7/28/18 - Quintana Jetty

[Chubs]

I went fishing on Saturday during my kid's nap time, from around 12PM - 2:30PM.
Here was the weather for the day

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I didn't bring too much gear, just my Igloo ice chest, 2 rods (1 bait caster and 1 spinning reel). Some tackle which included various gold spoons, plastics, jig heads, and some corkys.
I've really been wanting to learn to use a bait caster and saw some good tips on Lafishblog to try out. The spinning setup was a 1/4 or 3/8 oz jig head and chartreuse Vortex Shad. Bait caster was I think 1/2 or 3/4 oz gold splinter style Johnson spoon.

I started walking and stopped at my 1st spot where I saw a good access to walk down to the water. Made some casts with the jig. No bites. Tried the inside and outside and moved after about 5 casts each side.

Walked a bit more and tried again, this time with the gold spoon. No bites though so I kept going.

Got to my 3rd spot. Tried the outside near some promising looking rocks that had fallen off the main jetty into the water. Few casts with jig and nothing. Since the area looked so good though this time I picked up the gold spoon to try it. I cast way out past the tideline, zinged it out there, let the lure sink for maybe a 3 count, then ripped it back to myself… Fish on!! I hooked good 17" smack!

So I tried some more casts using the same retrieve. Cast as far as I could past the tideline, wait a bit, then rip back. Fish on!! Landed a spec at around 18".

It was pretty steady action from then on. Bite wasn't super-fast, maybe a fish every 10 casts. I never did relocate though because they kept biting and kept being good sized. I tried both the spoon till the bite died down, swapped to jig till bite died down, then back to spoon again. Did some deep jigging, fast retrieve jig, bottom hopping. Spoon had the best luck when I'd let it sink a bit then reel back in. Seemed I had to slow down the retrieve a bit as the day went on. I liked to cast the spoon the pay out a little more line with the bait caster before I locked it in so it would sink straight down rather than vertically towards me.

Some weird to me things - I'd keep hooking specs and they would get off right at my feet. I noticed a lot of the fish I'd drag in were just barely hooked on the gold spoon. Sometimes I brought them in they were actually hooked on the outside on the throat!? And it happened enough times it probably wasn't a fluke. I figure maybe they would chase down the bait, try to take a bite then notice something was wrong, pull out at the last second but get hooked thanks to the trebles??

Also, I found out I love a bait caster! I was actually getting good at it and was preferring it over my spinning rod. Was able to be more accurate on my cast but possibly that was the spinning rod's fault. That heavy weight of the spoon though meant I only birds nested maybe twice, and once was my own fault for doing a short cast and yanking my rod back to fast.

I saw some freaking huge beast reds that never wanted to bite, they were literally cruising right on the rocky shoreline. I saw tons of mullet swimming counter flow to the current, and oddly enough, I got the most hits when I brought my lure counter the flow of the current too.

I caught a whiting bottom jigging with the jighead lol!

Caught my 1st bluefish. Caught 2 and kept 1, gotta try it.

Altogether it was my best trip every considering I was only out there for 2.5 hours and caught +10 fish, probably hooked and lost another 10 specs. Worst one was a big ole fatty 20" I'd guess, I had him at the rocks, lifted him but my drag let him back in the water, so I horsed him back again and this time thumbed the spool to lift him - OFF HE GOES!! Arg

It turned out that most everyone else was not catching any fish. In fact a guy couldn't stand it after he saw me pulling out probably my 8th fish. He wanted to know what I was using/ doing. I showed him the gold spoon and explained what I was doing. He was using cut bait and having no luck.

In the end I had to get back once my sons woke up and the wife called. I saw the same guy that asked me what I was doing had still not caught anything. So I walked over to him and gave him one of my spare gold spoons which he gladly accepted. I hope he caught something with it and will repeat the kindness with other folks when given the chance

Here's some pics. Yes I kept some for a few dinners. I like to eat fish the 3 non-specs are the smack, bluefish, and whiting. Smallest keeper spec was 15" rest were around the 18 - 19 inch range. I caught (and released) only 1 undersized spec all day so it was pretty good day in that regard too.

