Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

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Prof. Salt
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Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Prof. Salt »

Yesterday I launched at Mayan Princess (marker 80) into sporty surf. It was running less than 3 feet, but there were some big waves coming in once in a while that I avoided. Launched early with a West wind of less than 10 mph so it helped push me offshore. Worked all the rigs looking for big fish but they wouldn't eat even though I could see them stalking schools of bait on the fish finder. I picked up some nice spanish and a ton of small snapper suspended in the water column. I explored each rig thoroughly and went out to the two farther from shore. Working my way back I was checking each rig again and while at the second rig I heard a shrimper farther offshore. He was pulling hard and barely moving, about a mile beyond the standpipe. I figured out a heading to intercept him, and pulled in right behind the shrimper to keep baits over the nets. I worked back and forth, then dropped behind the nets in hopes of finding feeding fish there. No fish were there,but it was a good idea worth trying. I paddled back with a total of 17.3 miles and after stowing all my gear inside the hatch, managed to run the surf like a boss maintaining 10-11.7 mph through the entire surf zone. I felt really pumped about the video ...but when I got home that chunk of video never made it onto the memory card. :? I'm tired of 2020 and all the shenanigans that have come with it, lol. I need a fish-heavy day!
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by YakMack »

We launch further south at PINS. Same result.

We saw birds everywhere and trolled through and around them - nothing. We did find the snapper hitting often, but they were too small.

Water visibility seemed to be a bit murkier than I've usually seen out there.
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kickingback
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by kickingback »

:clap: Thanks for info. Glad you got out. Sorry it is hard right now.
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Prof. Salt »

YakMack wrote:We launch further south at PINS. Same result.

We saw birds everywhere and trolled through and around them - nothing. We did find the snapper hitting often, but they were too small.

Water visibility seemed to be a bit murkier than I've usually seen out there.
Visibility was around 6-7 feet at the first rig, but got worse the farther out I went. At 8 miles visibility was about 4 feet...
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Yakety_Yak »

There's no telling sometimes. You gave it a heck of a try and some serious mileage to show for it. Were the smacks of any size (Also, were the smacks caught on artificial or ribbons?)?
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Fishtolive »

Do you figure out why the water visibility is so low like that?
It happened to me before..... the wind, temp, swells were perfect except the water visibility.
I like to learn the root cause to determine the factor because hate to drive 3.5 hours down there and end up empty hand....
Appreciate any share of knowledge from the wisemen.
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Prof. Salt »

I don’t know how to tell what the water clarity will be, but if anyone else has got a handle on that mystery please share.

Blake, the smacks were all 24-27 inches, so yes they were great, just not quick in biting. I got three of them for my efforts.
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by SWFinatic »

Prof. Salt wrote:I don’t know how to tell what the water clarity will be, but if anyone else has got a handle on that mystery please share.
I'm thinking the dirty water came from the bays when the water started receding from that low in the gulf. Pulled dirty water out of the bays.
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Prof. Salt »

Finatic that could be, but usually bay water stays within 3-4 miles of the beach as it dissipates. This was getting worse at much farther out, and even on PINS where bay waters have little effect they were having the same problems with visibility and fishing.
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by SWFinatic »

Prof. Salt wrote:Finatic that could be, but usually bay water stays within 3-4 miles of the beach as it dissipates. This was getting worse at much farther out, and even on PINS where bay waters have little effect they were having the same problems with visibility and fishing.
I got nothing lol. I did hear today water clarity along the beach is getting better.
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Re: Great paddling but the fish were sketchy

Post by Brucell »

Prof. Salt wrote:I don’t know how to tell what the water clarity will be, but if anyone else has got a handle on that mystery please share.

Blake, the smacks were all 24-27 inches, so yes they were great, just not quick in biting. I got three of them for my efforts.

I went to the MP last Sunday (9/13) I guess I read the weather wrong, It was a bit choppy. I only made it out to the first rig. I was able to manage 2 Smacks for my efforts...about the same size as yours Glenn.

Did anyone make it out Monday or Tuesday?
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