By Marco Pompano, Surf Fishing Guide
There is a phrase that I’ve heard, and really love, but I don’t know where it came from. I’m going to quote it anyway: “The charm of fishing is going after something that’s elusive, but attainable, and that gives you hope.” Now, after I’ve wowed you with that statement, the hope is here. Pompano have arrived. Ya, mon!
The big scouts are hitting my lines. The Sargasso seaweed had disappeared, finally, only to be brought back with the high tide. Sometimes I can live with it!
It’s been very hard getting through the dirty ocean, waiting for it to clean up after the hurricanes, but it’s finally happened. The green-blue is getting back and the wind has died down quite a bit. Hurricane season is in the rearview mirror.
I hope I’m not putting the horns on myself: there’s always the Nor’easters or two.
It still seems like it’s always high tide for most of the day. It’s constantly hitting the seawall, so there’s much less time to fish. I’m setting up in the low tide very early in the morning, as usual. I have very fresh bait: sand fleas are in abundance at the bait shops since the sandflea gatherers have gone back into business for the pompano season.
I’m also cutting up live crab, crab knuckles. Ya, mon! I’m watching the sunrise and these guys next to me seem like they’re starting to pound them, but I don’t have time to watch them, since my rods are starting to dance the hustle. That’s when you know the early bite is on, and I’m loving it!
Some big scout slabs are hitting the beach. Since it’s the beginning of pompano season I’d like to tell you, as always, all about pompano. Officially called Florida pompano, I call them slabs. They’re found from Massachusetts to Brazil. They usually live for 3 to 4 years and are usually around 2 to 8.9 pounds. When caught, they have to be 11 inches to the V by the tail, and you can only keep six a day off the beach, the legal limit. They like to hang out in the shallow surf flats where the temperature is from 70 to 89°. They eat crab, clams, shrimp, and, of course, sand fleas. They live in schools and migrate up and down the coast, according to the water temperature. And they taste marvelous.
Right now, I’m running down the beach to a pole. That’s really looking like I like. I got a serious bend in it, starting to move down the beach with line going out. It’s making a run! All of a sudden it stops, and I’m able to reel it in. A nice 20-inch black drum, which, for some reason, many people are catching up and down the beach right now. A great fish to eat when it’s not so big. The big ones we call ‘big uglies’ and let them go. They are bottom dwellers. They use the barbels on their chin to search for food. They have gray and black stripes, and they grill up very good. They are members of the croaker family, and are the biggest ones, and make the most noise. You can hear it above the water and when you catch them, they really sound out. Now that the season is starting, many more fishermen are hitting the beaches, which is a good thing. I’m just hoping when things start to get a little more crowded, the fishermen use good surf fishing etiquette to give each other space on the beach. It usually works out.
It’s also my season for surfing charters on the beach. I’ve been getting a few a week with people from Chicago, South Africa and California. They all come down to Wilbur by the Sea, because it’s one of the best places to learn and find out how to surf fish. Half the people that come to learn don’t even live on the ocean but have a dream about pulling in a pompano out of the waves. Ya, mon! Of course, if you want to hold the bottom, the best thing to use is sputnik weights, which I happen to get from the Sinker Guy, who happens to be an avid fisherman and knows all about holding the bottom. I use 3-ounce weights mostly, and I move up to four and I’ll throw a five only when I’m trying to be a diehard.
Surf fishing leaves no carbon footprint on the beach. It’s like we weren’t there when we leave all nice and clean. We’re sitting here in the backyard. Now an old Dancehall favorite name, Lieutenant Stitchie, is warming up the atmosphere. Making sure the coals are hot and me and these fish we caught today are heading to the smoker.
