Went on a road trip to get a boat and said what the heck, another three hours to do something that Ive always wanted to do will be worth it! Day one took a guide and at the very first spot im rigging up and look down and one was sitting in a brush pile. Totally awesome to see every element of the process of gettin them on the hook and in your hand. Hard fighters that for their size make impressive runs and hard headshakes. Using light tackle even got us a few jumps. We got 7 on day 1 with the big boy qualifying as a FL state big catch…
Day 2… had a couple hours to kill before we absolutely had to get on the road. went by the tackle shop and outfitted as best as I knew. Talked to the guy and he was happy to send someone that lived 9 hours away to some good spots. spent all of the remaining time without seeing a fish. A local at the small boat ramp even took me for a ride on his boat that he was sea trialing and said that area had got a lot of rain and was as dirty as he had ever seen. No fish out the boat either. With the thought of gettin skunked I decided to push the itinerary back and try one more spot that required quite a stretch of the legs to get to. Walked into this place and the water cleared up… fish were eating and we managed 8. The last one was caught on artificial which I had been trying to do all trip. She was guarding a bed and just like a largie when ya piss em off enough they will finally eat. Might be a new species to add to the list for Mr Ralph! A few hours late but got on the road happy as all get out and stopped to help a guy with a blowout and no jack hoping to rack up a few karma pts. still had one of my tires go near walterboro but at 4 am pulled in the yard safe and sound!
Fantastic! That is indeed a first on a TroutEye to my knowledge.
Thanks for sharing. Our “FL” fish species have been increasing, with snook and tarpon on the list.
I sure wish that have been the case for our trip but the guy told us that this time of year even these tropical fish are feeling the effects of the heat and their metabolism or digestion or something doesn’t allow them to consume as much so there were a few that were quite Lockjawed… Caught a glimpse of one that looked at a bait coming up that I’ll dream about for a long time
Would be cool if we could get them here but they would die off the first winter. They don’t usually make it even up to Palm Beach because of the winter.
I remember watching a fishing show in South America and the guide did his customary “kiss and release” , fish wiggled and guide ended up with a terrible cut on his lip and chin.
I guess those things have teeth? never caught one.
dude the very place we went to we walked up to the canal and immediately looked down and there was one right under us. took a few minutes to get him to eat but it was a great way to start!!
I remember watching a fishing show in South America and the guide did his customary “kiss and release” , fish wiggled and guide ended up with a terrible cut on his lip and chin.
I guess those things have teeth? never caught one.
Not much more than a regular largemouth... I thumb them by the lip like a largemouth, but their mouth is abrasive, so if they are shaking around and stuff, your thumb will go raw quickly...
Their jungle cousins, Amazon in 1996, don’t recall need for too much caution when handling. All on caught on about 8" chopper. Helluva topwater explosion you can’t get enough of, need to do it again.
