Fall Fishing!

As mentioned in the previous post (below), we are going to be in Stuart as often as we can and fish!  (Fishing this time of year is a first for us and we're looking forward to it.)

We didn't get the boat back in time to be able to fish today so we hopped onboard Capt. Pete's boat (Rainbow Runner Sportfishing Charters).  We were really looking forward to this as Capt Pete has fished on our boat but we've not fished on his.  And we were hoping to learn a few new techniques as well as catch some different kinds of fish.  We haven't seen him since May so it was nice to catch up on all that happened over the summer.

We left the dock bright and early!

The morning was a little cool, but very pleasant.  It's always good when we see the railroad bridge open!

And it's nice to see the welcoming committee too.

It was also the first day in a while the seas were relatively calm and so, there were lots of boats heading out the inlet at about the same time we were.

Capt Pete had a strategy and we worked it!  We barely got two of the lines out when we got our first strike.  Unfortunately, we were distracted with getting things set up, lines out, etc. and we missed the sailfish.  It didn't take the whole bait, but left some trademark marks.  Not a few minutes later, after we got everything all set up, another one of the lines started to ziiinnngg.  It was a dolphin!  A few jumps and steady reeling and it was at the boat in no time.  Guess we didn't wear the fish out enough because when Capt Pete tried to get him in the boat, he wiggled off the hook.

We continued trolling for a while without any luck.  Next step of the strategy....bottom fishing.  We packed things up and headed for some of Capt Pete's secret spots.  After changing out the rods and rigs, we were ready for business.  Lines were in and we were catching fish!  Some were keepers (snapper, sea bass, porgie) and others (blue runners, grunts, pinfish) went into the live well for an after-lunch round of going after  dolphin and sailfish. 

With the right rigs, right location and hungry fish, bottom fishing can be lots of fun!

After our fill of bottom fishing, we drifted with the live bait for a while, looking and hoping for that sailfish from the morning to return.  No luck.  So we changed back to the rods and rigs for trolling and tried that for a while.  We saw lots of things including jellyfish and flying fish, but the dolphin and sails must have had lunch someplace else or didn't like what we were serving.

(Yes, those are stylish protective buffs we're wearing. 

Frank wore them alot earlier this year and I've joined the club.)

All in all it was a fun day.  We got to fish with Capt Pete, we learned some new 'tricks of the trade' and caught fish we hadn't caught before.  And it got us excited about fishing the next time we're here!