I’ve got a big shrimp down on the bottem. All of a sudden, it gets really nervous- I can feel it jumping at the end of the line. Concerned it might be the subject of a puffer attack, I brought it up to check it’s condition. As it neard the surface… WHAM! A snook the size of my leg appeared from the depths, inhaled the shrimp, and headed back down. I set the hook, and managed to turn her towrd open water.

The snook screamed off about 30 yards of my 17 lb. mono, then turned and headed back toward the safety of the pilings. I kept the fight up for a couple more minutes, but soon the line was cut among the barnacles. ‘Course, this snook would have been way to big to keep had it been in season- still, I’m looking forward to grilling up a filet or two once the season opens.

So, Tim and I arrived at the Merry Pier bright and early Saturday morning for the full day fishing trip aboard Miss Pass-A-Grill. Hint #1- make reservations. We didn’t, and almost didn’t make it on board. Anyway, the slow, lumbering boat cast off around 8:30, and headed west.

Hint #2- Dress warm for a January trip. With the wind blowing and the temp in the low 60’s, it was a little chilly headed out (and, particularly, headed back in later in the day). We arrived at our first drop around 11:00, in 60′ of water, about 20 miles offshore.

A few small grouper and reef fish were landed, and it was time to move. This pattern would repeat for about a dozen drops over the next few hours. It seemed as if, just as the bite started, the engines would fire up and we’d be on our way.

A word about the conditions- it was l a little breezy. We had 3+ foot swells, and the boat movement was enough to make even hardened fisherman a wee bit queazy. Hint #3- straight shots of Crown Royal for breakfast = bad idea on a rolling boat trip.

So, how bout the fish? Between Tim and I, we managed a few keepers, including key west grunt, triggerfish and… a Hogfish, of all things! made for a good fish fry for the Divisional Playoff games on Sunday. We threw back a number of short scamp, red and gag grouper.

Overall, it was a fun trip- but not one I’m anxious to repeat any time soon. Much better to save up and spring for a trip on a private charter, and leave the head boats to the tourists.

 

 

 

 

Staurday, spent a couple of hours at the Merry Pier. The usual assortment of trash fish- but, there was a school of snook in the vicinity. Out of curiosity, I hooked a lizardfish in deeper water, and reeled it up to the dock. There, I let it swim around near the pilings, about 3 feet down.

Sure enough, a nice size snook came up from the depths, and looked it over. Wham! ‘Course, he had me in the pilings in a few seconds. I repeated this process several times. If only I had brought some heavier tackle.

Sunday, went out on Miss Pass-A-Grille for the half day trip. Took forever to get out 7 miles, where we made the first of three drops. Bagged a nice key west grunt, then we moved. On the second drop, I nailed a 20″ gag- fun on the light spinning tackle I was using. We moved again, and on the third drop, I caught a few nice triggerfish- which is what I was really after in the first place.

Saw a few people string a dozen or so fish, and I don’t think anyone came away empty handed. My only complaint is that we spent way to much time on a boat ride- I doubt we had 60 totla minutes of actual fishing. Maybe next time I’ll opt for the full day.

Anyway, I’m off to cook triggerfish. Here’s a great triggerfish recipe.

Shrimp are the universal bait- pretty much anything that swims will eat a shrimp. The are readily available year round, inexpensive, easy to keep alive, and can be used to target pinfish to tarpon. Tampa Bay fisherman rely on live shrimp!

Shrimp are graded according to size. “Regulars” are, in fact, small- and sometimes tiny. These are the ones that are left if you don’t get to the bait store soon enough. These are also typically the only size available during the heat of the summer. “Select” or “Handpicked” shrimp are usually pretty hefty. These are the ones you’re looking for if you’re targeting fish larger than a couple of pounds. The largest, “Jumbos” are actually not often seen. If you are able to get a couple dozen of these, forget fishing and head straight for the nearest grill. I’ve seen Jumbos that topped half a pound… scary stuff.

 If you are targeting species that that prefer to attack a lively shrimp, such as snook or redfish, always hook the shrimp through the ‘horn’ at the front of the head, being careful to miss the dark spot (the brain). Size the hook to the shrimp, not to the fish you are after. If you’re after bottom dwells that aren’t particularly picky (say, whiting), then tail hook the shrimp by running the point of the hook through the last tail joint (the thickest part), and threading it up as far as possible through the body, letting only the point emerge. This will provide maximum security for long casts, and at the same time make the bait less susceptible to getting nibbled off by pinfish.

Spent a half day Sunday at Merry Pier. You already pretty much know the story- tons of pinfish, puffers (oooh!), grunts, lizardfish, and sand perch. The catch of the day was a nice 19″ Spanish Mackeral that attacked a live shrimp as soon as it hit the water. Tim joined me, but we came up empty handed in our search for redfish. We fished the bottom of the outgoing tide, so that probably had a lot to do with it.

The local headboat, Miss Pass-A-Grille, returned from a half day trip with a pretty decent catch, I saw some heavy stringers of Key West grunts, along with some huge triggerfish, and some black sea bass. A big cobia rounded out the catch- all caught within 7 miles of shore. I’m thinking it’s time for a little boat trip.

So, I ushered in 2007 on the Merry Pier. Tim from Tampa joined me for a rainy day of fishing. Catch of the day was redfish. Lots of ’em. And all just an inch or so shy of being legal. Ahh, so close. Maybe in a month or so.

Also caught a few bluefish- a nice surprise. Small, but healthy. Rounding out the day were whiting, lizardfish, a lane snapper, pinfish a’plenty, puffers (you there, Matt?), sand perch, and a pelican. Typical.

The reds were schooling under the remaining bait schools, and readily attacked live shrimp. I was broken off by a huge one… but the rest were all in the 16-17″ range, and quite aggressive.