Carol and I launched The Anglers Mark at the Goffinsville boat ramp this morning just after sunup. It was still a cool 45 degrees with no clouds but the weather report called for a high in the low 70's. I noticed that the water had warmed to 57 degrees. What a beautiful day! We cruised down Nassau River with porpoises rolling on both sides, turned the corner at Seymore's Pointe, cut through Jackstaff, made a brief run up the Intercoastal and into a new creek that I have never fished before. More porpoises greeted us as we dropped the trolling motor to fish the oyster banks on the first of an incoming tide. We pitched our Sure Catch jigs tipped with live shrimp to the bank and had a few nibbles but no real bites. As we prepared to pull up the trolling motor we were treated to the sighting of four otters playing and rolling and cavorting across the creek. We watched them disappear up a runout then cranked the Big Johnson and ran back to Jackstaff. The tide was perfect as it creeped in and carried us up the creek. Again, we had a few nibbles but no takers so we pulled up and ran to the southern tip of Broward Island. Carol switched to a float rig with a live shrimp "hanglin" underneath and it wasn't long before she began to pickup bites that made her float disappear then she had one good one and had a fight on her hands...and it got off! Ouch! I had stayed with the jig/shrimp combo and had a couple of "bumps" then UMPH, a good bite, a good battle, and the fish won, getting off after a few runs. Darn it! We had another treat, this time the sighting of a pair of Bald Eagles; I thought they looked a little haggard and I realized that they may be new parents!
The sand gnats declared war and Carol retreated to a makeshift tent under my foul weather jacket, but I "endeavored to persevere", switching to her vacated float rig and was soon rewarded with another strong bite and the fight was on! With me hollering "FISH ON" Carol came out of hibernation and grabbed the net, ready for the scoop. I had full confidence in the FINS Windtamer 15lb Olive braided line so I took my time working the fish to the boat where Carol scooped up what turned out to be a 26" fat Redfish! We continued to fish the log strewn bank with the float rigs and boated a few more Redfish, one being a keeper, and with our limit in the box and the gnats still swarming unmercifully, we pulled up and headed for the open water of Nassau Sound. The drum fishermen were out - I counted 12 boats at Black Hammock as we passed and when we got to the bridges I pulled up short, electing to fish on the west side. We could see through the pilings and estimated 25-30 boats on the ocean side fishing for whiting! We anchored in 25' of water off of Longpoint with only a few boats as neighbors and dropped our bottom rigs to the bottom with a small piece of peeled shrimp as bait. It wasn't long before we were catching whiting ourselves so we sat there and picnicked, listening to the radio, and catching some spring sunshine. We caught 23 whiting, all 12" and under, but had a awesome time, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!
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