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1

Fishing Talk / 2022 species fishing recap

« on: December 19, 2022, 07:39:41 AM »

Hey guys, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years! Here's a quick recap of my year adding new species to my lifelist. I came close to beating my record of 127 new species in 2013 with 124 new ones in 2022. Florida continues to produce new ones, and Ally and I traveled to Hawaii and the Red Sea in Egypt. Those two trips really ran up the scoreboard. We also added a few from NH, TX, and NJ.

1   code goby
2   spotted moray
3   rosy blenny
4   dusky jawfish
5   cuban dogfish
6   belted sandfish
7   bluehead wrasse
8   redear herring
9   red devil cichlid
10   whitespotted frillgoby
11   brighteye damselfish
12   hawaiian sergeant major
13   bullethead blenny
14   reticulate flagfin
15   indo-pacific sergeant major
16   christmas wrasse
17   speckled squirrelfish
18   guppy
19   hawaiian flagtail
20   sandwhich island sleeper
21   saddle wrasse
22   paletail unicornfish
23   zebra blenny
24   hawaiian gregory
25   sharpnose mullet
26   stocky hawkfish
27   spotted boxfish
28   african cichlid hybrid
29   lagoon triggerfish
30   wedgetail triggerfish
31   island goatfish
32   bird wrasse
33   bandfin cardinalfish
34   redbarred hawkfish
35   pinktail triggerfish
36   manybar goatfish
37   tattler
38   clown knifefish
39   striped grunt
40   mahi mahi
41   queen triggerfish
42   inshore lizardfish
43   largescale spinycheek sleeper
44   dusky shark
45   plains longear sunfish
46   texas logperch
47   mexican tetra
48   ninespine stickleback
49   atlantic mackerel
50   bull shark
51   doubleline mackerel (Grammatorcynus bilineatus)
52   yellowedge lyretail (Variola louti)
53   yellowfin hind (Cephalopholis hemistiktos)
54   cheeklined wrasse (Oxycheilinus digramma)
55   orangestripe triggerfish (Balistapus undulatus)
56   peac*ck hind (Cephalopholis argus)
57   titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens)
58   snubnose emperor (Lethrinus borbonicus)
59   redbreast wrasse (Cheilinus quinquecinctus)
60   yellowmargin triggerfish (Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus)
61   blacktip grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus)
62   redtooth triggerfish (Odonus niger)
63   coral hind (Cephalopholis miniata)
64   sky emperor (Lethrinus mahsena)
65   bluespotted cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii)
66   scissortail sergeant (Abudefduf sexfasciatus)
67   picasso triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi)
68   red sea goatfish (Parupeneus forsskali)
69   bluethroat triggerfish (Sufflamen albicaudatum)
70   spotted sandperch (Parapercis hexophtalma)
71   freckled hawkfish (Paracirrhites forsteri)
72   checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus)
73   greasy grouper (Epinephelus tauvina)
74   dory snapper (Lutjanus fulviflamma)
75   silverspot squirrelfish (Sargocentron caudimaculatum)
76   pinecone soldierfish (Myripristis murdjan)
77   twospot red snapper (Lutjanus bohar)
78   bluestripe snapper (Lutjanus kasmira)
79   yellowlip emperor (Lethrinus xanthochilus)
80   bigeye scad (Selar crumenophthalmus)
81   klunzinger wrasse (Thalassoma rueppellii)
82   orangespotted trevally (Flavocaranx bajad)
83   lunar fusilier (Caesio lunaris)
84   red sea soldierbream (Argyrops megalommatus)
85   crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus)
86   dirty ordure snapper (Paracaesio sordida)
87   longbarbel goatfish (Parupeneus macronemus)
88   red sea houndfish (Tylosurus choram)
89   red sea keeltail needlefish (Platybelone platura)
90   red sea halfbeak (Hyporhamphus gamberur)
91   blackspot snapper (Lutjanus ehrenbergii)
92   indian bird wrasse (Gomphosus caeruleus)
93   bigeye emperor (Monotaxis grandoculis)
94   rusty jobfish (Aphareus rutilans)
95   sulphur damsel (Pomacentrus sulfureus)
96   dogtooth tuna (Gymnosarda unicolor)
97   goldsaddle goatfish (Parupeneus cyclostomus)
98   goldbanded jobfish (Pristipomoides multidens)
99   sammara squirrelfish (Neoniphon sammara)
100   paletail damsel (Pomacentrus trichrourus)
101   blue triggerfish (Pseudobalistes fuscus)
102   tautog
103   summer flounder
104   bridle shiner
105   knobbed porgy
106   unicorn filefish
107   atlantic agujon
108   metallic shiner
109   dixie chub
110   apalachee shiner
111   bandfin shiner
112   redeye chub
113   sailfin shiner
114   flagfin shiner
115   blackbanded darter
116   choctaw bass
117   longnose shiner
118   russetfin topminnow
119   clown goby
120   darter goby
121   bluefin killifish
122   pygmy sea bass
123   flounder sp.
124   blackwing searobin

