Epic puppy drum bite
Boy, I’m really reluctant to use the word “epic”; however, Thursday’s bite was worthy of the title. Since its been posted on a bunch of tackle shop websites, I’m not betraying any confidences by saying that Frisco Pier is where this thing went down. What made this day special was that you could see the school; usually just a red tint to the water, but sometimes the sun would backlight a breaking wave just right to give us a glimpse of the tightly packed school of drum we were on.
The fish started as a few smaller schools cruising the sloughs and bars just north of the pier (accompanied by at least two big, 20-pound plus stripers I saw caught), but then coalesced as a big school which basically stayed in one general location – a bar about 500 yards up the beach – from 9:00 am till dark. Hundreds of fish were caught. I estimate that I caught around 40 pups. My big fish was 13 pounds, but the vast majority were in the 5-7 pound range – mid-slot fish. Thank God for the Boga (thank my parents actually for the very well timed Christmas present) or my hands would be even more shredded than they already are. Many of the pups were snagged, but many were hooked in the mouth. Most of mine were mouth hooked; the secret of course is to not jig your rod so hard – just a short twich and a very slow retrieve. Its more appealing to the fish and less likely to stick in the side of a nearby pup. The mouth-hooked fish are easier and more sporty to fight.
At dark, the big school seemed to disperse, but I whacked a few more pups closer to the pier after dark and also snagged a most welcomed, respectable 18″ trout.
Note that I didn’t use the word blitz (although many have used that word). To me a blitz must include at least three prerequisites: fish on every cast or almost every cast, visibly feeding fish (fish thrashing or busting water) and bait being chased into the wash or onto the beach. This was an awesome school of fish just chilling out on the bottom, waiting for a meal to crawl their way. But it was a great bite – epic.
The scene north of Frisco Pier, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010
The dark, reddish spot to the right of the bar behind the breaking wave is a school of puppy drum
Combat fishing, but fun
Clear water - yea!
One of many pretty fish
Just came across your blog this afternoon. Even though, I live a long way from the Atlantic coast, I still enjoyed reading your piece and looking at the pictures. Looks like fun.
Happy hook ups!
Mel
Thanks for the nice comment, Mel – tight lines to you as well!