Ran away with my wife to the Beach. She was happy to get her feet in the sand (Beach Girl) and I go fishing in the Surf. Both of us happy.
I normally have my 10' ugly stick spinning Rods out with 5000 reels. I have an old Fierce (upgraded drags) an old Okuma Stinson still doing the job and a Penn Battle . (A few years ago I dunked the Battle while in the surf. That reel literally seized up not long after. Lots of new parts to get her going again.) I also had a 7' stick with a 4000 Battle for close in.
Well the past few trips I've been bringing some larger conventionals to change things up. I brought a Penn US Senator and a Shimano TLD star 20/40, really easy casting! I have 7' rods for them, so I didn't quite get the distance a 10' might give but still adequate. I'll pick up some 10' for them in the future. (I've Tried those Really tall surf rods before but they're a bit to heavy for me, I can manage the 10')
We went to Dauphin Island AL, LA. For you west coast guys that's Lower Alabama . The water was dirty as we have had a lot of rain and Dauphin Island is on the west end of the entrance to Mobile Bay. Fished the mornings and evenings for a couple days, caught a ridiculous amount of hard head catfish. (Dirty water) but still caught a bunch of Whiting, a few Pompano and one Black Drum. Had a fishing buddy show up, a Heron, that loved the smaller whiting.
Great trip.
And my casting is improving each trip.
Now that looks like fun,,,, :D nice size fish from the surf,,,,,,,,,,,, ;D
They have catfish in salt water?
Looks like a wonderful time.
Hardheads are a blight on the Gulf. Be careful. Nice drum. That's wild with the heron. He must have been really hungry.
Looks like you had a great trip - just watch that dorsal spine on the hardheads - Jimmer
Hard head also known as sea catfish. A serrated dorsal and pectoral fin coated with toxins that I hear can be extremely painful. Im always super careful when handling them! Even the Herons turned their noses away. I don't target them but do end up catching.
We also have gafftop catfish known as sailcats. Didn't catch any this trip. I've kept a few larger ones in the past 5-10 lb, They produce a ton of slime but if you hose that off, the fillets where as good if not better than freshwater blue catfish. I let the drum go free after a few photos. (I'll keep the smaller puppy drum and fillet but the larger they get, not a fan of the taste and the really large ones here are very wormy but great fun to catch). whiting are great if they're large enough. POMPANO! One of the best tasting fish we have out here.
I'm glad you are feeding the Heron ...I fed him all winter, and was afraid he'd go hungry by the time I got back ! Which beaches do you fish? All the way west ? I've had the best luck either at St. Steven's Street, or the 'west end".
We stayed at a condo just west of the "landlocked fishing pier". Not far from St Steven st. It's great to just walk out and go fishing. One of these days I want to try the west end. I've heard it's pretty good there.
That heron was a kick. As soon as I was fishing he came on by each time. Obviously well trained. When I'd have a small whiting he became very excited. Had to almost shoo him back till I removed the hook!!
What's a REEL kick is when he grabs the whiting, as you pull it out of the water !! Talk about something that "pulls drag" !!
When you're going back,,,,,,, ;D
Soon as I can!!
Love Dauphin, we need a AT outing at Dauphin ;D
Good fishing, did they clear the sand from the last few storms?