Finally made it to CBBT

[silasvirus82]

Pat (yakscientist), Mike (MikeO), and I traveled down to Chic’s Beach and met Jake (Jman) this past weekend. I’ve been talking about it for months now and damn near canceled again, thank goodness I didn’t! Saturday started off slow, I hit three blues trolling on the way out on a zman then switched over to sheepshead fishing. I’ve caught sheep before, but in much shallower water around different types of structure. I wasn’t feeling too bad because nobody else was catching any all morning, but later I realized some things I was doing wrong. For starters, we only had current the first maybe hour we reach the first island, and according to Jake that was pretty key. Later in the day the current picked back up and proved him right. He landed the first sheep of the day at an eye watering 25.5”! I don’t remember who caught what after, but I landed my first one at almost 24” and about 12 lbs shortly thereafter, then two other average sized ones maybe 14-16”. Jake finished with three total also, his next two similar to mine. My fatal flaw was fishing the bottom and not mid-water column next to the pilings, and things quickly changed after that. I also caught countless sea bass and croaker that I was using for cobia bait, and an undersized spadefish. While I was sheepshead fishing I also had out an eel rigged to the bottom and a croaker on top, searching for a cobia. I lost one croaker at the top and another was bit in half, likely a shark, but I had a very solid take on the eel that I’m fairly certain was a cobia. He took the bait, swam away slowly then stopped. I got impatient and took a swing too early, but my eel looked mostly untouched. That’s what cobia do, they just hold things in their mouth forever and you’ve got to wait. Oh well, maybe next time.

Thank you Jake for the fiddler crabs and guidance! You’re a knowledgeable fisherman and great person, I hope to meet again.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RavensDfense]

Great report and pictures. That's a stud of a sheepie. Congrats!

[Shady]

Well, count me jealous. Still looking for my first sheepy... Nice work!

[Jman]

IMG_1957.jpg
Adding to John's report here:
The day began with thunder in the distance and a light rain drizzling over us. The winds were suitable for a nice day at the bridge, despite the wet weather early in the morning. By launch time, the rain has dissipated for the most part, leaving overcast skies. As John mentioned, the morning was slow for fishing since we were at the tail-end of the outgoing tide. During the slack tide we fished for spades with chowder clams and found a few small takers. I thought I hooked into a large spade because I dropped a chunk of clam about five feet down and my drag started zinging, but the culprit was a 19" Sheepshead. I spent a long time weeding through pesky sea bass and other critters until I decided to switch back over to fiddler crabs for the outgoing tide. I think almost everyone had at least a brief hookup with a Sheepshead once it was outgoing. I enjoyed a fun fight with my third big bruiser of the year.25sheepabc (1).jpg. When I landed my last Sheepshead (22.5"), I glanced into the water near the kayak and noticed a slightly familiar fish swimming in the infamous brown suit. I couldn't contain my excitement as Pat can contest. I looked through my camera footage and realized I was able to capture some footage to my surprise (definitely not as large as I thought it was originally).25Sheepa.jpgcobia.jpg

Pat, Mike, and I fished again on Sunday, but the CBBT was plagued by strong NE winds, so we used Rudee as a backup. We didn't have any success there with attempts for reds and flounder, but it was still a good time with more protected water.

All in all, it was a great weekend of fishing with fellow Snaggedline folks, who I hope can come fish again to chase the monsters of the bridge tunnel!

[silasvirus82]

I didn't know you caught two big ones. That's awesome man, and I wish you would have taken that cobia for a ride too. I'll be back for sure, hopefully sooner than later.

[Mark]

Wow.

Those are huge fish.

If they turn sideways on the fight, they must offer a lot of resistance.

Congrats to all on a great outing.

[jmt1980]

Man I want to take a trip down there... reports from CBBT make me way up the bay.

[silasvirus82]

If they turn sideways on the fight, they must offer a lot of resistance.

The first one I hooked I thought was a snag at first. Then he took a huge run and my heart started to race. I was definitely not prepared for what ensued the next few seconds, but I got very lucky he turned away from the piling and not into it. The next two I was ready for and quickly turned off the piling as soon as I had him. They all gave my jigging rod a serious flex and I was amazed by their strength. Great little fighters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[yakscientist]

Can't thank you enough Jman for the helpful guidance, you were the perfect guide this past weekend. I had one big sheepshead hookup for maybe 5-10 seconds, it took 2 big runs and then my line snapped, blast! I will certainly return for my shot at redemption, hopefully with a hobie (much easier to hug the pilings with a pedal drive). Overall, I caught a good variety including Cutlassfish (largehead hairtail), Spadefish, Croaker, Oyster toadfish, Bluefish, Black Seabass, some sort of Goby/Blenny, and a longer silver looking fish that resembled a croaker but it definitely wasn't a croaker or a drum or a whiting/kingfish. I was really happy to catch all those fish I normally don't encounter at my normal spots.

[Slobber Bob]

Good trip fellas! Thanks for sharing.

[Romo]

Nice work! I gotta get back down there

[Kubishark]

How far out do you need to paddle to get to pilings that hold sheepshead and spadefish? Do most people go out near the first island or can they be caught closer to shore?

[silasvirus82]

How far out do you need to paddle to get to pilings that hold sheepshead and spadefish? Do most people go out near the first island or can they be caught closer to shore?

We didn't even start fishing for sheeps until about the first island, so I can't tell you what is in between. I believe they are most commonly found from the first island and on to the second island, but you're asking someone who has been once.

[mike o]

I had a great trip also. Thanks Jman for helping us out. Unfortunately after the slow morning bite, I stopped fishing for sheeps and fished for other species. I did some vertical jigging while live lining at the same time. I caught 7 different species including blues, sea bass, croakers, trout, a pin fish that I used for bait a !7 1/2" flounder and a small shark. Definitely going back there again.