With Memorial Day in our rearview mirror, the dog days of Summer are just ahead. However, when your fishing partner is Brody, the amazing fishing finding and stock trading dog, every day is a dog day.
In warm weather, the best bite is typically at first light. So, Brody and I get out early. Around 5:00 AM on Saturday, I was having a wonderful dream about being kissed by a Victoria’s Secret super model. As it turns out, Brody was licking me on the face to wake me up and go fishing.
On the way to the boat landing, we stopped at Refuel for coffee, chicken biscuits, drinks and ice. Brody’s job was to grab the drinks while I picked up everything else. Upon meeting at the cash register, Brody had a 12-pack of Coast Island Lager. After explaining that beer is not adequate for warm weather hydration, he reluctantly agreed to return the beer and select something else. In the blink of an eye, Brody came back with Truly Hard Seltzer Berry Mix. With daylight rapidly approaching, we agreed to disagree and paid for our stuff.
We reached the end of the jetties, just after sunrise. The wind light and the seas were calm. Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish were busting minnows on the surface. I deployed the trolling motor and spot locked the Pathfinder an easy casting distance from the end of the rocks. Brody was looking at a 15-pound spinning outfit rigged with a Shimano 21-gram Colt Sniper jig. So, I picked it up, made a long cast and began a high-speed retrieve. A big Bluefish crushed the jig. The Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish were fired up and feeding aggressively. We kept a few of the smaller Bluefish for bait to target sharks behind shrimp trawlers. When the incoming tide slowed down, the bite turned off.
It was time for sharks. I positioned the Pathfinder a good distance behind a trawler and cast a 30-pound class spinning outfit rigged with a small Bluefish on 6/0 circle hook. It only took a few seconds for a large Spinner shark to eat the Bluefish. It jumped several times before settling in for a punishing fight. It took 30-minutes to catch and release the shark. By then, I was hot and thirsty. The Truly Hard Seltzer was cold, tasty and refreshing. Sadly, I could only drink one because Brody refused to be the designated boat driver.
With shark checked off the list, we turned our attention to Bull Redfish back at the jetties. I began casting a Z-Man 5-inch Jerk ShadZ on a 3/8-ounce jig to the rocks. After several minutes and a couple of lost jigs, we checked Bull Redfish off the list and called it a day.
Other than the face licking episode, I love the dog days of summer.