I took screenshots of the new additions to my photo album. A few are photo upgrades for species I already had, but most are new.















The total count is up to 933, so next year might be the year I reach 1000!

Take care everyone. Let's have a great 2023, fishing and otherwise. Let me know if any of you are passing through the Sebastian area if you're in FL.

2

Freshwater Shore Fishing Reports / Bull sharks from the St Sebastian River

« on: July 18, 2022, 07:38:46 AM »

We got our bull sharks! Yes, they were embarrassingly small, but a friend tipped us off that there were large numbers of them in the St Sebastian River right now, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity. On Saturday we went over to a local park to fish the river. As soon as we got there it started downpouring.



I had one bait in the water, but the lighting got so bad that we had to run back to the car to wait out the storm. I could barely see my rod, and fortunately it didn't look like anything was happening. Then, right as the rain stopped, I saw the rod start bouncing, and I ran across the park to grab it.



Sure enough, it was a juvenile bull shark.



There she is.



We sent out two more baits, and Ally got the next one.



She was equally happy.



ID was easy on these guy. Short blunt snout, stocky body, and they were caught in freshwater (or at least brackish very close to freshwater).



Yes, we still need to go catch big ones.

3

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Blacknose and spinner sharks in the surf

« on: July 18, 2022, 07:27:52 AM »

This is a much delayed report, but I'm finally caught up on photos, so here it is. Back in May my friend Steve visited from CA and wanted to try for finetooth sharks in the surf. Last year we caught 5 finetooths at the end of March, so we thought they might be around.



We got a bite shortly after casting out baits. The fish barely put a bend in the rod, which is actually what we wanted to see for potential finetooths.



The culprit ended up being a blacknose shark, one Steve didn't need for his lifelist but still a very cool catch.



A short while later Steve caught a second blacknose.



Ally wanted to catch a blacknose as well, so we went out again the following weekend. She got a bite right away, and it was a decent fish!



It was a big spinner shark! They're similar to blacktips, but they have a much pointier snout, more streamlined body, and a black tip on the anal fin. Blacktips have black tips on all the fins except the anal fin.



Here's Ally's blacktip from last year for reference.



Her next bite was her lifer blacknose. Two new shark species in one session is pretty darn lucky.



The blacknose's black nose.



A friend from Canada was passing through, and he joined us about 15 minutes after we released Ally's blacknose. We were sure we'd put him on some sharks as well, but we fished the next 4 hours with not a single bite. Funny how it works that way. We felt bad about it, but we were swapping out fresh baits every 30 minutes, and they just weren't getting bit.



Now head over to the Freshwater Shore Fishing Reports...

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Hooking up with boats and sharks

« on: June 29, 2022, 10:56:25 AM »

Had a friend in town the weekend before last who was interested in trying for bull sharks in the St. Sebastian River. We kayaked baits out to the edge of the boat channel thinking that would be our best bet for hooking up. We had several ladyfish for bait.



No bull sharks showed up unfortunately, but we did manage to get our line wrapped around not one, not two, but three boat props. Each time it happened we dropped our next bait much closer to shore thinking surely a boat wouldn't come that close. Our last one was in 3 ft of water, not even remotely close to the boat channel. We concluded that you really can't fish this spot during the daytime.



The next day we went 2 hrs south to fish off a friend's boat. We anchored in 100 ft of water, set out a chum bag, and dropped two shark rigs off the back.



Bait was bonita (little tunny) chunks. My go-to shark hooks have been 11/0 1x wide gap circles, but for boat fishing I've upgraded to 14/0 3x wide gaps. The leader is 250 lb coated 7-strand, and behind that is a 400 lb mono grab leader with a 6 oz egg sinker.



