Loaded up the rig yesterday and made the drag to the low country to hit the salt today. Crashed at my buddy’s house Tuesday night so we could get some sleep before hitting the water well before 0600. As always, I wake up before the 0430 alarm and get ready to pull chocks. We roll into Remley’s after grabbing some ice and we’re greeted by this at the ramp:
PLEASE TURN YOUR HEADLIGHTS OFF WHEN BACKING DOWN THE RAMP, PEOPLE!!!
After shaking our heads in comical disappointment, we pull into a parking space and prep the boat. Straps off, plug in, electronics hooked up and powered on, all gear on board…let’s splash her (luckily the beacon had already pulled up the ramp so we weren’t blinded while trying to back in).
The plan was to hit a spot close by to catch some “just in case bait.” We typically throw lures but just in case… As we pull up to look for bait, we see a BIG push. We watch it for a second and quickly realize it’s a big school of big Jacks. I run to the bow while my buddy (Juice) idles closer to them. I make two casts with a white Super Spook Jr but come up short. Then, the third cast was the charm. BOOM!!! All hell breaks loose as my rod doubles over and my drag starts surrendering line. FISH ON!!! Nearly thirty minute later, after countless long hard runs…gain 10 yards, lose 30 yards…get him to the boat, he’s gone again…GET THE NET!!!..never mind, he’s gone again…my forearms feel like they’re going to explode…GET THE NET!!! FINALLY!!!
My PB Jack…23 lbs. A couple of quick pics and get him back in the water. A long hard nearly thirty minute fight and you guessed it…he took off with such force he absolutely drenched me with more water pressure than my shower produces!! LOL!!! The power of these fish is amazing. I was using bass fishing gear. My rod was a ALX Toadface
I’d love to hook a jack. Gotta be a blast. Good job.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
2007 Grady White 222 Fisherman / 250 Yamaha
Simrad NSS evo2 and G4
1- 22 boy that won’t move out)
1 - 18 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
Side note, How do you like that Xpress bay boat/which model and engine do you have?
I use a 16’ xpress jon for hunting, fishing alone or with one person when I dont want to pull out the big boat. And ive honestly had it in some nasty chop and been impressed with how these new hulls handle it.
Was interested in the bay, would love some ■■■■■■■■ on it
Look at where Jesus went to pick people. He didn’t go to the colleges; he got guys off the fishing docks.
Good to see the jacks showing back up. At one time it was a given to be able to find them on any given morning with very few people actually fishing for them. Just as much fun to throw a topwater chugger with no hooks and watch them fight over it as it is to catch one. The strike is the best part for me, after that is becomes work, like Bangstick indicated, they are strong and can fight you all day.
23- SC doesn’t have regs on jacks. Like stick said, we let it swim for another day. When I used to fish in Florida, we would catch tons of small ones in the canals, and regardless of what some believe, they are actually good eats.
Claim- We may or may not be really famous, hence the face. Or wanted. Either way.
As far as finding the jacks goes, check areas around the harbor. They will cruise around the river mouths searching for bait. Both schools we came across probably had 5-10 fish in them, all the same size. Should be very easy to spot when the water is calm. It’s a large push with fish that size, and a lot of the time, their dorsal or tail fins will show making them really easy to spot.
Excellent post y’all done good! The truck with the lights on might not have been intentional, my truck’s lights stay on as long as it is in gear, no way to turn them off that I’m aware of.
Excellent post y’all done good! The truck with the lights on might not have been intentional, my truck’s lights stay on as long as it is in gear, no way to turn them off that I’m aware of.
oc
If they’re on in gear, back down, and put in park. If they stay on, turn off the truck.
Some trucks you can put E-brake on and they are then able to turn off.
Side note, How do you like that Xpress bay boat/which model and engine do you have?
I use a 16’ xpress jon for hunting, fishing alone or with one person when I dont want to pull out the big boat. And ive honestly had it in some nasty chop and been impressed with how these new hulls handle it.
