Made the call at the last moment this morning to head out. My youngest son Tyler wanted to bend a rod so I told him I would check the weather when I got up and if its doable, we would make a go of it. I checked the buoy offshore of FPI and it was calling for average seas at 9 seconds apart so we made a go of it...

We bought bait from the bait guy in the Pocket to save time as we were only fishing a half day anyhow.. We hit the Sandpile in darkness in hopes of bringing up some Cobia while drifting over the pile. At the end of the first drift we pulled in two of the baits leaving one left to bring in and a pack of Cobias come and took a hard left after sniffing my greenie and dove back down to the bottom... :bang: :bang: :bang:

On the next drift Tyler hooks up to something big...



Heres a quick Video. Click the picture below:



He finally brings it up to the boat and its a Jack Crevalle... Nice catchin there Tyler :thumbup: That thing wore you out... :biglaugh:



Sunrise pics...







Baits...



Tylers catching up on some sleep... :biglaugh:





Here's Capt. George Gozdz... How did you do today George? http://flatlinedcharters.com/





We ran out to 200ft and decided to drift amongst some scattered weeds. We created our own slick with the Menhaden Oil... See that shiney area in the middle of the following pics. You can spot the slick that the oil creates... :thumbup:





Minutes later Tylers rod goes off and hes on a Sail (or so we thought...)



I gave a shout out to this Captain that we were on a Sail an needed him to hang a right... :thumbup: Thanks Captain for your kindness :thumbup:



Tylers getting a bit hot so I help him with his jacket and he keeps fighting this Sailfish (or so we thought...) :biglaugh:



After numerous jumps in the sun and only seeing splashes plus a soon to be spooled reel (see video below by clicking the picture)...



After running this fish down and realizing this fish has sounded, we shut off the motor while Ty worked the fish back up from the deep... As this (or so we thought) Sailfish comes up from the depths I see green... DOLPHIN ON....



I went from camera mode to gaff mode in seconds and this fin hits the deck...



Click the picture below for a video of Tylers biggest fin to date...



Awesome catching there Tyler... Congrats... Its 10:00am and we are calling it a day... :thumbup:





Heres the zoo at the Sandpile...







Todays Tally:

1 - Jack Crevalle
1 - Fin... Tylers biggest... Congrats buddy... :thumbup:

How did you all do today?

Heres some random pics from the day and once we got back to the dock... Enjoy :thumbup:



















Tip of the day coming soon...

This is my set-up when I fish a weedline for fins:

Scenario #1 - Weeds with NO bait, birds, and fishes busting the surface:

• Pull up to the weedline and determine drift direction. After a minute you will have a drift line on your GPS as well as knowing how you’re drifting in relation to the weeds which are even more important here.
• Let’s say your drifting in line with the weeds now in the southern direction (weeds going north and you’re on the west side of the weeds). Pull up to the spot you want to fish and drop a livey in.
• Place that rod in the Starboard rear rod holder then drive away from the weedline at a 45 degree angle southward then back up to it again at a 45 degree angle while the whole time pulling away from the first drop while that line is in free spool with the clicker on to keep it from back spooling.
• Now drop in the next lively and place that rod into the Port side rear corner rod holder and drive parallel to the weeds approx. 20-50 yards or so.
• Note: Both baits must be hooked through the nose if the current is strong (3 knots+).
• Now take a spinning (third) rod and hook bait in the back between the dorsal fin and tail. Toss this livey just off the back of the boat approx. 25-30ft. This one will splash at the surface and make a commotion like wounded bait. I installed a rod holder just to the port side of my motor and keep this rod in that location.
• Now take another spinning rod and hook a livey through the nose and keep it in the livewell at the ready.
• Next take those chunk baits you chunked up in the morning after catching some liveys and occasionally toss some out along with a few squirts of menhaden oil as you drift.
• Work this area for about a 1/2 hour then move on down to the next fishy location.
• By fishy location I mean a stronger current, birds, bait, larger patches of weeds and then repeat the steps above. It is a lot of work alone but very rewarding when you locate the fish. Trust me.

Now if you pull up to a weedline and there is fish busting the surface, birds diving or bait jumping all bets are off on what I stated above.

Scenario #2 - Weeds WITH bait, birds, or fishes busting the surface:

• Before you pull up, hook a livey in the nose on a spinning rod then put a piece of chunk bait on another spinning rod.
• Pull up to the commotion and toss out a handful of chunk bait on them then toss in the livey and chunk bait and hold on. Once one fish is hooked up grab that rod until the fish calms down (stops jumping) then put it in the rod holder.
• Hopefully by now the other rod is hooked up. If so, get another rod rigged and ready and bring in the first fin then toss out another chunk bait rod.
• Continue using chunk bait to save the liveys for later until they stop chewing on the chunks. When they stop biting the chunks, switch to the liveys.

On a side note:
• Work the weedline for a few miles and hours and if nothing is chewing, move on to the next one.
• It is important to save some of your leftover baits from a previous trip. I like sardines or greenies the best. Freeze them in saltwater from your well in Ziplocs in packages of 8 to 10 baits. Bring a package on each trip and chunk them up right after you catch your morning baits so you are prepared for a Chinese fire drill.