# Inshore St. Augustine 7/23/10



## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

Hit the water at 7AM aboard the Lucy Dee with her owner Tripp. The Basin was slicked out and we found Menhaden Shad schools and after an adjustment to net throwing style had more than enough bait to begun the hunt. A quick run to a known Tarpon hold quickly told us we had caught the wrong tide for catching the Silver King. Having seen some activity blowing up the Shad we shot back to our bait spot and made a few casts. Tripp hooked into a 10 lbs Sailcat which was quickly released, after some mocking and mild disdain. 
Then we saw them. A ~70lbs Poon breached 50 yards from us and Tripp had just cast a fresh hand sized Shad on rigged with a circle and an 80 lbs leader, his shot was getting closer... 
Moments later a second and larger Poon cleared the water, just to let us know she was around. Tripp's reel screamed, paused and screamed again.. The excitement was unbearable. A boil formed beyond his line, and then he began dragging in nearly dead weight... Stinking Stingray, in the 18-20lbs range had given a case us the "I hope it's a Tarpon," the line was cut. 

The bait activity soon slowed and with a sea breeze building it was time to get skinny(ish). Netted a fresh batch of Pogies kicked the Lucy Dee in gear and flew down the ICW  4-5 miles to a creek. 

Reaching Tripp's hole(I had never fished this creek) we did some recon with fresh dead shrimp, they didn't last very long and we were quickly not catching fish. Time to try the Pogies. Ten minutes later I was onto a gorgeous 19" Red followed by Tripp's first at 21". The fun didn't stop for about an hour, Tripp pulled in 4 more all between 19"-23" and I managed two more lower slots and three rats. Tripp also found one rat. 
















Now we were faced with a big problem, we had burned through our Pogies but I had landed a Slot Red on the last one... The Bite was still on and all we had was some junkie fresh dead shrimp from a shop I will never visit again. "Grab the pole and push the stern over towards that feeder creek mouth, I'm going to throw on it." Tripp obliged and my blind throw yielded two finger mullet. They never saw the livewell.. We put them both out and I was on within a minute! Just as Tripp got the Boga on that one his rod doubled and the reel shrieked out some drag. "Dude, don't.." But he had already dropped the Boga and was fighting the fish, I now had a Beautiful Red and a Boga at the end of my 12lbs mono... "Tripp, get the boga, I don't mind loosing the fish but get your effing Boga." A quick maneuver on his part retrieved the Boga-grip and we scratched the Double-Header off the list of what to do that day. I made a couple more blind throws on that feeder-creek mouth and came up with some small live shrimp. Those produced two 3/4 lb pinfish which were released. We called it a day mostly because we both had to get home to our puppies and couldn't spend time looking for more bait in the creek.. The numbers:
Trip: 
1 Sailcat
1 Stingray
1 Rat Red
6 Slot Reds

Daniel(me):
2 Pinfish
3 Rat Reds
4 Slot Reds

Arranging the gear to get going, I had to ask "where is the push-pole?" "Ahh shhh___!!!" In the excitement of having just a little more bait the push-pole was left in a precarious position and fell in the drink... Did I mention it is a collapsible aluminum pole? ten minutes of feeling around with the DIY Wang anchor and the most beautiful sounding clank a could be heard. I was actually able to reach in and retrieve it without even stepping into the muck! Celebration ensued and we were underway..

Here is the Lucy Dee with our two for the table..(keepin' the Mods happy, postin' picture of a Skiff..)









All told it was the best day either of us had experienced inshore in St. Augustine. I am hoping my next go will be a Fly fishing venture as my efforts of two weeks ago yielded nothing, not a tail or a wake. 

- Good tides & tight lines
Daniel


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Bait is wrong...only because it works. 

You know you'd of caught more using a zebco 202.
I know, I heard you last time...grown men and kid's toys, not for you.

;D


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

sounds like a fun trip. I'm obviously a fly nut, but I do like fishing live bait from time to time, especially with kids. Just catching the bait makes for an adventure and is fun in itself. Heck, I feel like a kid again every time I stick that line in my teeth.  :

I don't think I know or have ever heard of any Boga owner that doesn't have a similar story, myself included. After the 2nd or 3r mishap mine gained an obnoxious crab float.


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## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

Brett - I'll see your 202 and raise you a "South Bend Danny the Dinosaur Combo" next time we... Ahh, no I won't. But we'll find some Trout and Flounder for you to hook into. 

Deerfly - I too love fly fishing. But I typically go from Fly to live bait, I don't like most artificial baits that I didn't make myself and I do love sight casting(I really miss my old stomping grounds in S. Florida on that note). Also, fly fishing is mostly a solo act for me; I'll throw the Whippy stick on the Slipper only because Brett, until he bought the 202, was never concerned with fishing(he's still not, despite what his photo log my tel you). 

I was very happy that it paid off for Tripp because the few journeys we had made to my spots yielded nothing for him and a few for me. Now I just need to teach him to take a decent picture :.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

hey!!! stay outta my holes  .............LOL just messin with ya ;D  looks like a decent day on the water. as for me though i took a break this weekend and took my four legged son to the beach for some r&r


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## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

SouthBound - It is too and and too crowded for my boy to romp on the beaches right now.. Once the kiddies go back to school he'll have his fun.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

> SouthBound - It is too and and too crowded for my boy to romp on the beaches right now.. Once the kiddies go back to school he'll have his fun.


yeah i had to get there early and found a stretch about 100 yard wide that was void of human life so he ran for a bit  told him we'd come back during the week sometime when it was less crowded only problem is there will be less pretty girls too :-*


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Nice job guys! Sounds like an action filled day, with a few almost disasters thrown in to build some suspense.


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