# Rally Report – Sebastian Roadtrip 10/12/08



## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Son of a *$#%@!!!









That or some other equally inappropriate expletive escaped through gritted teeth, as my jig sailed past its target and landed squarely in a tangle of mangrove branches just above the mark.







There was a snook lurking somewhere below my now fouled lure and I’d seen him dart out after my last retrieve, so I knew I had a pretty good shot at getting a strike. But, as I pointed the troller in the direction of my tangled line, the silver flash of a fleeing linesider told me the opportunity was gone…for the moment, anyway.









The day was Sunday, and I was doing several things I’d never done before. For one, I’d taken my Gheenoe down to Sebastian, which is an area I’ve been to, but never fished on my own.







Secondly, I was making use of a public boat ramp on a weekend, which I have steadfastly avoided doing since buying my boat.







And lastly, I was attending my first annual gathering of Gheenoe owners from around the country…the 2008 Big Gheenoe Rally.







I even got a shirt to prove it.

















Despite arriving at Long Point Park well before dawn, my attempt to covertly launch undetected was thwarted, as I ran into several other Gheenoe owners in the vicinity of the ramp.







After meeting people and talking until sunrise, I finally headed out into what looked to be a beautiful morning.









The first strike of the day came within sight of the ramp, when I noticed bait getting busted near a mangrove point. It turned out to be a small jack, and although I’d promised a friend of mine that I’d fillet and sample the next jack I caught, the superstitious angler in me decided to release the first fish of the day, rather than risk the consequences.


















Two casts later, I was extremely thankful I hadn’t tempted fate, as I needed all the help I could get to land the next fish. When my mirrodine was struck as I was working it parallel to and within inches of the mangrove root line, I knew immediately it was a snook.







Of course, it headed straight under the mangroves and I spent most of the fight with the rod tip submerged. He then managed to wrap me around a root and I had to go in after him to free the fish and my plug.







Amazingly, he didn’t break off or throw the hook, so I soon had him boatside. A quick picture and he was on his way.

















A short time later, another linesider mistook the mirrodine for an easy meal, followed by a misguided needlefish and the sudden onset of light rain, gusting winds and chop.

























With the water conditions deteriorating rapidly, I headed back to the rally to check out some of the other Gheenoes I hadn’t seen and wait out the storm. I should have taken more pictures on shore of all the boats. From what I was told, there were close to forty Gheenoes there.







Considering that in the nearly seven years I’ve been fishing around Palm Coast, I’ve only ever seen one other on the water, this was a real treat for me.

























For awhile, it was looking so ominous that I almost decided to pull the Noe out and head home, but I was lamenting that four hours of driving for two hours of fishing wasn’t a fair trade-off.







So I headed back out around 11am.









Before the storm blew past, the skies cleared and it became an almost perfect afternoon







, I landed another snook and foul hooked a tripletail. The tripletail took me totally by surprise and it shook loose against the side, before I could grab it.
























Once the sun came out, I began to see life everywhere, including numerous jacks, blues, a couple of reds that wouldn’t eat, porpoise feeding, snook under the mangroves, crabs, another tripletail suspended beneath the surface, seabirds, egrets diving, and quite a bit of bait being fed upon. However, the mirrodine stopped getting much attention, so I switched to my old standby, the watermelon jerk shad.







Rigged weedless, I figured this would allow me to punch casts deep into the mangrove roots, where it would fall into the open pockets beneath, and hopefully the waiting jaws of another snook or two.

















This was not relaxing fishing.







I must have had to go in after snags at least a dozen times over the next two hours and on one of these unpleasant sidetrips, I stood up after freeing my line to find this guy just inches from my face!

















Did I mention I hate spiders?!







I don’t know what kind these are, but they’re freaking huge and I just about fell out of the boat!







_And let me point out that after cleaning my shorts, I went back in, possibly risking life and limb, to bring you a picture to compliment the story._









Before calling it a day, I landed another jack and three more snook, including the one I’d spooked at the beginning of my report.







After clearing my line from that poorly aimed cast, described previously, I circled around a small island, catching the jack and a snook. Then, when about thirty minutes had passed, I returned to the little mangrove point, hoping the fish I’d chased away had done the same. First cast was a little off, second cast was better, but the third cast skipped in there nicely. Sure enough, my line started tearing off to the left, shooting water into the air where it met the surface!