While we waited I jigged a 2 oz megabait on the bottom and caught this spotted scorpionfish. It made me feel like I was back in La Jolla.



My shark rod went off. I let it take line for 5-10 seconds and then tightened down the drag. It wasn't a huge fish, but it was a fun fight.



My first proper boat shark! My friend IDed it as a dusky, which I had to double check when I got home.



That was it for sharks, but we caught a couple other cool fish including this bigeye.



In the afternoon we dropped live baits on deeper wrecks for amberjack. Had a few big fish on - either AJs or sharks - but didn't get any to the surface. Last fish of the day was this 17 lb bonita. We brought home 3 bonita and 6 vermilion snapper.



Freezers are stocked with plenty of more baits for that next bull shark session!

5

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Sanibel Island blacktips

« on: February 28, 2022, 07:40:51 AM »

The hunt for a bull shark continues!

We drove over to Sanibel Island on the gulf side of FL to fish with some friends down for vacation. They bought a cheap sit-on-top kayak to paddle baits out, which was a new experience for me. The surf was nonexistent, so taking baits out was a breeze.



On light tackle we got gulf whiting (tons), silver perch (a few), and spotted seatrout (one). We saved the larger size whiting for bait. I also brought jack crevalle and guaguanche that we caught in January in Sebastian.

First shark bit on a jack. Marc's wife reeled in a nice blacktip.



Marc's dad pulled in the second blacktip. I took a bait out, and when I got back to shore line was already coming off my reel. The hook pulled when I tightened down the drag. It was annoying to do a full reset with the kayak, but I had to check to make sure the whiting was still on the hook. Not long after the reset I caught my first blacktip.



Ally caught the next one.



The last one of the night bit on half a guaguanche and put up a good fight. It chomped down on the pliers when we were taking the hook out, and we had to drag it back in the water for a bit until it would let go.



It was decent sized.



The next morning we got out again for a daytime session. The other half of the guaguanche got picked up after a few hours.



This one was more cooperative.



Definitely a photo upgrade for my lifelist album.



We'll get the bull next time.

6

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Cuban dogfish and other Florida oddballs

« on: February 15, 2022, 10:20:49 AM »

Got out on a friend's boat near Pompano Beach on Saturday and did some deep dropping. Ally and I were hoping to get our first golden tilefish, and we knew we'd have to wade through a bunch of the very abundant blackbelly rosefish to find them. They taste similar to scorpionfish.



We didn't find any golden tiles, but I picked up a new shark species from 790 ft down, a Cuban dogfish.
https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/species/2711









We came in shallower to 400 ft to try for other species. Nothing new there, but I got a nice photo upgrade for blackline tilefish. These guys are very tasty, similar to ocean whitefish, but I think better.



Species fishing can get pretty weird. We found a small abandoned dinghy about 10 miles out that had some tiny fish in it.



We couldn't get them to bite on our micro gear, so eventually I netted them with the bait net to see what they were. There was a juvenile grey triggerfish and about a dozen freckled driftfish. I added the driftfish to my list of species to try for next time.





We also saw some man-o-war fish, which live under the tentacles of Portuguese man-o-wars, and a really crazy looking juvenile flying fish that was camouflaged under a piece of drifting sargassum seaweed. We might have to dedicate a full day to looking for pelagic micros on a good calm day.

7

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / New Years Eve species fishing

« on: January 04, 2022, 07:47:50 AM »

Happy New Years everyone! Let's see some more sharks this year. 

Ally and I got an invite to go out for an end of year species hunting trip. We fished depths ranging from 60 ft to 410 ft using sabikis, jigs, and shark rigs. Added +3 to my list, and Ally added +6, so it was a very successful day.

Coney +1


Scrawled filefish


Grey triggerfish


Blackline tilefish +1


Rough triggerfish +1


Smooth puffer


Sand tilefish


Yellowhead wrasse


Ally caught a bunch that I still need: longspine squirrelfish, queen triggerfish, butter hamlet, and princess parrotfish.



We had one take on the shark rig, but it dropped the bait before I tightened the drag. A month or two ago we had a 411 lb barrel swivel explode on a big fish (probably a goliath grouper), so now I'm using 660 lb ball bearing swivels. The coated wire and mono are both 200 lb. I have some 880 lb swivels as well but haven't added them to any rigs.



Can't wait to get out there again!

