August M&G OC/ 50 Gateway Bridge/ AsaBay

[moc]

Don't feel bad, it would be tough for me, but Pinch is giving me a lift.

[Slackdaddy]

Had a good time, could not make the lunch after, the crew wanted a shower.
We hit the flounder pretty good,
Drifted with the tide behind Assat, to just past the airport.
Made the mistake of trying to paddle back to miss the storm, should have fished it and let the outgoing tide carry us back to the inlet.
We bottom fished, 2' leader on a Fluke hook, 1/2 oz weight at the top of the leader. The only thing that worked was the Squid strips, and dipping it in the fish oil doubled production. Wasted a LOT of time figuring out what we were doing, bait, rigs, etc. Next time we'll just let the tide carry us down, then back, and have plenty of Squid.
My kids failed to land 1/2 of what they reeled in, so not sure what the total would have been. I personaly caught 5 flounder, largest 17.99"

Last picture is brother Chuck behind OC the day before.








Wife whats to go again, she's hooked.
Slack

[moc]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. It was good seeing you there. I am still beat from the trip. I am just crawling out of bed. I saw everyone fishing except for Tufnik. He might have been fishing with John F.

[medicyaker]

Looks like I missed a great time. Sorry I missed out on a good day fishing. I heard that someone (not sure if from our group) need to be rescued by CG from the inlet after rolling their Yak? Anyone kinow anything about that? Just curious if it was one of ours? I hope we can make this an annual thing. With a little more notice I can get the day or two off so I don't have to drive down after work. Where do I get one of those cool orange flags??
Tom

[Slackdaddy]

We came in at about 1:30, as did a lot of the MKF group. no one flipped prior as far as I know.
By that point the boat traffic was getting heavy and the Obnoxious skippers were out and about. The drift out (south behind Assat.) was very peacefull and smooth, we got back to the inlet around 11-12:00 and the power boaters were starting to flood the area.
Prior to this month I was a longtime freshwater yakfisher, the Orange flags I threw together for this trip (PVC and Walmart ripstop nylon).
They were so visible, I am going to sew up some perm ones, hate to say it but the standard yak flags got lost in the background clutter.

Plan on heading back to OC in the next month for another go at it, most likley a Friday fish day.

Slack

[Sun]

Looks like I may make it now. Not sure I'm gonna be in for the inlet but the Bay side sounds like a good time. I work from 3p-11p on Friday and may just drive straight down after I get off work. Do they allow anyone to sleep in their vehicles on the parking lot at the launch site? plan to sleep on the beach after then head home.

FYI for next time....you can try to sleep in your car in the parking lot at the launch site. But you may have a hard time falling asleep.

I arrived there around 1:30AM, and tried to sleep, but the music at Harborside was so stinking loud and there were people walking around talking till around 2:30-3:00AM. It might have been quieter to sleep in the parking lot at the Royal Farms gas station.

[tufnik]

I woke up at 2:30 am and drove three hours to get there. Hit the water with AllYakedOut about 8 am. Fished with him and jjoley inside of the inlet.

AllYakedOut caught and released a 20" flounder. I think he caught more flounders. As you saw, JJoley got a couple flounders too. See pic for his 23" keeper (sorry jj, my camera click finger was too slow, so blurry pics). I caught some blues and seabass. I later went and got nothing on the outside of the inlet jetty, so I went back to the inside and continued to fish with AllYakedOut and JJoley. Had many bites and tugs on my white bucktail, but didn't hook up. Long day. I didn't fish the bridge, but next time I'd try it.

[bhdpal]

Top Map Shows Good Spot To Cast Net For Bait

The very first map on this thread shows a good spot to cast net for bait. Just before you cross the 50 bridge on west side about 50 yards before the bridge meets the water, there is a steep grass embankment on either side of the roadway that goes down to a concrete bulkhead border the canal across from the old Shanty Town.

Day or night, you can park along the edge of the road behind the Prohibited Parking Sign pointing towards the bridge. At night the lights shine down in the water and make it even better. A few pieces of stale bread and you'll have see some schoolies swimming near the surface.

If you walk down the grass embankment on the old Shanty Town side, to the concrete bulkhead bordering the canal that leads back into the "BoatTel" Marina, its great cast netting for bait.

Day or night, stand near the mouth of the canal and cast your net towards the center. You can catch small spot, minnows, shinners and small crabs. You will need a live bait buck with a string to hang it down into the water to keep you bait fish alive while you cast net.

This is State Highway Property and not posted. The only concern is the boats that go in and out of the canal to the marina. But that's no problem, just wait till they pass and throw the net. DNR may walk down to see what you have in your bucket but that's about it.

If the man does come down ask him about all the non-english speaking folks on the bridge who keep everything they catch regardless of size or creel limits and never seem to get checked. I did that on a couple occassions as this was one of my favorite spots to cast net.

The DNR police told me that they do check the bridge regularly and have issued a lot of citations for undersized fish. But its Probably a not a good idea to antaganize him or her. I knew most of them and could get away with it in a joking sort of way. Most of the time they just came down to say hi. They have a tough job dealing with the knuckle heads that visit that town and do a good job in the process.


Joe P