Thankfully, it cleared the lower ends of the mangroves and when I set the hook he was almost in open water.

























There wasn’t much traffic back at the ramp, as most had taken off when the weather turned nasty. Another Gheenoe owner, TJ and his son Justin, gave me a hand loading







and I was on my way home by 3pm.

















Tally for the day;
6 Snook – up to 22”
2 Jacks
1 Needlefish
1 Puffer

I met a lot of great people







and saw some incredible Gheenoes that make mine look like a motorized bathtub.







But best of all, the fishing was decent too, and I’ll definitely plan on spending more time at the rally next year!


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

your reports are funny.  I'm glad you got some decent action too. 

I left early for a number of reasons, not just the weather. Although the weather didn't look remotely promising at the time either. Trey had science project homework finish, I had softball batting practice, a boat to clean and camping gear to clean up, all following an 3.5hr ride home. :-[


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## phishphood (Dec 15, 2006)

Way to go making things happen in unchartered waters. I hated to bail out on the day, but my wife was soooo ever camping at that point that I knew it was time to go. I was a pleasure meeting you. Let me know when you're ready for a Goon day.


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## goodhands_gheenoer (Feb 14, 2008)

GOLDEN SILK ORBWEAVER
(Nephila clavipes)

Usually you have to go a bit into moderately wild nature to find this large orbweaver (though they occasionally pop up in yards), but they're easy to spot when you get there due to their size, their vibrant colors, and their webs which are formed in open areas. These were photographed at the nature park of Lido Beach in Sarasota. In the third and fourth photo you see a male in the web of the much larger matriarch. The last photo is of a male at a mangrove park in Longbeat key.

I looked it up--gives me the creeps just thinking about it


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## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

Golden Orb These guys are all over the place in North Florida ... I hate to admit it but .22 Cal "rat shot" makes short order of 'em ...

But lately I have been leavi'n 'Em alone ... Dave

Great post


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

Great report!


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## Canoeman (Jul 23, 2008)

Enjoyed your report. I am happy to report that the giant spiders that tormented me on one of my wading trails are now gone. They give me the creeps.


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

> your reports are funny.  I'm glad you got some decent action too...I left early for a number of reasons, not just the weather.


Thanks Eric! I'm glad someone enjoys my stories. ;D It was a fun trip, but I would have left too if I'd been there for multiple days like most people.  I'm glad we got a chance to meet, even if only briefly while you were packing up. Would have loved to chat with ya more, but there's always next time. [smiley=1-thumbsup3.gif] 



> Way to go making things happen in unchartered waters. I hated to bail out on the day, but my wife was soooo ever camping at that point that I knew it was time to go. I was a pleasure meeting you. Let me know when you're ready for a Goon day.


Sounds good Jason! [smiley=1-thumbsup3.gif] Do you ever fish weekdays? I've got a few vacation days I'm gonna burn fishing before the end of the year, so maybe we can coordinate something.  Really nice meeting you and your wife as well! [smiley=cool2.gif]



> GOLDEN SILK ORBWEAVER
> 
> I looked it up--gives me the creeps just thinking about it


That's the one! Freaking disgusting... Thanks! [smiley=1-thumbsup1.gif]



> Golden Orb These guys are all over the place in North Florida ... I hate to admit it but .22 Cal "rat shot" makes short order of 'em ...
> 
> But lately I have been leavi'n 'Em alone ... Dave
> 
> Great post


Thanks Dave!  You know, I sometimes see black and yellow ones in Palm Coast, but they don't have the red body and almost white head. Never would have guessed they were the same species. [smiley=1-mmm.gif]



> Great report!


Much obliged, Jan! 



> Enjoyed your report. I am happy to report that the giant spiders that tormented me on one of my wading trails are now gone. They give me the creeps.


Thank you!  I know...I don't even like messing with crabs for bait. Too spider-ish. :


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## CarlosNoe (Sep 5, 2008)

Looks great: What is the name of the ramp you used??
Some nice Snook photos!


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## MATT (Apr 30, 2007)

most of us used Long Point Park $3.18 a day.


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Thanks Carlos!  Matt is right, that was Long Point.


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