September 29

The weather and calendar finally fell together to let me go fishing!

My friend John and I left early and headed out to Horn Island. Once again there were very few signs of fish on the surface and although birds were everywhere very few seemed to be diving on schools of minnows. Trolling around the few minnows schools we could locate did not produce any strikes. We then went out to FH-3 with no luck there either but we noticed a shrimp boat we passed on the way out had anchored up so we went by and tied to the Master John. This proved to be the best move of the day.

All we had to do was drop a baited hook over the side and hold on. We managed to get several blacktip sharks along with other fish including a nice lemon fish.

The story of the day was the one that got away. I had a very large fish on for about 45 minutes before the line parted just as the fish surfaced about 30 yards behind the boat. My best guess from the brief glimpse I got of it was it may have been a hammerhead shark around 8 feet long. I remember the thought “what am I going to do with that if I get it near the boat”  going through my mind just before the line went slack.

We then went back into Biloxi Bay to the oyster bar so we could try and catch a mess of white trout. The fish were there and Johnny ended up with a good mess to eat. The lemon and blacktip went to another friend I had been promising to bring fish to for a while.

Unfortunately I forgot to carry my camera so don’t have many good photos.  The one of the lemonfish below was taken after I brought the boat back home to clean it up. Bringing those big fish on board with the wash down not working really messed up the boat.

 

Aug 21, 08

My good friend and fellow ham, Johnny, N5UDN joined me for a day of fishing on the Gulf. We started early at my trusty oyster bar fishing spot in Biloxi Bay and caught the usual mixed bag that included many more specks than usual but also as usual they had to go back. Many would have met the Louisiana limit though.  The bite slowed by 9:00 and we headed to Horn and trolled around the bars for some spanish. They were not biting so we headed out toward FH-3.

We had one good hit on a jack spoon on the way out but he threw the spoon after a couple of powerful runs. Most likely a bull red or a blacktip is my guess. There were large schools of red minnows everywhere but almost no large fish molesting them. We had no luck trolling around them. We did catch several red snapper at FH-3 but they were all 14 to 16 inches and had to go back.

We left FH-3 and went to Horn for some bottom fishing. Fishing was slow with the only mentionable catches being a fair size bonnet shark and some fun catching ladyfish.

Stops at a couple of other spots on the way in were unproductive.

It was GREAT to get fishing again. Beautiful weather made a lack of large fish no big deal.

 

July 12  Rig Trip at Last

I finally got to make a trip out to the rigs this year. Each time before the weather has been to iffy for me to go out that far. Saturday was not the 1 to 2 foot sea day forecast but seas were manageable although the entire crew got soaked and two got quite sea sick.

Two of my former co-workers from USM, Lance and Nic, along with Nic’s fiance Amy went along on this trip. Nic nor Amy had ever been saltwater fishing before.

We started out from Fort Bayou and headed to horn. We tried trolling around the south side of the west end of horn and caught a few mackerel but due to the rough water we were not doing as well as I had last week. We decided to put up with the sea spray and headed out to the rigs south of FH-6 in about 70 feet of water.

The snapper fishing was good but most of the fish were too small to keep. We managed to get some keeper lane snappers but no good red snappers. We caught quite a few grouper but they were also too small to keep.

The fish of the day turned out to be a big shark that I can not identify. It was patterned in a more spotted that striped pattern and had a short nose with a very large mouth that curved up as if in a smile. This one had another hook in the mouth right next to where mine was.

We left the rig and ran back to Horn getting drenched all the was as the wind blew the spray back onto us big time. We fished and swam for a while in the west end cove but headed in as everyone was tired and ready to clean up the boat and get back home for some rest.

I think everyone had a good time but I wish the seas could have been a bit smoother so the newcomers to the saltwater environment could have seen more dolphins and some of the large schools of mackerel and other fish that are often scattered all over the area we covered Saturday. Well... Maybe next time!

Some trip photos on photo page.

July 4 and 5 Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo

My daughter Natalie fished the rodeo with me with a late start on Friday and stayed out through noon Saturday. The weather was still too unsettled to allow us to safely make the trip to the Getty rigs so we trolled around Horn for a few minutes before selecting the same sheltered cove I used Wednesday at the end of Horn to spend the night.

I had intended to take advantage of what I had learned during Wednesday night’s stay on the island and go to sleep early but I have a difficult time leaving biting fish. We managed to catch quite a few ground mullet along with the usual lady fish and some more hardtails some of which I kept for bait. We went through quite a few catching small, two to four foot,  sharks. The blacktips we were looking for did not seem to be there.

It was great to watch the fireworks display of cities from Long Beach to Pascagoula from the island. Toward morning, mother nature showed some of her own fireworks offshore but fortunately the storms went just south of us.

Attempts to catch specks in the early morning were unsuccessful as the hardtails, lady fish, and spade fish were plentiful. The lady fish really became a pest and seemed to be everywhere.

Once the storms were out of the area we trolled around south and west of Horn and managed to catch quite a few spanish mackerel, some blue fish, and assorted other fish. Just after putting out the first line I lost my rodeo fish to a failed squid spoon. I never saw the fish that almost spooled my 4/0 Penn, but judging by the speed of the second run, it could have been a big king mackerel. A jack, shark, bull red or even a lemon are possibilities too I guess but, that is what I like about fishing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast - - - You never know what you might catch, or almost catch :-(.

July 3  Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, day one

I have been fishing the rodeo since I was a teenager and I really look forward to it each year. Sometimes the weather is hot and dry, but often we find a stormy pattern this time of year. This year seems to be one of the stormy ones.

Two of my former co-workers, Lance and Bob, went with me with plans to spend the night on the boat at the Getty Rigs and be ready to start the rodeo at midnight. Once we got to a point about eight miles south of Horn Island, the lightning flashes off our bow prompted us to turn back. Due to increasing seas and wind, we anchored at the new cove just inside the west tip of Horn and spent most of the night catching ground mullet and small sharks. Around 4 in the morning the storms seemed to be moving in on us so we moved to the area of the new Biloxi bridge so we could have access to quick shelter. We managed to catch a few small fish here but nothing at all worth mentioning. As day broke the storms moved in with a lot of cloud to ground (sea) lightning so with conditions very questionable and all three of us quite tired, we decided to call it a day and pull the boat out.

About the time we got everything off loaded and the boat on the trailer, it began to clear up. We agreed that we were too tired to launch again and reload everything so we headed home.

This trip reminded me of something people keep trying to tell me - I’m getting older! There was a time when I would go out rodeo fishing and hardly set foot on land for three days. I can tell now that those days are in my past. This one-night trip wore me out.

I still hope to get back out this year if the weather will give us a break but I can’t complain about it too much. We do really need the rain!

 

Fishing Report Archive

I took a break and went down to the pond October 6 to see how the fish were growing. All except the bass have been in the pond for two years this month. I have been feeding them floating food regularly and had noticed the catfish seemed to be growing quite well.

This certainly turned out to be true as I took an ultralight outfit and started catching some of the fish. The bream have reached full hand size and there are plenty of small ones around so I know they are reproducing well. The bass, stocked in June following the stocking of the other fish, are now about a foot long. I have spotted some fry of various sizes in the shallows so I can tell the bass are also reproducing.

 

Now for today’s fish tale. As I mentioned I was using an ultralight outfit and 4 pound test line. Along came one of those large catfish I mentioned earlier and he gave me quite a battle. I finally did get him in and made the picture below. Keep in mind this fish is only 2 years old!