8

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / December lemons

« on: December 17, 2021, 11:05:58 AM »

Plink! Yesterday was my last day of work for 2021, so to celebrate Ally, my friend Marc, and I got out for some after dark shark fishing. The surf was 4 1/2 ft, but it actually wasn't that bad when we showed up. We couldn't cast past the breakers because they started so far out, but the bottom dropped off pretty quickly so we were still hitting water deep enough for sharks.



Ally and I baited up with ladyfish that she had caught a few months ago. I was using the head, and she was using a middle section. I had the first run. I let the drag sing for a bit, and then tightened the drag and pulled on something heavy for about 30 seconds before it came off. Ally hooked up a short while later and pulled in a lemon shark probably a little over a hundred pounds. We didn't get any good photos of it with its gills fully submerged (per the FL regulations), so you'll just have to imagine that it was a nice one.



I switched to some store-bought skipjack (thanks Marc!), and I hooked up again. This time I waited at least a full 60 seconds with the loose drag screaming before I tightened it down. That helped with hooking up, because this time the hook stuck and I was able to battle the fish at the other end of the line.



A short while later we were able to grab the tail of a proper sized lemon! This is far from a good pic, but it follows the FWC regs that the gills have to be submerged. It's unfortunate that the regs are worded the way they are, because trying to unhook (or even cut the leader close to the hook, which we don't want to do) a green shark in the crashing surf is asking for injury.



Just like Ally's we had mine swimming off healthy without delay.



Marc moved over to take the spot where Ally had been fishing, because both of our bites came from that spot. Sure enough he got the next bite, and it was another strong fish.



All three of our sharks were hooked really well in the corner of the jaw. I crimp down the barb on my hooks so release was quick and easy.



There's still a big bull shark out there with my name on it. We'll keep trying!

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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / December surf fishing in FL

« on: December 13, 2021, 07:35:17 AM »

Two quick things to report. First is my lifer black drum from Flagler Beach. This species has been on my want list for a while. They're cute when they're young and ugly when they're full grown.



And yesterday I dusted off the shark gear and tried for bulls near Sebastian Inlet. Had some skipjack to use up. Something picked up the head and ran with it steadily for 30 seconds. I tightened the drag and did the quick shuffle backwards to hopefully set the hook. Felt the weight of something for a second, but then nothing. Must have pulled it right out of its mouth. The coating on the steel leader was frayed and the 40 lb mono sinker line was broken off in the middle. Might have been my bull!



The end of the year is coming quick! Hopefully I can make it out for another attempt or two.

10

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / mullet run jacks in Stuart, FL

« on: October 19, 2021, 12:57:18 PM »

The mullet are migrating up the coast here in FL, and on Saturday we got into a bunch of jack crevalles that were feeding on them. We used small krocs on medium tackle.

Gotta love it when everyone else fishing stops to see what you caught.








Out towards the back of the surf zone there were dozens of big tarpon and a few sharks blowing up on mullet schools. Saw lots of acrobatics. Hard to get on camera, but I got one shot of a tarpon head coming out of the water.



Here's a few random microfishing species.

Sand drum (same genus as yellowfin croaker)


Black margate (juvenile)


Permit (juvenile)


Thanks for reading. Not going to lie -- I miss you guys!

11

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / New Hampshire trip

« on: September 30, 2021, 08:36:16 AM »

In August Ally and I went to New Hampshire to spend time with her family. It was my first time fishing the Atlantic north of North Carolina, so there were lots of new species to be had.

We started off with tidepooling right after we arrived.



I added 3 new species before we ran out of daylight.

Cunner +1


Grubby +1


Rock Gunnel +1


The next day tropical storm Henri (formerly hurricane) hit. Ally's brother-in-law went out and fished for stripers, and actually caught a small one, but we stayed indoors.



The ocean needed a few days to settle down, so on our 3rd day we went inland and fished some mountain streams.



Eastern Blacknose Dace


We thought fallfish would be easy to find, but we couldn't find them despite hitting up several spots.



Lake Chub +1


On the 4th day we drove to a small harbor. We started off by catching some bait.



Atlantic Silverside +1


The jetty didn't give up any new species for us, but I caught some cunner upgrades. We were hoping for flatfish or bigger sculpins.



Cunner (PR)


In the evening we went looking for banded sunfish and sticklebacks, but we only found mummichogs.



Mummichog


On the 5th day I went solo kayaking and trolled a Rapala X-rap 10 around, but no hits unfortunately.



