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Pat (yakscientist), John (silasvirus82), and I met up yesterday and launched from the Riviera Beach area around 6am. We launched to calm winds, somewhat stained water, and mostly clear skies, trolling soft plastics and plugs at a variety of depths mostly ranging from 5' to 15'.
Pat got a 12" in the shallows and ended up landing a few more nice fish ranging from 20" to 26" on plugs and Zman soft plastics. He also got a rogue channel cat on razor clams which is awesome. He and John might add some more details about their trips below if they want to.
I headed north across the channel towards Ft. Carroll and jigged some thick arches at 40-50' but didn't get any hits. The wind picked up pretty rapidly so I circled around the fort and was able to land a 26" and a 22" on an XR12 in bunker color in about 17' of water. It was a unique scenario, as the wind and waves were blowing against the back side of the fort, but the fort was reflecting waves back, creating a washing machine effect. As soon as I entered the area my FF lit up with surface level clouds of bait, and both fish I landed came in that mishmash of waves and bait. A neat set up that I'd never seen before, but looking back it makes sense that the bait got caught up in the turmoil and made an easy meal. The wind picked up to 17mph gusts, which was surprising given the forecast, but we all sheltered in the creeks and continued fishing. John and I called it around 11:45 and Pat stuck it out like a champ and ended up getting his biggest fish after we left.
Overall, given some of the recent reports, we were happy to land some solid fish. Hopefully this warmer weather will ease the fish into a more active pattern. Looking forward to good times and tight lines ahead!Fort 2.jpgStriper Fort 1.jpgStriper Fort 3.jpg
Pat got a 12" in the shallows and ended up landing a few more nice fish ranging from 20" to 26" on plugs and Zman soft plastics. He also got a rogue channel cat on razor clams which is awesome. He and John might add some more details about their trips below if they want to.
I headed north across the channel towards Ft. Carroll and jigged some thick arches at 40-50' but didn't get any hits. The wind picked up pretty rapidly so I circled around the fort and was able to land a 26" and a 22" on an XR12 in bunker color in about 17' of water. It was a unique scenario, as the wind and waves were blowing against the back side of the fort, but the fort was reflecting waves back, creating a washing machine effect. As soon as I entered the area my FF lit up with surface level clouds of bait, and both fish I landed came in that mishmash of waves and bait. A neat set up that I'd never seen before, but looking back it makes sense that the bait got caught up in the turmoil and made an easy meal. The wind picked up to 17mph gusts, which was surprising given the forecast, but we all sheltered in the creeks and continued fishing. John and I called it around 11:45 and Pat stuck it out like a champ and ended up getting his biggest fish after we left.
Overall, given some of the recent reports, we were happy to land some solid fish. Hopefully this warmer weather will ease the fish into a more active pattern. Looking forward to good times and tight lines ahead!Fort 2.jpgStriper Fort 1.jpgStriper Fort 3.jpg
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