Okay … busy at work this week (partially because I spent all last week thinking/planning/wanting to go fishing) so this will be a fairly brief report …
We fished midlake all the way from Bear down to Sandy Beach … I don’t keep track of depths and temps and all that so please don’t ask … We ended up with 17 total …
6 keepers (2-25’s, 1-24, and 3-22’s) … the 25’s were female and the rest male … All the fish still pre-spawn …
10 shorts (with 7 being between 20" and 21") …
and an Osprey … I wish I had the sense to have Liz take pictures of the (**()ed Osprey taking our ONLY big bait 15 minutes after we put it out … Fool bird bent my big pole to the 5 eye and took drag before finally (and thankfully) dropping the bait … killing it in the process, of course …
We fished until we ran out of bait and used the livewells to keep the catch alive … I’m not buying Striper tubes for TX if I can use my built-in livewells to keep them frisky …
Now for some pics …
48 gallon livewell crowds up pretty quick with fat Striper …
She’s floating upside down for whatever reason but like Shad, touch her once and she’d flip over and get you wet … LOL
I will say that it got almost toasty outside … which is GREAT because we are from Florida and so tired of the cold weather … We saw butterflys and shortsleeves … soon those sleeves will be followed by shorts and then bikinis … 
and last but not least … Dinner … Normally anymore we only take 2 - 3 and release the rest, but Jan & Feb were slower than we’re used to so we needed to replenish the Winter stores …
[img]http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/uploaded/lawcrusher/20143311323_IMG_18
Well, you did good, Rick. Just be glad that you didn’t actually hook that Osprey, or you would have had a real mess on your hands. Some trees are already throwing out their pink blossoms, so Spring can’t be too far away.
Last tournament I did hook an osprey. Pulling in the last line of the day and it hit and hooked itself in the foot. Took a little bit to get it close enough to cut the line.
Not sure if your hook issue is foul hooking the bait. I used to use a peice of rubber band to put on the hook to the herring did not hook themselves. I now use “bait Buttons” from Bass Pro. Little rubber circles with a dispenser that keep your bait from foul hooking.
Joby
I’ll take a look at those, thanks Joby
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke
Rick, those small circle hooks are bad about foul hooking your bait if you hook them from one side of the nose to the other. They wont get foul hooked if you go in the mouth and out the roof in front of the eyes.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
Ha, I have a hard enough time holding onto the bait as it is … I lost three herring overboard yesterday because I wasn’t holding on to them tightly enough … I’ve tried the through the mouth out the nostril method … Managed to kill the bait … I can try again … If I recall correctly, you were using rubber band pieces for awhile … Through the nose is the easiest way especially if you want to keep the bait alive (and even reuse them if you need to move) … When we were using 3/0 and 4/0 hooks we had little foul hooking issues … But I really think it affects the movement of the bait in the water … I haven’t tried a mixed hook test (yet) to verify my theory and I didn’t have any 2/0 hooks either … I really like the Gamatsu (bad spelling - don’t judge me LOL) eye bend but I like the Owner Matu hook bend … Maybe I can make a million combining the two designs … Anyone wanna back me financially? I promise I won’t spend all the startup $$$$ on fishing trips … LOLOLOL
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke
But I will…
Remember life is short so always remember your Family, Friends, and Fish every chance you get!
Boca Grande 2008