Backyard Saltwater Dock Vacation.

[Capt. BassinLou]

We went on a Spring break vacation with the kids over to the West coast of FL. We enjoy staying at waterfront properties and were under the impression that this year's property was on a freshwater system, so I brought along a few of my bass fishing outfits and tackle bag. When we arrived, we quickly found out it was a saltwater system. Uh oh.... 



These saltwater canals have Tarpon, Snook, Jack, Mangrove Snapper, Sheepshead, Angel Fish, etc, that call these systems home. Since I only brought lighter bass fishing gear with me, tangling with Snook or Tarpon wasn't going to happen. But hunting those Mangrove Snapper became my mission.

I found a bait shop near by, and bought few items. Live bait bucket for live shrimp, and dead bait consisting of squid and pinfish.  My tackle was easy, 0 weights, Size 2 and/or 1/0 circle hooks, along with 12 -15 lb leader material. My main line was 20lb braid. I tied 8 ft leaders using an fg knot as my joining knot. I wanted use the  the least amount of hardware possible. Even with that strategy, catching those snappers was quite the feat.









Snappers are smart as heck. I sat in the shadows and observed how these fish studied my live shrimp. (Polarized glasses are a must btw ) The snapper knew right away something was off. The bigger snapper headed for cover, while the smaller snappers were more adventurous. Even with a size 2 circle hook (which is SMALL hook by the way!!) The snapper would not commit to shrimp jumping around all over the place. After a several long minutes, a snapper couldn't resist the temptation and would slam the shrimp like a freight train. The circle hooks did their jobs perfectly and caught the snapper along the side of their mouths. Over the course of several days we ended up hooking up with 10 or so snappers. The last 2 days I have been skunked,,, they are on to me!!

Highlight of the outings was yesterday. I got the attention of a nice sized Jack Crevalle. But even that fish was extremely weary of my presence, but the chum of cut up squid and pinfish was driving the Jack nuts!!   

Over the course of about 20-30 min I observed this jack circling my offerings. I knew that once the food source the jack was keying on was challenged by another fish the Jack would commit to my bait. Sure enough, another nice jack came into the arena but it didn't waste anytime studying my bait, it made a beeline towards my chunk of squid. My targeted Jack realized its meal was going to be stolen, quickly darted over bumping the intruding Jack off course and my targeted Jack inhaled my squid and shot like a missile under the dock. I managed to turn its head, and it then made a beeline for tree cover. With my drag screaming, there was nothing I really could do. When the drag quieted down, I began to reel some line in, but I felt the Jack under the tree limbs. One more scream of the drag and my line broke.  I knew my chances were slim at best landing that fish, but man was it fun!!



Last night my son fried up some of the snapper we kept and it was delicious!! All in all we had fun fishing, and  maybe we might get lucky and catch a few more snapper to take home before we leave. 

Thank you for reading.

[Pferox]

Sounds like a great time, thanks for sharing.

[FD]

Fresh fish, yea boy!

Sent from the very edge of civilization...where I belong