It is good to go fishing with an old, retired guy who trout fishes ALL of the time and knows all of the other trout experts. I went fishing with Stan Simmerman today. He took me to a spot I had never fished before. How many trout spots does this guy have? We tagged and released 19 specks this morning. Most were in the 17-19 inch range. The three largest were all 21-21.5 inches long.
Trout
Went after speckled trout today. Had a good bite for a bit. Caught trout up to 25 inches long. I was happy with that. Lost one that was larger. Was not happy with that. It was a rather gorgeous day for the end of January.
Went Togging
New Year Rock
The first morning of the New Year was the same as the last morning of the old year. Ran out and watched the sunrise, caught a big rockfish, let her go, came in to watch football.
Big Rock
Did the eel thing this morning. Caught a big girl. Let her go. Went home. Pretty morning on the bay.
Sea Bass Day
Yesterday was sea bass day. It turned into bluefish day. Those things were thick on the wrecks we fished. We did catch some nice sea bass but it was a pick. Got a late start due to lower than normal tide so the tuna fleet was out in force by the time we made it to the ocean. It was impressive. Lot of boats after those tuna. Hope they keep hanging around.
Back to trout
Went trout fishing with Stan Simmerman yesterday morning. We tagged and released 19 specks. 7 were over 20 inches long. Stan got the 2 largest at a bit over 25 inches long. Heading out to the ocean this morning. Waiting on the tide…
Old
Somewhere along the way, I’ve gotten old. Too old to go tuna fishing by myself. Certainly, old enough to know better. I went tuna fishing by myself. Beautiful morning on the ocean. I really just wanted to enjoy the day. Watch the other boats and listen to the traffic on the radio. The fleet was getting a good number of bites. The fish being caught were mostly too large to keep. I didn’t want to tangle with one of those. Then, I hear one of the rods behind me screaming. Oh, boy. I got all strapped into the belt and harness and put what heat I could on the fish. It kicked my butt. I did manage to stay in the boat and got the fish to the boat. We have caught enough of these that I was pretty sure that it was under 73″. It is hard to measure one of these things in the water by yourself. The tape measure said close but a keeper. Ok, just slide it in through the tuna door and measure it. I don’t have a tuna door anymore. Ok, over the gunnel it comes…nope, that is not happening. More tape measuring in the water. It’s a keeper that I’m not getting in the boat. Tie it off to the transom with the head on the swim platform and away we go. Back home, with help from the wife we got the fish in the boat and confirmed the measurement at 72 inches. I’m sore. Heading back out in the morning. I’m bringing help this time.
More specks
Big one got away, again
I went trout fishing again this morning. I caught a rockfish, a perch, and trout. No big ones. Largest was just under 20 inches. The bite slowed and I started to head home. Keith Nuttall waved me over and said to turn around and not leave. Go over there. When Keith talks trout, I listen. I turned around and went over to where he told me. Started getting bites right away and caught trout up to 21 inches. I had a really big trout to the boat. Right much larger than the one I caught yesterday. I watched the lure pull out of its mouth, an event I am distressingly too familiar with.