Last week, fishing was great! Catching was below average but the fishing was great. How is this so? Great fishing is not about what you catch but who you go fishing with. If you are spending the day with people that you enjoy, then catching a fish is simply a bonus. The day is already great.
On Wednesday and Friday, I fished with friends that I have not seen for a long time. On both days, we fished the afternoon falling tide. The weather was warm and windy. So, windy that fishing in the Wando was not a good option. We fished sub-optimal locations that were out of the wind. The Trout bite was steady casting Z-Man Finesse TRD lures on 1/5-ounce NedLockZ jigs to creek mouths and submerged oyster bars. We caught some Trout. More importantly, we caught up. We joked. We laughed. We reconnected. Yes, those were great days of fishing!
On Saturday, Elliott and my brother Dave joined mw for our first offshore trip of the season. Seas were calm and the 50-mile run to the 30-fathom curve was easy. Upon arrival, we deployed our trolling spread of rigged Ballyhoo and began working towards a temperature break a bit further out. After a few minutes, a school of Bonito crashed our baits. Not the target species but they were good practice for us. After releasing the Bonito and resetting our trolling spread, our movement to the temperature break resumed. Soon as we hit the break, we started catching Mahi. Most were smaller and released but we kept a couple of larger specimens for dinner.
To keep the 50-mile ride back to the harbor interesting, we always stop at some ledges in 100 to 125 feet of water and vertical jig with Shimano Flat Fall jigs. This usually produces a few bottom fish for the table. With Grouper and Red Snapper season closed, our target was big Amber Jack. They did not disappoint. After releasing several in the 30-to-40-pound range, our arms were tired. With 30-miles yet to run, we left them biting and headed for home.
If you want to have a great fishing trip, gather the people you care about and go. You may not catch any fish, but you will have a great day.