Reel-Adventure Charters Fishing Report

Mark and I ran out today on a inshore scouting mission and we hit it just perfect! Very rarely does everything line up perfectly to sight fish for reds on the shallow flats but it did today. We had a nice falling tide, the water was slick as glass and the visibility was pretty good despite all the wind we have had lately. As we put the trolling motor down and were rigging up with Gulp, the point we were going to set up on erupted with a big school of reds! We approached slowly to let things calm down and power poled down on the spot, and you could see tails all over the place. This was a true sight to see, and not to sound dramatic, I didnt want to cast into them and mess up the redfish tailing show they were putting on. Mark could not stand it and fired the jerk bait right over me and was instantly hooked up! Shortly after a nice redfish was caught and released. We ended up with 4-5 fish out of that school. We moved out into the middle of the flat and one red almost spooled us and then broke off the 30lb leader. This was a BIG boy!! I also had a school of 4-5 big slot sized reds follow my jerk bait right to the boat, it was awesome to see them come so close. As the tide went dead low we hit another spot and about 10 minutes into it Mark hooked another fish, it fought just like a red. To our surprise a HUGE speckled trout comes to the boat and spits the hook out at us! Probably went 5-6 lbs if not more! Here are the pics I got before the camera went dead! Its on! Lets go! Capt. Matt Wirt www.reel-adventure.com

The King Mackerel are in a bit closer now. We got one at the 10 mile box cars today and marked 66.7 degree water at the same location. This one might be a fore runner for the pack because this is the only one we found but more have to be nearby. The dredge wreck should have a few kings holding on it and the school house should be on fire with kings. We caught the king on a Yozuri crystal minnow on the down rigger. We also lost another suspected king. They are holding a bit deeper with the cooler water. 68 is the magic number for water temp and it will be here this week I hope and all heck will break loose! The bottom fishing is doing fairly well and the blues have been thick at the near shore wrecks and reefs. Jigging seems to work the best for them. TODAYS TRIP… We popped a King Mackerel in the box during the first 2 minutes of having the lines out. Then a missed strike. We trolled our way in closer due to the increasing waves. As we approached the 7 mile rock the down rigger went off with force. We had something large. We cleared all other lines and the down riggers and chased it down. It would run to the bottom and right back to the top and all over the place, like nothing I have ever seen. This went on for 10 minutes or so. Then it bulldogged us to the bottom and would not budge. I started thinking early season cobia? Na couldnt be.. A shark? naa not on a yozuri. My customer states if it is a shark he wants to keep it. I say no, its a safety issue, but we will get a pic.(I remember my old sand tiger tail gaff incident!)Well my 3 customers kept fighting this fish for over a hour and twenty minutes and the fight covered over 1/2 a mile! The three of them switched off fighting this fish four times between the three of them. We were only using king tackle and 20lb Spiderwire Stealth with a 20lb mono leader. We saw the leader 3 times but no fish. Finally my customer comes up with a HUGE Thresher shark!! It was snagged in the tail by the yozuri! It was motionless and apparently expired (or very close to) during the fight. I lip gaffed it and it did not move. So here I am with this shark fumbling through my papers to make sure it was a legal catch. I called a friend to confirm and all was good. The shark was dead, the customer wanted it and it worked out great. Took it to Bridge Tender and weighed it in. 70lbs and 80 some inches long! Not bad on king tackle and 20lb SPIDERWIRE braided line!! Hats of to my customers for staying in the fight! Its heating up! Lets go fishing! Capt. Matt Wirt Reel-Adventure.com