With the foul weather all week, high winds and lots of rain, I have no report today. So, with my friend Joel coming to town next week from PA next week I thought I would share our adventure from last year so we can compare this year’s trip.

On April 27, 2022, I took the day off to take my friend Joel fishing. The weather cooperated and let us get offshore. It was 2.3ft at 11seconds with 5-10kt winds! I arrived at the dock about 6:15am and had the boat loaded by 6:30am.

On the way out the inlet, we picked up a dozen pilchards. Well, I paid for a dozen I got probably 30 to be honest. The bait guy was very generous with the bait today. We made it out the inlet and headed south to the boils. We arrived about 7am and got our lines in the water straight away.

The water was absolutely beautiful today. We could see 20-30ft deep. When we arrived at the boils there were already 4 boats there. One of the boats was my buddy Ed. When we pulled up my buddy proceeded to show me the nice cobia they caught already. They only got to the boils a few minutes before us, but within 30 seconds of arriving they had the cobia on. I was hopeful that meant the fishing was going to be good. Well, I was wrong.

The first two drifts we saw schools of jacks swimming under us but nothing was biting. We had a pilchard on the bottom, a pilchard on top free lining, a live shrimp on the bottom, as well as jigging. With all the bait in the water I was expecting some action. Boy, was I let down when we didn’t get a bite. On the third drift I at least caught 2 blue runners on the banana jig. I also had a hit, but it was so hard it snapped my braid. Unfortunately, I had my drag set too tight.

On the fourth drift, the pilchard on the freeline got hit. It turned out to be a short cobia. I was so disappointed, as I have yet to catch a keeper cobia. This same drift Joel finally got a hit and caught a blue runner that self-released at the boat. I was happy Joel finally got a fish.

We ended up staying here for another hour with little success. We ended up running the beach back north to the inlet. While we were running, I saw some life and we stopped and threw banana jigs. Joel caught a small Black Margate and a shark.

Joel wanted to catch some snook, so I decided to head back in the inlet and head to Taylor Creek. I set up a cork popper and a circle hook for Joel in hopes to get him on some snook.

Taylor Creek did not disappoint today. As we came up to the first dock, I told Joel to toss the bait up to it. Within seconds the water blew up and Joel had a fish on. I was happy, as he had a snook! We worked the docks on the south side of Taylor Creek for about an hour, in which time we caught five Snook, four Jacks, and 3 catfish.

We still had a ton of shrimp and over a dozen pilchards left so I decided to head to the turn basin to see if we could catch a slot snook. Unfortunately, the turn basin and shipyard didn’t even produce a bite. At this point I made the call to head back to the dock.

Today the fishing was tough, but it was a great day on the water. I was grateful the good Lord blessed us with some fish as Joel and I were able to catch up with each other!

Tania and I pray all who make it out this weekend have a blessed and safe trip. May you have smooth seas, calm winds as well as tight lines and good times!

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