Last month, some friends and I went to West Palm Beach to do a little deep sea and canal fishing. My buddy Jimmy Dean tells me I bring wind and rough seas every time I come down. This time was no exception.
After two weeks of great weather and fishing, we showed up and the weather turned. The seas were too rough for Jimmy’s boat, so we caught up with another friend of mine, Joey Fago, and took his boat. Jimmy’s first words were, “It’s going be rough,” and it was! In spite of that, we managed to land several kings and cobia as we worked our way back south.
Then Stacy set the hook on what seemed like a good cobia. He was making progress when all of a sudden the rod was nearly pulled out of his hands. We knew he had been sharked! The rod and reel were not what you really want to catch a shark on. With five guys taking turns reeling and then losing all they gained, we finally saw the first large gray area off the side of the boat after about two hours. When it saw the boat, it dove again. Another 30 minutes finally brought it boat side. We pulled a tape at 9 feet, 4 inches, and Joey cut the leader. That was FUN!
Jimmy called the next morning to say the wind and waves were up. We were going to see how it went and make a decision. My buddy Dewayne Proffit and I grabbed breakfast and headed to R&J Baits to get some shiners. We figured we would hit a place I knew for peacock bass.
Todd at Juno Bait and Custom Rods told me about this spot a few months back, and I had been there several times catching Mayan cichlids, alligator gar, Florida gar, big bream, largemouth and oscars, but no peacocks. After picking up Stacy Flemming, we headed to the canal. We pitched shiners on bobbers and worms. The jumbo cichlids were hitting the worms like crazy.
Dewayne decided to tail hook his shiner and put it on the bottom. He lifted his rod tip and BAM! The next thing we saw was a peacock bass flying out of the water! Stacy hooked one next, but it broke off. I caught one, then Dewayne, then Stacy. After several more fish, Dewayne caught one and said, “Look, it has a hook in it already.” It was Stacy’s fish from earlier. That was a blast!
In the meantime, Jimmy called and said he and Joey were getting a 48-footer to fish the rough waters. We met them and caught some nice kings. Despite the rough seas, it was a beautiful day to be on the water.
Remember, if you have an empty seat on your boat that needs filling, shoot me an e-mail and maybe I will come fishing with you!
Contact Gary Turner at gary@purgeright.com.