Well Ive taken two trips so far in 2012. The first trip was yesterday. The plan was to grab some fiddler crabs and hit the bridges for sheepies. Both local tackle shops were out of shrimp and fiddlers and despite the heavy wind and rough water, we grabbed our spear guns and buddy grabbed his wet suit and snorkel gear.
We hit some shallow piers first in hopes of finding them shallow so we could shoot from the boat but didnt have any luck with that. They were deep. The water temp was 55 degrees and air temp was about the same but with a strong constant north wind that chilled you to the bone. My buddy is nuts and doned his gear and jumped in. I controlled the boat and reloaded the guns while he filled the fish box.
Today, I hit the beach with my light setup. A Shimano Stradic Ci4 loaded with 6lb test on a carrot stix 24k gold rod. The bonita had been running the beaches and the north wind had the Gulf laid flat and the water was crystal clear. With my 4yo in tow we started walking. Wasnt long before I spotted some fish and took a cast. BOOM fish on. It felt odd to me. It was pulling drag but not ripping it like a bonita. I fought it for like 2 or 3 minutes and then the hook came unbuttoned. As soon as that happened a very angry loon came up and took off. haha silly bird.
Not long after that, I spotted a nice bull red just feet from the beach. I pitch my bait to him and the 25lb+ fish inhales it instantly. And just as quick with the line broke at the uni-uni knot between my fluro and main line. I sat and watch the irritated red shake his head in the crystal clear water sporting a new lip ring.
Again, just a few minutes later another school of bonita came through. I made the cast ahead of them, ripped the jig as fast as I could across the surface and was on! Now this was a bonita for sure. The fish was ripping out line and I was running down the beach trying to keep up. Luckily the fish ran south east instead of south giving me the chance to give chase on foot or he would have spooled me no problem. The fish had about 200 yards of about 275 yards of line I had out before I started gaining some ground. After a good ten minutes and throbbing muscles my catch was landed with the help of my daughter who also took the pic. For those of you that dont know, bonita are a type of tuna and incredibly strong and fast fish. This 6 or 7 pound fish can fight with the best of them!