Surfs Up

For the first time ever, we did the “spring break” thing. A little different than our typical vacation of heading to northern Michigan, it would be the girls first out of state trip. Amanda went into full planning mode and found us a great spot in the “30a” area in the Florida Panhandle. Pool, beaches fairly close, road legal golf cart, all the fun things!

While she planned the entire trip, I was pretty interested in surf fishing and whatever else I could get into. I however knew nothing about surf fishing but luckily YouTube was a solid resource to get me started. I was excited for something new and hoped we would time our trip right for a good bite. Pompano would be the main target and then hopefully some bycatch.

Unfortunately, that timing thing was a little off. They had just gotten a big storm down there and a bunch of big south winds. The beach was BLOWN out, rough, and double red flags for a big portion of our trip. I saw the reports dwindle and very few people even fishing. It was going to stop me from trying though. The attempt was futile though but it was still cool to be at the beach with some fishing rods. The rough conditions did show some good sand flea colonies and we were able to scoop some up with our hands. Next time I think I’ll pony up for a sand flea rake. One thing that is so interesting about the ocean is just how much life there is. There is something crawling around beneath your feet under every step. Ghost Shrimp, sand fleas, various mussels, snails, and who knows what ever else. The ghost crabs coming out of there holes and crawling around were pretty cool to see also.

We also got hit with a major cold front. That heated pool really came in handy and the girls loved the pool more than anything. Finally, the water was going to settle down and clear up for the last 2 days. I was really hoping this was my chance because I had yet to get bite or be able to detect one. I was regretting not having any warmer clothes because It was cold the last 2 mornings. Some locals were finally starting to fish again and I had gotten some helpful tips from the pros. The pressure was on because I had really hyped how good pompano were supposed to be and the girls wanted to catch/eat one.

It didn’t take long to relieve some of that pressure. I got all 3 of my rods set up under much better fishing conditions. I took a minute to go check for some more sand fleas and one of my rods went. I was in almost disbelief after the fishing that week. But after a short battle I had my first pompano! I think they would be an amazing fight if I wasn’t using a 9 foot surf rod and a 3.5 ounce sinker. I got it in the Clam ice fishing bucket to bleed it and then on ice a short while later. A half hour went by and I turned around to find a rod creeping down the beach towards the ocean. Pompano number 2 was on the end of that. I had gotten both bites on the same hook with a piece of fish bites and a live sand flea.

I checked one of my other rods, cast out again, and before I could put it in the rod holder I had a bite. I had to resist the temptation to set the hook since I was using circle hooks. This clearly was no pompano as it had some serious weight and just went screaming out across the ocean (see the video below). This was some real excitement and I had high hopes it was a big black drum or redfish. I couldn’t do anything with it for a long time but had finally worked it to the sandbar. This is where the real struggle began. It was just stuck, I couldn’t move it at all. I was wondering if my sinker was hung up on something or my line was getting buried in the surf. I had to pull almost to the point of breaking it off several times before it would finally break free and move again. After plenty more struggle I finally got it to the beach and to my surprise it was a BIG stingray with a really long and terrifying whip like tail. Fortunately it was too heavy to get onto the beach with my 15lb P-Line Tactical and the dropper eventually broke. He had just a hook that would rust out quickly and I escaped without dealing with that tail. I wish I had gotten a picture because the girls were really excited about the stingray and that was a main motivation to get up at 5am the next day.

After the stingray the bite shut down and I headed home around 9am. Luckily with a couple pomps this time! They were super easy to clean and my favorite thing about them is that the bones are right around the centerline in the dark meat. The fillets were super clean and we were all excited to try them. We just cooked them in foil with some butter and garlic salt so we got the full experience. Everyone was a big fan and a couple of them were enough to feed us. The girls were wondering why the stingray didn’t get the knife too, they are adventurous eaters. The rest of the day turned into a pool day with the chilly temps. Big plans were to go again in the morning with similar weather. I thought we would for sure get the girls some pompano action and that the biggest challenge would be keeping them warm enough.

We brought some beach towels and sweatshirts and were up at 5am. We caught a couple fresh sand fleas got set up. There were a few more fisherman today so that would at least give us an indication of if the bite was on. The story is short here, we never got a bite. The local pro got 4 and 3 of them before we even got set up. The rest of us got the big skunk. It was disappointing but it didn’t seem to phase the girls, they were having a good time giggling on their beach towels. The highlight was a pod of dolphins that came close to the beach. 2 of them were in perfect view and every time they would porpoise the girls would let out an “ooooohhhhh” in unison. This lasted for about 10 porpoises until they made it out of sight. I was hoping that stirred something up so I got out a casting spoon hoping for a Spanish mackerel. They had a good time and Millie and Amanda met us after a while. The beach was beautiful and we probably should have come prepared with all the beach things.

It was sad for me to end on that note but I’ll be anxious for another crack at it someday. I have a ton to learn about reading the surf and putting my baits in the right places. A couple good days at the beginning of the trip would have really helped or maybe I should have been willing to travel to new areas. Either way it was a great trip and I am happy to have some great memories from it.