Was interested in the bay, would love some ■■■■■■■■ on it
Look at where Jesus went to pick people. He didn’t go to the colleges; he got guys off the fishing docks.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY XPRESS!!! It’s a 2016 H20B w/Yamaha 115SHO. It is also outfitted with Xpress’ saltwater trailer, bay stainless, xtreme bay stainless and redfish packages. She’s still completely stock but I’ll eventually put a hydraulic jack plate on it. I wanted a boat I could fish for multiple species in multiple bodies of water/water conditions. Regardless of the fact that some people scoff at the idea of an aluminum or “tin” boat being a good ride, this boat is in fact a great riding boat. Xpress knocked it out of the park with their “hyperlift” hull. She gets up on plain quickly and in pretty shallow water and the ride is dry and smooth. As Juice can attest to, we’ve had it out in some pretty nasty conditions (probably shouldn’t have been in at all) and this boat ate it up. On the flip side, I can get plenty skinny with it too. On countless occasions, we’ve floated her in inches (less than a foot) of water. It’s been a fantastic all around great boat. I’m still working on outfitting it with add-ons and extras so she’s not quite where I want her but my plan is to eventually have her ready for everything from skinny backs of saltwater creeks to freshwater lakes and near shore saltwater excursions. If you can’t tell, I’m a HUGE fan of Xpress boats and more specifically, my H20B bay serie
Excellent post y’all done good! The truck with the lights on might not have been intentional, my truck’s lights stay on as long as it is in gear, no way to turn them off that I’m aware of.
oc
This wasn’t a “big rig” type truck. From what I could see, it was a “heavy duty” pick up truck. My lights come on whenever my truck is running too but I still have a manual control inside the truck. I don’t turn my lights completely off. I leave my parking lights on but turn my headlights off. There was another truck in the ramp beside him but I couldn’t see him until he pulled out because he had his lights off. Well, that and the other guy had his on. I’ve never seen a vehicle that didn’t have some means of turning their headlights off. I’m not saying they don’t exist. I’ve just never seen one. This is actually a good point of view for the guys that don’t turn their lights off. When someone else is trying to back down the ramp, and you have your lights on, this is all they can see. Remember people, it’s not just about “you” when we’re out there.
Claim, I figured since some people go to great lengths to “erase” the background of their pictures to hide their location, I’d “erase” our faces instead. Besides, neither one of us are very pretty so I was actually looking out for all of you by doing that. Lol!!
Leadenwahboy, Juice pretty much hit the nail on the head. We heard some reports of them being in that area so we talked about looking for them. Just so happened the slick calm nearly dead low tide conditions made it VERY easy to spot them. The size of the push was unreal and when the tips of their tails and dorsal fins came out of the water, is was undeniable what we were looking at. We found a couple of schools in an around the mouths of the Wando and the Cooper thro
There are literally countless models of cars and trucks that you can’t turn the headlights off in when its dark without pulling fuses, pressing special button reset combos that you have to do every time you turn the car on or put it in gear, and/or taking it to the dealer and have them interrogate it with the computer. Some people just dont want to deal with that. Heck, one of my buds has a truck that kills the engine if you put it in gear without your seatbelt on. Glad i drive an older truck.
There are literally countless models of cars and trucks that you can’t turn the headlights off in when its dark without pulling fuses, pressing special button reset combos that you have to do every time you turn the car on or put it in gear, and/or taking it to the dealer and have them interrogate it with the computer. Some people just dont want to deal with that. Heck, one of my buds has a truck that kills the engine if you put it in gear without your seatbelt on. Glad i drive an older truck.
I can count pretty high…I’m sure it’s not countless.
If you can’t turn them off, then turn the truck off.
