Rickenbacker 2009 -10-11-12-13-14-15 Fishing Reports Only

[baseball4life702]

Not really a miracle imo , keys bridges were 1-3 people all yesterday and the Rick was pretty dead today when we passed by early and tonight about 15 people when we got there at 9:30 then down to about 6 by 10:30..... Bite was relatively slow... We actually caught a few pins right off the bat and used them live, absolutely nothing except the last one we butterflied eventually something grabbed it but rocked up quickly and what is wierd I pulled to break it off and I felt it pop out but as soon as I got my hand back to the reel it was back snagged again so I'm almost certain something decent was on it but eventually I really popped it off breaking the rig. We ended up with 1 Grover 1 grunt and an 18' flounder that sadly wasn't caught by us but a fellow pier rat donated it to our cooler,, but hell we only had like 5 squid + small bag of frozen shrimp for bait and an FSU loss to deal with

[Old School]

Nothing beats a Southern Flounder for table fair in my book. (Did the "Pier rat" believe the flounder was not a good eating fish ?)

[baseball4life702]

No I don't think so, he knew exactly what it was and that it was well over the minimum size, he was also giving what looked like grunts to another family that wasn't catching anything but they didn't want the flounder either. He did say why as he walked over but I can't remember exactly why he couldn't keep it

[kblue]

Any shrimp runs?

[LINESIDER]

was out on a bait hunt, shrimp are out.. nice size ones,with this wind and moo, they should hold up a bit.

[k5523915]

People been catching macs this week in the mornings they are aroUnd. I was there Thursday morning caught 2 myself using white bait floating rig

[G_Loc]

How early were you out there? I'm thinking inking of stopping by at around 7am one of these days for some pre-workout fishing. Hoping to snag a mac or two

[HJared]

any reports on if macks have still been around this week?

[LINESIDER]

they will be there tomorrow mornin

[HJared]

I'll be there looking for em. WILL report back

[HJared]

Not a mac in sight. No shrimp or white bait

[G_Loc]

Damn! Thanks for the report. Was anyone around?

I'm planning on stopping by tomorrow morning for an hour or two. Will report back.

[LINESIDER]

did u put a bait in the water? cast a jig?

[HJared]

I threw gotchas. Crappie jigs and bucktails. I also had a rod out bobber rigged with a small grunt both dead and alive and a piece of pinfish after I tried the whole pin. A few ppl fishing all I saw caught was a lizardfish

[k5523915]

they were there last week while i was there.. you have to go all the way pass the middle of bridge where those fish at.. dont use shrimp they dont stand a chance with the small fish.. i was using live pilchard.. and yes if you use bottom rig you will catch the lizardfish

[MiamiJHK]

I went to check it out and was walking around on the bridge for an hour and all I saw was undersize snappers and groupers being caught as well as people catching WAY over there limit (emphasising way). And for the REAL fisherman there, there was just grunts being pulled up, what a waste of bait.

[baseball4life702]

And for the REAL fisherman there, there was just grunts being pulled up, what a waste of bait.

I wish more people thought like you and would understand that catching grunts doesn't mean your a bad fisherman just that the fish we want aren't biting.

[gruntking]

I went to check it out and was walking around on the bridge for an hour and all I saw was undersize snappers and groupers being caught as well as people catching WAY over there limit (emphasising way). And for the REAL fisherman there, there was just grunts being pulled up, what a waste of bait.

hey let me ask you '' REEL GUYS '' something what bait did you have ?

[Rare]

hey let me ask you '' REEL GUYS '' something what bait did you have ?

I was using squid...Someone spotted a cobia and i was ready like on Ch2 with my squid. Later to find out it was a cuban cobia- pfffff!

[gruntking]

yeah it was a shame

[HJared]

There were no pilchards or sardines so I couldn't use them all there was were grunts and pinfish before the sun came up and after that nada. Usually when macks are around they at least chase the jigs and gotchas. Musta been a bad day or maybe the west wind blew them a little further out

[k5523915]

And for the REAL fisherman there, there was just grunts being pulled up, what a waste of bait.

I wish more people thought like you and would understand that catching grunts doesn't mean your a bad fisherman just that the fish we want aren't biting.

x2 Grunts are delicious and 100% legal to keep.If I can't get big hogfish and lobster I will glady get grunts for my family.And its also cool to target different species of fish,instead of the same 4-6 species over and over and over and over...Seriously I would get so bored of fishing if I only focused on a few species instead of targeting many species of fish.

call me insane, i would love to catch palometa every single day

[G_Loc]

Spent about an hour out there today and nothing. Of course, it was my first time trying to fish for macks, so it could have been me

Hadn't been out there in years. That bridge is nasty. There was a cleaning crew out picking up trash, but it needs a good power washing.

[bibijawa]

I was out there last night from 11p-2a hoping to see some shrimp but didn't see anything. Someone caught a nice 24" mutton though.

[israelmachado247]

I was out there last night from 11p-2a hoping to see some shrimp but didn't see anything. Someone caught a nice 24" mutton though.

Did you physically see the mutton? Thats hard to believe off that bridge lol

[baseball4life702]

Yea I was about to say, you almost gave me a heart attack cuz "24 is a slob of a mutton for that chit bridge let alone any bridge

[bibijawa]

Yeah, the carcass was laying under the second light by the wheelchair area.

[aha14750]

Anyone have any advice for mutts? Bait? Rig? etc.

Been trying with a fish finder, egg sinker, 2 or 3 ft mono leader, 3/0 circle hook and ballyhoo, but I seem to only get hung up.

I know this is the wrong section but figured I'd ask since we're on the subject

[anas473]

If youre getting stuck on the bottom I suggest using a bank sinker attached to a short leader that is lighter in strength than your main line, that way if your sinker gets stuck then you can just break off the weight and keep your hook and leader. Also after casting your sinker feel the bottom to make sure youre on sand, if you get hung up as soon as you cast then drag your rig across the bottom until you find a better spot. Also use a longer leader, maybe 3 or 4 ft is what I go with. You can go longer if the current isnt too strong and the bottom is not too clingy. For your hooks I suggest experimenting with trailer hooks. For example, get two octopus style hooks, size 1,1/0,2/0 and snell them in tandem spaced about an inch apart. I found that this along with the circle hook makes for good hook-up ratios. I find that finding muttons is about knowing the territory of the area, finding the sand patches in between the rocks and knowing where the bait congregates and how the current is moving.

[Old School]

The bottom of Rickenbacker is so covered with broken off monofilament and braid that anything that goes to the bottom will hang up. You will lose your bank sinker every time with light line, unless you use some really strong braid, and then you will be bringing up wads of old line, hooks and sea growth.