My sister, Andrea, is flying into Orlando to visit this weekend with her husband. On Wednesday she asked me if I could make her some fish dip. I told her I would; however, I had no fish to make the dip. When Tania got home from work, she asked if I wanted to go fishing to try and get something to make fish dip for my sister. Of course, I said yes. I am such a blessed man to have a wife who loves fishing as much as I do!

As Tania got changed, I packed the car and then changed myself. We started off by getting a dozen shrimp at DeBrooks. I, myself, was planning on using artificial baits.  We went to the end of Fishermans Warf Rd and fished the turn basin. It didn’t take long for Tania to start catching fish. She was catching so quickly I had a hard time fishing. About 15 minutes in Tania hooked up with something pretty large. Because of the way it was fighting we are sure it was a large drum or a grouper. 

While I was running back to the car to get the net, the fish popped off. When Tania brought in the line, we found out it broke her 20lb leader. We were both disappointed as we did not get to confirm what the fish was. We ended up running out of bait in about 45 minutes. Tania landed probably 20 short snapper and I caught one decent size Blue Runner. I was hoping for a few more Blue Runners for the fish dip, but I took what I got. 

On Thursday, after Tania went to work, I tried for another fish to ensure I had enough for the fish dip. I started off at Fishermans Warf, but I didn’t even get a bite and I saw no life, so I moved to the next spot. 

I spent 30 minutes at the bridge off Old Dixy Hwy in Taylor Creek. Once again, I didn’t have any luck. It was an outgoing tide, and the water was a root beer color. I was throwing the Moonwalker and Slam Shady 2.0. At this point I was feeling the pressure to get a fish for the dip. 

I had enough time for one more spot. I thought for sure I would catch a Jack at the boat ramp at the Fort Pierce City Marina. I spent about 30 minutes casting both the Slam Shady and the Moonwalker. I got two hits on the Slam Shady but that was it. At this point I had to head home to take care of some work and chores. 

When Tania got home from work, we were planning on going fishing again, but Tania was exhausted. She is still not 100% from when she was sick last week. At this point I just decided to cut the recipe in half and make the dip with the Blue Runner I had. As the night progressed though I just felt compelled to get another fish for the dip. I told Tania I would head out about 6am to try one last time. I figured if was home by 8am I would have time to brine and smoke the fish. 

I started off at the boat ramp at Ft Pierce City Marina. When I got there about 615 there was someone already fishing. There was plenty of room there so I casted for about 10 minutes with no action. At this point the guy, who was already fishing, had a buddy show up so I moved to a different spot. Within 4 casts of the second spot, I had a fish on. With the reel screaming and the head shake I knew it was a Jack Crevalle! About 6:45am I had landed an 18-inch Jack Crevalle. 

I cut the jacks throat and tossed him in a bucket of water to bleed him out. While the fish was bleeding out, I packed the car as I was on a time crunch. At this point I filleted up the fish and was heading home about 7:15am. I was so relieved to have caught the fish, but In my rush I forgot to get a picture.

At the end of the day, I was blessed to have enough time to catch the fish for the dip. It was very windy, so the conditions weren’t favorable. The weekend forecast is 15-20kt winds with 4-6ft seas, so if anyone dares to go out, I pray for you to stay safe and have tight lines!