Thanksgiving morning Tania and I woke up about 6:30am and headed to the beach to go surf fishing. When we arrived at Blue Heron beach, the parking lot was pretty full, so I was hopeful this was a good sign. Since it was pretty foggy, we could not tell the water quality, but with all the others fishing I was thinking it had to be nice.

With the beach being full we had to walk quite aways south to find a spot to set up. While we were walking past the others fishing, I noticed everyone was catching catfish. This was a bad sign, but we were already here so we set up and got our lines wet.

When we got to our spot there happened to be a bait fish on the beach which had just came out of the water. I was thinking this has to be a sign, the good Lord provided us with some fresh bait. It didn’t take long for our first rod to go. Unfortunately, the first fish caught was a hardhead catfish. As the fog burned off it was apparent why we were catching catfish, the water was a dirty brown color. Tania and I fished from 7:30am to 10:30am, during which time we caught 10 catfish (7 hardheads and 3 sails) and a Black Margate. I was pleasantly surprised to catch the Black Margate from the beach.

On the way home we stopped by the jetty to clean the Black Margate. While I was cleaning the fish, Tania noticed a Goliath Grouper hanging out near the cleaning table. When I looked up as Tania got my attention, I see its tail fin coming out of the water. Even though it wasn’t our first time seeing this grouper here, I am still in awe every time I see a fish that large! The grouper had to be a few hundred pounds.

It wasn’t the best day on the beach, but I was thankful to be able to spend time with my best friend Tania. As long as I am with her, I am having a good day! I pray all who made it out fishing today and all who are going out this weekend have a great day on the water with tight lines.