caught 2 new-to-me fish species yesterday....

[id10t]

Been fishing for 47 of my 51 years ... And while there are plenty of species of fish I'll never even have a chance to catch, it is weird that I've never seen/caught these two in my area, even though they are apparently common.

First was Spanish Mackerel. I know they are around Cedar Key (Big Bend of the Gulf, little tiny drinking town with a fishing problem and artist infestation) but typically off on the grass flats, etc. and not in 2' of dark water (tannic acid and mud/silt) and oyster beds. Caught two of 'em, about 18" each.

The other was weird - the big black drum (the dozen or so I've seen landed in the past few months were 35-40" and I saw bigger ones get lost) come in and root around the oyster beds, etc. They've been taking shrimp - live, fresh dead, frozen, half cooked in the sun doesn't seem to matter.

Finally got a big live shrimp right in front of one, I see the tail go up, then I see my line moving and I get ready for a big fight since for some reason I used my light spinning rod instead of my big surf rod... Take up the slack, set the hook... and .... WTF? no fight whatsoever. Turns out the drum had a remora (or two) with it, and the remora is what got my shrimp. Very cool fish... and while I've seen them scuba diving from a distance, I've not seen one so up close and personal. Big mouth full of little sharp teeth, opens at the top. The "sucker patch" is really cool, looks like a section of plated armor right on top of its head.


So two new species, a good day fishing otherwise as well (19" spotted trout, a few sand trout, 5 big catfish, and only a minor sunburn on my head)

[masraum]

Cool! And a bit surprised that this isn't a Vash thread.

[stevej37]

I can't find the pics??

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I can't find the pics??

good call!

[id10t]

Sorry, no fish pics and we didn't keep any ... However, some pics of the place I fish. This is Shell Mound, on the southern tip of the Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge. This is low tide, on a day when it was about a foot below mean low (ie, really low low tide).

At the boat ramp. Deepest water 20' out was like 3-4" - this is a "skinny people in kayaks only" area, if you take a "real" boat watch the tides.
Plenty of acreage to the right that normally has a foot or two of water... nothing but slick mud.






Looking towards the pier from same spot on boat ramp



Up on the pier where I actually do the fishing from -

Most of the way out to the pier the oysters close to the grass there is a popular area for big black drum to wave their tails at you...



Looking a little further to the left



Straight out from the pier. Note that in a couple of hours there would be another foot or so of water.



Looking more to the left, same spot though

[KFC911]

I haven't fished much in the Gulf ... but Spanish Mackeral and Puppy Drum are common in that big pond on the other side of the state... particularly off the NC coast... but I'm a fresh water guy ... mostly.

Over 20 years ago, right after 9/11, my gf (back then) and I flew down to hook up with a Jax buddy & his dad who had their motor home and 21' Center Console down on Pine Island .... we had the whole campground to ourselves... place was deserted. I think every fish we caught that weekend was something different that I had never seen... the Gulf offers some amazing variety.

I also found out why the campground was deserted in mid Oct. .... just us.... and freaking "noseeums" like I've never experienced before or since.... thick. If you were outside in stagnant air, they consumed you at the campground... a miserable experience, but we had a great time!

I don't have any pics though.... 'cause they were "noseeums"

[aigel]

Only an id10t would start a fishing post without pictures of the fish!

I am fortunate to have done a lot of gulf fishing and I have caught both, so I know how they look like. Did you keep the drum? Did it drum for you? I always liked the black drum I caught - flaky thick chunks of fish. And I am sure I missed as many big black drum as I landed. They are like a freight train on the initial flight after you set the hook!

Thanks for sharing!

[Bill Douglas]

Sometimes those shallow waters can be a lot of fun doing salt water fly fishing.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Sometimes those shallow waters can be a lot of fun doing salt water fly fishing.

That's right! Some guys fly fish them. I always used artificial bait too, but usually spinner spoons or top water bait. Both could be a lot of fun in very shallow water. You could see the wave a large fish produced chasing your spoon, it was that shallow. And the top water bait would get hit so hard, it was like an explosion. Fun times. I think next spring I should plan a trip to my old fishing grounds. It was mostly redfish and speckled trout in the inland marshes. Black drum was not uncommon either. The spanish mackerel wasn't a thing on artificial bait. Using artificial bait kept a lot of the undesirable stuff away, like saltwater catfish.