Fishing Log

Gotcha Lure

When the fast toothy fighters like bluefish, jacks and Spanish mackerel move in every spring, they can destroy soft plastic jigs faster than you can change them  out.  My favorite go-to bait then is a chrome version of the Gotcha Lure.  These fish can also easily cut through mono or braided line, so a short stainless or Steelon leader is also a good idea.  Gotcha Lures are a modified reincarnation of the old Sea Hawk lures so popular in the 1960s


Sea Hawks

March 23, 1997 - Spanish, blues and Jacks crevalle,  all over B/C corner during the falling tide.  Killed them with a chromed Gotcha Lure with an orange head.  Didn't keep count of how many I caught.  Fast action.



blue fish


jack


Spanish mackerel



March 27, 1997 - Jacks and bluefish everywhere, all along Bravo and Echo Piers, and in the cove off of the NE end of Foxtrot Pier, on an incoming tide from after work until dark.  Kept three of the largest blues, gave away and released many others.

March 29, 1997 - Caught a 19-in. jack crevalle from the barge in the western notch @ C-2.  A big school of jacks came by, but didn't return.


Easter Sunday, March 30, 1997 - One hour before low tide, caught a 19-in. blue fish @ the bottom of Echo Pier, then caught another that I threw back (same spot).  Got hassled by a Naval Security Guard who confiscated my counterfeit pier pass and ran  me off the pier, but didn't write me a citation for the security breach.  A very lucky break.

March 31, 1997 - Took a medium sized jack after work, from the east point of the C-2 Pier wall.  Reports of flounder coming into the basin.

 



Fishing Log

March 15, 1997 - Lost a medium sized yellow mouth trout 2-hr. after low tide.

March 17, 1997 - 3 small to medium YMT @ B/C corner near dusk, outgoing tide.  Kept none.  Then went to the ICW under the Atlantic Blvd. Bridge, and broke the tip off the $30.00 rod.  Bought a cheap graphite rod at Big Lots for $18.95 and  spooled more Spider fusion line onto the Zebco XB-65 reel.



Bravo Pier

March 18, 1997 - Picked up a small yellow mouth @ B-2 during lunch and released same.  Caught 3 more nice ones appx. 2-hr. before high tide at the same spot, then picked up another @ B/C corner just before dark.  Kept 4 nice fish all between !4 and 16 inches.  The best fish were all caught about 2-hr. on both sides of the high tide.

March 21, 1997 - Lost about an 18-in. speck at the ICW under the Atlantic Blvd. Bridge about 1-hr. before high tide.  Rainy, no wind.





bluefish

March 22, 1997 - A pretty day.  Lost a bluefish at the ICW.  It hit like a mule and fought like a much bigger fish. Also worked the length of Bravo Pier today which yielded quite a variety of fish: several bluefish, a jack crevalle, two yellow finned sennetts (a small barracuda species), a nice yellow mouth trout, and a Spanish mackerel - all taken on a silver Sea Hawk (aka Gotcha Lure).

jack crevalle




sennett



Spanish mackerel

Fishing Log

March 8, 1997 - No bumps, no bites, no hook-ups, no fish, yesterday or today, either on the base or in the Intercostal Waterway.  Windy yesterday, nice today, strong currents on a falling tide in the ICW, at the Atlantic Blvd. Bridge.



Atlantic croaker

March 10, 1997- Picked up 2 small yellow mouth trout @ C/D* corner, and a croaker off the N.E. end of Foxtrot Pier before work, working dead shrimp along the bottom, and a speckled sea trout off of the rocks beyond Foxtrot at dusk - both keepers.  Monty (a co-worker) caught a mess of nice croakers on an incoming tide, between 5:00 and 7:00-am, working dead shrimp just off the bottom near the pilings, at the SW end of Foxtrot Pier.



B/C corner (top left) C-2 (top right) Foxtrot Pier (bottom)

Spotted Trout

March 13 1997 - I lost a 14 or 15-in. flounder @ C-2, 1-hr. and 45-min. before low tide.  The knot holding the swivel failed, and I watched the fish swim off with the white jig still in its mouth.  Also watched a man with his sons, fishing with dead shrimp, land 2 yellow mouth trout @ B/C corner, 45-min. before dead low tide.  One of the fish was 23-inches, the other was 18, I measured them myself.  Base security showed up a short time later and ran everyone off.

* There is no Charlie/Delta Pier corner on the base, so I'm no longer sure of the exact spot referenced in my log, but it probably refers to either the A/B or B/C corner.



Fishing Log

March 2, 1997 - Caught one yellow mouth trout at C/D* too small to keep.  Beautiful weather, no wind.

March 3, 1997 - Caught one yellow mouth trout during lunch, and three after work, none of them were keepers.  Weather nice, 88 degrees F. high temp. for the day.

March 4, 1997 - Caught one keeper (yellow mouth trout) during lunch from Charlie-2 Pier.  Visited the Intracoastal Waterway (Johnson Island, under the Atlantic Blvd. Bridge) after dark, looking for speckled sea trout.  Falling tide, no fish.

March 5, 1997 - Caught a 14-in. yellow mouth @ Charlie-2 Pier during lunch, and the first speckled sea trout of the season at Johnson Island in the Intracoastal Waterway, after work, during a cresting tide.  Broke a $12.95 rod from Big Lots, hauling him (speckled trout) in.  Bought a lighter version of the same (replacement) rod for base fishing ($20.00 Big Lots) and a heavier pole for specks from K-Mart ($30.00).  Put the old Zebco XB-65 (reel) on the new speck pole, (spooled) with 28# test Spider fusion line.  Switched the ugly reel to the new, lighter pole.  Weather unseasonably warm, 85 degree air temp.

March 6, 1997 - A front moving in.  A maiden fish for each of the two new poles.  I caught a medium sized yellow mouth trout on the small rod @ C/D* Pier, just after low tide, and a 16-in. spotted trout on the bigger rod just before high tide in the Intercostal Waterway after work, near Johnson Island, under the Atlantic Blvd. Bridge.  About 20.min. later, guy fishing with me caught a 26-in. monster speckled trout, on a rusty old jig I'd just given him.  He was using ultra light tackle and had no landing net, so I had to help him land the fish bare handed (a Chinese fire drill).  The jig had once been part of a tandem rig snagged up off the bottom weeks earlier at C/D* corner.  It had a big orange head and a stubby chartreuse tail.  Short and heavy, with ugly colors, I had no confidence in it at all.  I'm constantly amazed by what will catch fish.


* There is no Charlie/Delta Pier corner on the base, so I'm no longer sure of the exact spot referenced in my log, but it probably refers to either the A/B or B/C corner.