By Keith Lozott Contributing Writer
I was up late the night before working in the garage knowing that I had agreed to fish the next morning. Sunrise comes quick when you go to sleep after midnight and have your alarm set for 5:45 a.m. The weather was supposed to get bad later in the morning and for once the forecast was pretty accurate. Now for the final wrinkle!!! After the early morning fishing trip and getting very little sleep the night before, I had planned our annual captains meeting for the upcoming Delacroix trip. The best part of this is that I said yes to go fishing early knowing full well that I had all of these extracurricular activities planned. Now, Iâm guessing you have put two and two together and think this is about being exhausted. Well, not so fast!!! I was tired and the nap that took place after fishing was great but donât judge a book by its cover.
âHit the wallâ as I said in the title is exactly what we did. The tide was incoming in the St. Lucie River early and the snook were probably on the prowl early too. We were on course to intercept a few. My buddy is a live bait guy and really wanted to find some mullet milling around, then try a few spots for snook, jacks, or whatever else that may have been hungry for breakfast. Unfortunately for him, the bait wasnât around the normal spots that he typically finds them. That may have been unfortunate for him, but fine with me. I love artificial bait fishing 99 percent of the time. I was ready for war, rigged with a Rapala Skitter Walk tied to my Diawa BG 3000 spinning reel and 7â custom rod. We worked a few points and pilings making our way towards a very productive seawall located around the Roosevelt Bridge area. The boat was perfectly placed with spot lock on the trolling motor where I could make the perfect cast along the seawall. The wind was blowing towards the wall and we were situated where my cast would allow the topwater lure to be walked parallel to the wall right up against the face of it. If you donât already know, this is how to retrieve your lure when fishing a wall. The second or third cast was perfect! I was walking the lure back and forth for 8 or 9 walk the dog motions when the most beautiful sight appeared before my tired eyes. A 28.5â snook blew up on the Skitter Walk and the fight was on!!! My buddy was happy to see I had a nice fish on in his boat which hadnât landed a slot size snook yet. The fight was epic with numerous jumps, lots of drag pulling action and some satisfied anglers when the fight was over.
Hitting the wall isnât always about being tired. Remember to work the wall parallel for more shots at nice fish!
Keith Lozott The Fishing Realtor