[karstopo]

Awesome. That sounds like a bunch of fun. I like catching and eating bluefish and Spanish mackerel, but neither one freeze well. Hope you ate them by now. Speckled trout does better in the freezer.

Nice going on figuring out the presentation the fish wanted. There was a recent thread on another site about baitcasting versus spinning rigs. The spinning reel lovers really stepped up and defended their gear, but I have way more fun casting and fishing baitcasting reels compared to spinning set ups. Once you get were the backlashes go away, your spinning rig might start to gather dust, at least for chunking tops, plugs and tails. Save the spinning rig for the popping cork /gulp rig if you enjoy fishing that.

Anyhow, thanks for the report.

[Chubs]

Ah shoot. Well we ate the Spanish Mack, but I froze the bluefish. I froze it in a vacuum bag though. Had planned to eat it this Friday, so I suppose we'll see if it's any good or not. Was going to grill it too.

Ya I definitely see a new bait caster in my near future to replace some of my older spinning gear... The other very nice thing, regardless of better feel - they are like 1/2 or less the weight of a spinning reel. That actually makes a ton of difference when you are in a paddle yak.

[Crusader]

I think it hard to argue that baitcaster is better than meat mincer in every aspect but one -- backlashes. Unfortunately, this also happened to be quite important -- important enough that I still use spinning reels. And keep making fun of my friends when they get a bird nest right when it is the most inconvenient. Also, the lighter lure is -- the higher chance of a backlash too. Or wind... or getting tired... or distracted... or smth is slightly off inside... or a bit of salt got in... or moon phase is wrong. Spinning reels are just more practical.

Actually there is another aspect where spinning reel is better -- top-water fishing for tuna/etc.

P.S. I love mackerel -- marinaded or broiled (japanese-style) is very good.

[NativeSon]

Way to find them Chubs!

For you younger folks out there, I grew up throwing Michell 300 spinning reels. No, not the ones they sell now, the originals, made in France. They were real work horses, dependable as all get out. The first one I had I used for years, all in the salt. Wish they still made them. You can still find them on ebay, but somewhat difficult to find one in good shape.
Never have used a bait caster.

[Chubs]

Thanks for the idea on the Japanese style fish - gave me some ideas. I love to cook. I probably ought to post more in the cooking section of this forum lol.

My favorite thing to do right now with the fish I catch is fish tacos.

Man I can't even remember how I season them. Something like a little bit of cumin, chilli powder, some other herbs and salt. Grill or pan fry them. best if fillet'ed that way more spices get on the fish. Don't overdo the spices though because you can overwhelm the fish easily.

Get some finely shreaded cabbage + cilantro + lime juice mixed together as a topping.

Heat corn tortillas on a hot indian cooking device my wife calls a Towah - you could just as easily use a cast iron skillet though.

Can put a little salsa on the top. I think I use a Mexican type cheese too (Qojita??)

So good


Also, I always just used my spinning gear and let my lone bait caster just sit in the back of my yak, never used - but I was finding it was just more fun to cast it this weekend for whatever reason. Enough so that I hardly used my spinning setup that day. Everything is personal preference of course

[NativeSon]

Misspelled "Mitchell".

Those fish tacos sound great, hard to beat!

[karstopo]

Post up some recipes, I’m always in the mood for something a little different.

Fish tacos are a family favorite.

No right or wrong on tackle, just preferences. We all related to particular styles of fishing and gear. Forums are nice for shedding some light on some different ideas about gear and tackle.

Last night, I made a Thai Coconut Curry fish. I’ll post the recipe in the recipe section.

[TxAquatics]

Nice report Chubs, love the details. I'm off to the Rio Grande Valley, I'll get some much needed fishing time in, unfortunately most will be wade n bank fishing port Mansfield and south padre island flats/jetty. I'll post a report if I have a good outing!

[Crusader]

Broiled mackerel

[AsianAngler]

nciely done

[Drifting Yak]

Congrats Chubs! Always fun reading your posts.