# One Motor, Two Fish, Three Anglers, Four Hours – Roadtrip Report 4/24/09



## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

The fight seemed to last an eternity and the big fish at the far end of the line just refused to give up. For every foot I reclaimed from the sparkling blue water, my scaly nemesis seemed to wrench an equal share back off the chattering spool. At last the beast began to tire and a flash of color appeared in the depths below. I peered intently downward, hoping to see a massive snook spiraling toward the surface. Any moment now! There it is, it’s a… BEEP! …BEEP! …BEEP!









With a groan and the smack of the snooze button, my erotic dreaming of angling greatness drifted away







, replaced with the sudden realization that it was 4:30am and it was time to do it for real!!







I shot out of bed like cannon fire, despite the protests from my head and knees







, and was quickly on my way to meet with my friends Bob and Wayne for another day’s adventure chasing snook at Sebastian Inlet.









By the time the three of us had made the two and a half hour trek to Sebastian Inlet State Park and unloaded our gear, Captain Mike Maher already had his 28’ Contender in the water and ready to go.







Within moments we were idling away from the ramp and making the eastern turn toward the main channel and the open seas beyond.

























As we cleared the last “Idle Zone” marker, the twin 250 Yamahas roared to life, careening us quickly through the rougher pass and then planing out smoothly across the nearly ripple-less ocean east of the northern jetty.

















Our goal was to first blacken the livewell then head south in search of big linesiders, and we talked excitedly about our prospects of finding bait and gamefish along the way. However, our spirited conversation ended suddenly when one of the outboards died and we coasted to a stop in order to investigate the cause.







When the preliminary checks found no apparent reason for the failure







, yet the motor refused to run smoothly, Captain Mike decided to continue on the remaining engine only. Although the decreased speed limited our range, it did not reduce our enthusiasm and we were soon on our way with bait aplenty.









In short order, relative to our new top speed, the anchor chain was rattling its way to the bottom as Mike positioned us for the upcoming tide change and the hot bite we hoped it would bring along with it. Rods were rigged and readied, first casts were made and the long wait began.









It soon became apparent that the blues were out in force, with their deceitful “tap, tap tapping” raising the hopes of the angler whose bait they were swiftly disembodying.







After many a twitching mullet head were tossed over the side in disgust, Wayne became the first to tie into the species we wanted.







As his rod tip bowed over and the drag wailed an enthusiastic “Fish On!”, the rest of us watched enviously as the snuke made a hard run straight for the rocks.







Wayne managed to turn him and began gaining line. Then just as the fish came to the surface, the rod snapped straight, the line went slack and with a flick of its tail we watched the upper slot snook vanish into the deep.









As disappointing a loss as that first snook was







, it did give us hope that the waiting was over







, and a few minutes later I found myself testing Mike’s knot strength as a solid hook-up turned into a freight train on a collision course with the nearest structure.







I could vaguely hear others aboard shouting instructions, but their meaning was lost as my focus was fixed solely on the groaning drag and my efforts to halt my salty opponent. Then with a sickening “twang”, the fight was over. Undoubtedly, a submerged rock or gill plate had severed the line.









No sooner was I re-rigged than I sent a fresh bait flying to the same location as my last cast.







Within seconds of hitting the bottom I felt a steady pull that could only mean another snook had immediately consumed my offering.







I followed with the rod tip until I had no slack to give, then came tight, hoping the circle hook would find purchase. It did, and once again my reel began to protest the abuse I was putting it through.







This time however, my line separated after only two or three seconds into that first big run.









We were down zero for three at this point and the bite seemed to be fading fast.







Other than bodiless mullet heads, there were no fish coming over the side. Our only hope was that things would improve toward the end of the current tide cycle. It was then that I felt the fleeting twitch of my frightened baitfish. “Oh no”, I thought, “not another blue!”







Yet this bite behaved different than I expected and found myself following the fish along the gunnel, then leaning as far over the side as possible, arms outstretched, trying to give whatever it was as much time to eat as possible. When I could give no more, I drew back and let the circle hook do its job…Fish On!









I could tell this wasn’t as big a fish as those I’d briefly combated before, yet it felt like a snook and within a few moments it did indeed prove to be one.







At 27 ¼ “, it wasn’t going to end up on my dinner table, but I was thrilled nonetheless.

















Now that the fear of getting skunked was behind me, I took a moment to eat half a sandwich before getting back to it. As I lunched, Wayne shouted out suddenly and we heard his drag give a few squeals as Bob and I offered words of encouragement.







When the fish came into view however, we found it was a large jack.







Not only that, but the fish was actually hooked by a line from another boat in which Wayne’s line had become entangled.







So, after clearing the snarl the jack was released still hooked by the other angler, and that poor fish was summarily landed again a short time later.

















With time running out and our prospects slim, Mike decided to try a different area that might hold a few desirable species before heading home. We fared no better at our new location unfortunately, with only a few bluefish destroying several more baits.







In desperation, I opted to make a few casts in the opposite direction, away from any structure.







It was on the second or third of these random throws that I hooked into my fourth and final fish of the day.







Although un-snook-like it fought hard and soon revealed itself to be a large bluefish. At 31”, I’d personally never caught one that big, so Mike brought it aboard for a quick picture. For some reason, no one seemed interested in eating it, so back over the side it went.
























During our final few moments, Bob had his only strike of the day, which lasted all of two seconds and then it was time to head in.









Tally for the day;
1 Snook – 27”
1 Blue – 31”

On our way home, we agreed that the day had been the slowest any of us had ever seen at Sebastian.







And although I was pleased to have managed the two fish I caught, it was difficult to enjoy the limited success when the best fish landed by my friends was a sand trout, some bonnethead sharks, lookdowns and whiting, all by-catch while gathering bait.







Still, any Friday spent on the water instead of stuck in an office should be considered a good one, and I know we all would do it again regardless.


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Wow..no responses. I must be losing my touch. :


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## hardin083 (Nov 22, 2008)

nice report, as usual!! Im doing a little road trip to sebastian inlet this weekend.  gonna be camping there all weekend!!! I'll try and catch some of them snook ya missed


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

Not a micro :


Jk, pretty nice weather offshore. Did you find out what happened to the motor?


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## phishphood (Dec 15, 2006)

That sure is a good looking boat you guys went out on. Sorry the catching wasn't better. Hey, at least you got out. i got to work in the yard.


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

bloom went the motor... ;D


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

how i missed this report i dont know, i must be losing MY touch  thats a nice snook, glad you had fun, it sure is nice to fish somewhere other than your home waters every once in a while


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