While I was out there I kept hearing lifeguards blowing their whistles. I guess they didn't like that I went close to the rocks on the left. Didn't seem dangerous to me, lol.



Ally joined me for kayaking on the 6th day, and this time I hooked up with my first saltwater striper. It hit a Lucky Craft 110.

Striped Bass (PR)


We explored a bit more of the coast.



Last day before heading home we drove down to Massachusetts to do a full day party boat. The crew said we looked like we came from Florida.



I was cautiously hoping for two new species, but boy did we do better than that!

Haddock +1


Spiny Dogfish +1


Pollock +1


Atlantic Cod +1


Silver Hake +1


Acadian Redfish +1


Longhorn Sculpin +1


We couldn't  take fish back, so we donated all of our keeper haddock and pollock to the crew, and they made a big pot of fish chowder for the 2 hr boat ride back. It was a cool way to end the trip.



The party boat was Captain's Fishing Parties. I definitely recommend them if you're in the area. https://www.captainsfishing.com/

12

Fishing Talk / added a few small sharks to the list

« on: September 29, 2021, 08:43:27 AM »

I haven't been doing much (or any) land based shark fishing this summer, but I have added a few smaller shark species to my lifelist.

Atlantic sharpnose - bycatch while bottom fishing for red snapper. First one was cool, next 20 were not.


Spinner - trolling an X-rap 10 along the edge of a 15 ft reef where it drops down to 25 ft sand bottom.


Spiny dogfish - party boat in New Hampshire. My first time fishing the Atlantic north of North Carolina.


Also saw this guy while snorkeling. I kept my distance!


The mullet run is in full swing over here right now. I need to get out and try for bull sharks again. 

13

Fishing Talk / Baby sharks

« on: June 29, 2021, 11:00:47 AM »

They're not big, but they're new ones for the list! First two are from the Keys.

Bonnethead shark


Nurse shark


And then got a slightly bigger nurse fishing back here in Sebastian. Unfortunately it seems the blacktip + blacknose + finetooth sharks have moved on from the spots where we caught them in the spring.



I've been itching to catch my first bull shark. My plan for them is to fish close to the Sebastian Inlet jetty when the tide is moving.

14

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / more Florida surf sharks

« on: May 10, 2021, 02:19:38 PM »

Seems like it's always too windy to kayak here, so I went back to the beach for more surf sharks. Last time 3 of us landed 5 finetooths, but they must have moved on, because this time we caught 2 blacktips and 1 blacknose. Bait was ladyfish and guaguanche (the small barracuda) from the kayak session. Incoming tide got the bites, and once it neared high tide the bite died off.

Friday before I put out a shark bait I got this small snook on a Daiwa Salt Pro. It reminded me of corvina fishing in the surf.



Sent out a chunk of ladyfish, and it got picked up pretty quickly.



Short while later I had my lifer blacktip shark.



My sand hand hooked up as well.



It wasn't a shark though.



On Saturday I was the sand hand, and again we hooked up quickly on a chunk of ladyfish.



Another blacktip, quite a bit bigger than mine!







We ran out of ladyfish, so I switched to the guaguanche. It took a long time before it finally got picked up.



Had to ID this one back at home. We knew it wasn't a finetooth or blacktip. It keyed out to blacknose, and several of my more knowledgeable friends agreed.



So far we've been fishing relatively featureless beaches, but we're talking about trying close to the inlet next time. It's going to be more of a combat fishing situation, i.e. there will be anglers on either side of us. I think the shark species will be different though. More bull sharks, nurse sharks, and bonnetheads, species that like to go in and out of the inlet.

15

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / Yellow kayak in Florida

« on: May 03, 2021, 08:40:30 AM »

Finally got the kayak out on the ocean here and got a new species out of it!

Guaguanche (new species, same genus as the Pacific barracuda)


Mangrove snapper (dinner)


Ladyfish (shark bait!)


Also came across several schools of jack crevalles swimming in tight circles. I think they must have been spawning. It was tough getting any interest from them, but I did get a few to leave the group and follow my lure (Rapala X-Rap 10). I had a big one bite, at least 20 lbs. It towed me sideways a bit, and I had to put my rod in the rod holder so I could paddle and straighten out. It kept taking out line. I had a 10 lb leader and 15 lb main line, so I didn't want to tighten the drag too much, but finally I had to. The leader broke just below the uni-uni knot. Next time I'll use 20 lb leader and 30 lb main line so I can win that fight.