This week’s report comes to you not from our little fishing town of Port St. Joe, but rather, from the actual big city of Orlando, Florida. That’s right folks, I’ve been pulled from my daily duties at the Bluewater Outriggers to attend ICAST, the world’s largest sportfishing trade show. Let me tell you, this thing is huge! After spending 9 hours walking the floor today, I still haven’t seen everything they have to offer. I’m excited about some of the new products I’ve seen and will soon be having some of the latest and greatest products from Shimano, Daiwa, JYG, and Ocean’s Legacy delivered to the store and available to you! The past 48 hours have been exhausting and I’m so looking forward to bed, so I better get this show on the road.
The Red Snapper have been playing hard to get, especially the big ones. That’s not to say you can’t get them; folks have been reaching their limits; they just have to bounce around from reef to reef. There have also been a number of mahi being caught, so be on the lookout while you’re out there. Now would also be a good time to head out and do some high-speed trolling. Check out J.D. Dillon’s picture above with yet another Wahoo he brought in this last week. I won’t name names, but I know a certain gentleman at Bluewater Outriggers is just a tad jealous (Understatement of the week). NOAAA is predicting rough seas over the next few days, but Saturday and Sunday should be calm enough to get out there if the weather allows.
Fishing St. Joseph Bay is still good. While I was working over the weekend, a friend of mine who is as honest as they come, had a banner day fishing the Eagle Harbor area and landing some nice trout and big Redfish. I personally landed another monster trout fishing off the beach at Salinas Park. I waded out about 30ft from shore right at sunset and threw some small Ned rigs that got hammered. Maybe fishing smaller presentations is the key? If you find yourself saying, “what is a Ned rig,” stop into the store and ask and I’ll be glad to fill you in! On the evening before my trip to Orlando, the boy and I stopped under the Costin bridge. Ignoring my pleas for him to stay on the sandy beach, he walked barefooted to an area notorious for glass shards in order to gather rocks for an imaginary campfire. The tide was hitting a bit higher that evening covering the sandbar by about a foot. Using a Salty Ned Shrimp with a 1/10 oz finesse head I tossed into the current and immediately got a trout. That trout was followed by two more. Those two trout were followed by pleading for chicken nuggets from my three-year-old. And why should he not throw a tantrum? It was only gearing up to be the excellent fishing night I’ve been waiting for the past month. When I told him, “Just one more cast,” he protested in such a manner that I knew my night was going to end then and there. He’d heard that line before. I told him to head to the truck, and while he seemed satisfied that I was leaving for real, I did make one last cast. While that move will probably cause “trust issues” that require my payments to a shrink when he’s older, I did lay into a nice flounder that measured 17!” That’s going to do it for this week folks. It’s time for me to hit the sack! I wish you all a good week, and as always, I hope to see you out there.
-Jeremiah Beasley