Fishing and catching are not synonymous

From my article in the Daniel Island News last week.

Fishing and catching are not synonymous. There are times when fish are simply difficult to catch. Saturday, was one of those days. My friend, Sean Burke and son (Elliott) met me at the boat landing a little before 8:00 AM. We launched the skiff into the last of the falling tide. Our plan was to target Redfish shallow and then switch to Trout when the tide began to rise. Things started out well. A few minutes after we started fishing (near a submerged oyster bar in 1-2 feet of water), both Sean and Elliott had already caught a Redfish. The Reds has an affinity for a Z-Man MinnowZ Houdini, which I was not using. Sean and Elliott (who were using the MinnowZ Houdini) had steady action until the tide stopped. When the bite turned off, all I had managed to catch was a single tiny Trout. Of course, Sean and Elliott kept a steady banter about my poor performance dragging them down.

Things changed after we switched to Trout on the incoming tide. Sean joined me in the poor performance fishing club. The bite was not great but somehow Elliott managed to get all the bites. A fact he constantly reminded Sean and me about. We were all using the same lure and working the same retrieve cadence but Elliott caught all the fish. To make matters worse, he completed an inshore slam by releasing a 14-inch Flounder. Speaking of which, on July 1st the Flounder minimum size limit was increased to 15 inches.

Towards the end of the trip, I made a small rally after switching to a StreakZ 3.75 Blue Back Herring on a Trout Eye finesse jig. This left Sean all alone in the poor performance fishing club. We elected Sean the club president (since he was the only member).

Fishing and catching are not synonymous. If you are having one of “those” days, the club is seeking new members. Contact Sean Burke for more information.