There are literally countless models of cars and trucks that you can’t turn the headlights off in when its dark without pulling fuses, pressing special button reset combos that you have to do every time you turn the car on or put it in gear, and/or taking it to the dealer and have them interrogate it with the computer. Some people just dont want to deal with that. Heck, one of my buds has a truck that kills the engine if you put it in gear without your seatbelt on. Glad i drive an older truck.
I can count pretty high…I’m sure it’s not countless.
If you can’t turn them off, then turn the truck off.
Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat
I would never turn my truck off on a ramp. I’ve had a parking brake fail on me on a steep ramp after i backed the boat off and the only thing that saved me was i had already locked the hubs for fwd and hopped fast enough from boat to dock to water to truckseat. Truck was already pretty deep when i got to it. If i had to turn the truck on too, i would probably have been SOL. Should have had a chuck under the wheel i guess, but not everyone does that either. After that, i just always have someone sit in the truck. My lights turn off easily with a switch, so i alwaysturn them off launching before dawn but its not the case for everyone. Just informing people that not all lights turn off even if you switch them off.
There are literally countless models of cars and trucks that you can’t turn the headlights off in when its dark without pulling fuses, pressing special button reset combos that you have to do every time you turn the car on or put it in gear, and/or taking it to the dealer and have them interrogate it with the computer. Some people just dont want to deal with that. Heck, one of my buds has a truck that kills the engine if you put it in gear without your seatbelt on. Glad i drive an older truck.
I can count pretty high…I’m sure it’s not countless.
If you can’t turn them off, then turn the truck off.
Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat
I would never turn my truck off on a ramp. I’ve had a parking brake fail on me on a steep ramp after i backed the boat off and the only thing that saved me was i had already locked the hubs for fwd and hopped fast enough from boat to dock to water to truckseat. Truck was already pretty deep when i got to it. If i had to turn the truck on too, i would probably have been SOL. Should have had a chuck under the wheel i guess, but not everyone does that either. After that, i just always have someone sit in the truck. My lights turn off easily with a switch, so i alwaysturn them off launching before dawn but its not the case for everyone. Just informing people that not all lights turn off even if you switch them off.
There are literally countless models of cars and trucks that you can’t turn the headlights off in when its dark without pulling fuses, pressing special button reset combos that you have to do every time you turn the car on or put it in gear, and/or taking it to the dealer and have them interrogate it with the computer. Some people just dont want to deal with that. Heck, one of my buds has a truck that kills the engine if you put it in gear without your seatbelt on. Glad i drive an older truck.
I can count pretty high…I’m sure it’s not countless.
If you can’t turn them off, then turn the truck off.
Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat
I would never turn my truck off on a ramp. I’ve had a parking brake fail on me on a steep ramp after i backed the boat off and the only thing that saved me was i had already locked the hubs for fwd and hopped fast enough from boat to dock to water to truckseat. Truck was already pretty deep when i got to it. If i had to turn the truck on too, i would probably have been SOL. Should have had a chuck under the wheel i guess, but not everyone does that either. After that, i just always have someone sit in the truck. My lights turn off easily with a switc
I don’t think the age or “newness” of a vehicle has anything to do with it. I have a '17 Silverado and I can turn my lights on, off, parking lights only…what have you. Plus, I’m thinking this wasn’t the case with this truck because you could still heart the “chatter” of his diesel engine AFTER he cut his lights off when he pulled into a parking space. I didn’t go into that detail because this report wasn’t supposed to be about “ramp etiquette” issues.
Millacd, I have fished many places in the southeast and up the east coast and have yet to run into a vehicle with the light situation you’ve described. Again, I’m not saying nor have I ever said those vehicles don’t exist but I assure you those vehicles are the exception and not the rule when it comes to people I’ve encountered at boat ramps that leave their lights on. As I described, this was just ANOTHER case of someone either being clueless or rude. He went on to dock his large boat on the inside and towards the shallow end of the dock, essentially making it impossible to use the far left ramp, so I’m going to go with a large dose of both.
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
