Fishing reports for July 3 - 9

[Charkbait]

Nice job on the critters this weekend everyone...sorry I don't have a large to post, someone screwed it up!

The rays were everywhere!

[Coop]

Today from the beach...all the sandbars you want on tuna bellies...nothing over 4'. Got tired of yaking and hooking rat size sandbars on every drop, so I decided to drop the baits in the trough and that put a stop on the catching, which was fine with me, was tired of the smallies, I guess they were hanging outside the bar. Last soak decided to send the baits way out again...as soon as I dropped and returned, more rat size sandbars. No Flies and no kings


Where in the heck are the kings?

[fish-aholic]

This has me very excited...I'll be out Thur night, think I found a Yak, gotta make a phone call....can't wait to actually post a report!!!!!

[Mighty Quinn]

Fished AI saturday and between two of us, fishing 10 rods with an assortment of bait, we managed to scrape out 6 kingfish (kept 5) and one blue that went back. Saw 4 others kings caught just south of us. Flies were pretty bad until the wind shifted from the south but then shifted back again from the west.

[ffemtreed]

Originally Posted by Mighty Quinn

Fished Assateague Island saturday and between two of us, fishing 10 rods with an assortment of bait, we managed to scrape out 6 kingfish (kept 5) and one blue that went back. Saw 4 others kings caught just south of us. Flies were pretty bad until the wind shifted from the south but then shifted back again from the west.

Where on the Island where the kings located? I (and a few others) have been trying to catch them for weeks and not had any success.

[Mighty Quinn]

Jim...we were south of the bullpen-perhaps a mile or so. Most of our bites were on small pieces of bunker or spot. One king was actually caught on a mullet rig. So much for the small hook theory. I would really like to know what the guy south of us was using for bait as he was hooking up quicker then we were. We weren't using real bloodworms and this is what has worked for me in the past so I wonder if that's what he was using. They're so expensive though. It was far from hot and heavy. Seven fish in 9 hours with 10 rods out but appeared to be picking up late in the day.

[DaveH]

Tues. the 3rd my wife and I floated around the bay with no action un till a 17' CC pasted within 5' of us at WOT.Well at least I can say " yea I've been spooled" Fri. went back to the bay with a neighbor for the end of the outgoing and beginning of the incoming tide. Had 2 though backs, 1 small flounder and 1 spot.Both trips we used squid and minnows. Sat. the wife and I hit the beach. We had a relaxing day with 1 though back, not shore what it was.All in all a great week any ways.

[Mighty Quinn]

That would be a kingfish and if you ever want to hear a good story about throwing back kingfish let me know.

[trowpa]

Great to hear of some kingfish around. Great Pics too!

Ok - MQ, lets hear the story

[ffemtreed]

Originally Posted by DaveH

Tues. the 3rd my wife and I floated around the bay with no action un till a 17' CC pasted within 5' of us at WOT.Well at least I can say " yea I've been spooled" Fri. went back to the bay with a neighbor for the end of the outgoing and beginning of the incoming tide. Had 2 though backs, 1 small flounder and 1 spot.Both trips we used squid and minnows. Sat. the wife and I hit the beach. We had a relaxing day with 1 though back, not shore what it was.All in all a great week any ways.

I think you where setup just a bit North of me all day on Saturday. Where you about a two or three miles down from the entrance?

[chomper]

Real fresh shrimp, with or without bloodworm fishbites, are my favorite bait in the surf for those kings and other little critters.

[DaveH]

We were just south and in view of the bull pen. Someone posted awhile back we should fly aa flags, it is hard to see the sticker driving down the beach. Maybe we can fish together some time this summer.I did get to meet Coop at Harbor Tackle (AA tee shirt). MQ, I'm always up for a fish story.

[Grossy]

Thanks for the info Charkbait. When you say shock leader in your set up, are you using 40-50# or heavier?? And is there an advantage to using mono for the leader, versus a superbraid or co-polymer? And , ( one more thing) , the short piece of leader from the hook to the first swivel, how long for the hopefully bigger fish?
I will experiment the next trip out with taking th 2nd swivel out.

Originally Posted by Charkbait

Lose the extra swivel Grossy IMO, it nulifies the benefit of the FF. If you aren't using a shock leader then keep that setup so you have something to grab when landing larger fish. With a shocker you really don't need it, your shock leader is usually plenty heavy.

All that said, everything works some of the time, nothing works all the time.

[ffemtreed]

Originally Posted by Grossy

Thanks for the info Charkbait. When you say shock leader in your set up, are you using 40-50# or heavier?? And is there an advantage to using mono for the leader, versus a superbraid or co-polymer? And , ( one more thing) , the short piece of leader from the hook to the first swivel, how long for the hopefully bigger fish?
I will experiment the next trip out with taking th 2nd swivel out.

Since you mentioned my Rig i'll share my exact setup.

Big 8/0 Gami Circle hook snelled with 100lb Cajan Red Leader. 2 - 3 inches to a swivel tied with an improved cinch knot (or crimped). Then I used 50lb Berkley Big game as a shock leader tied to the swivel with a palomer knot. I slide the fishfinder rig on and then attach the shock leader to the main line using a Yucatan knot. I make the double leader on the main line with a spider hitch. I am working on moving to the Bimini, but i just can't tie it perfectly yet. I run 17lb suffix Tri as my running line.

I am also going to expriment with some 60lb Ande Premium as my shock leader.

As for using braid as the shock leader here are the cons, No give at all when a big fish hits hard, it could be taxing on equipment. The biggest downfall of using the braid shock leader is I wouldn't want to be the one to grab the leader when you are trying to beach a big fish. You will only do that once with braid and you will never forget that lesson. Fishfinder rigs will break more often sliding on braid. Braid isn't as durable rubbing on the sand as mono is. The slightest knick in the braid and you have to change it out.

As for the pros, slightly mproved casting distance and stronger line. If using J-hooks you can get a better hook-set with all braid. You get a better sensitivity with braid.

I am sure there are more pros and cons but thats all I could think of right now. Just read both the pro and cons and ask yourself does it make sense? Do the pro's outweight the cons.

[Mighty Quinn]

It's been a few years, perhaps a half-dozen or more, my brother-in-law and myself were fishing down at Assateague. We were beginners and really had no expectations, just getting into surf fishing. The only bait and rigs we knew of at the time were box squid and bloodworms and the standard fireball rigs for blues and kings. It was late afternoon or early evening when we started catching these fish that we couldn't identify, one right after another. We were calling relatives, tackle shops, anyone we could think of to describe these unfamilier fish and find out what the size and creel limits were. Not being able to get in touch with anybody, we decided it was best to throw them back. So in they would come and right back they would go. Finally, shortly before we had to pack it in, a ranger came by and told us they were kingfish with no size or creel limit. I think we may have left with 2-4 between us but probably caught at least a dozen a piece. Of course, that turned out to be the best day we've had with kingfish and until yesterday, I don't think we've caught more that 1-2 in the past few years. Once in awhile we'll talk about how foolish we were to throw back so much good eating. Oh well, live and learn. Hopefully my brother-in-law will chime in and give his take.