surf fishing catch

Monday, October 12th. I was in no hurry this morning as the water was yesterday, while weed-free, very dirty. To my surprise, I was met with calm seas and clean water. The tide was about half way out on this pleasant overcast morning with light winds out of the west and a pleasant 75 degrees. I set up 3 rods. 3oz pyramids today was all I needed to hold bottom, and with the west wind I could toss them in the trough or launch them out well over 100 yards.

I barely got set up and my poles start bouncing. One after another — it was rare that all three rods had bait and were in the water at the same time. Pompano after pompano ate my sand fleas. Most were over 10″ but under 11″. A total of 19 Pompano on the day but only 5 hit the legal keeper mark.

In close, a ton of Palometa kept me amused in the first trough. They were accompanied by 6-7 small drum in the same area. I saved a few of the Palometa at a request of some friends who like them fried whole. In total, 16 good-sized whiting came home and several tiny ones went back. A couple of ladyfish and skipjack along with a lone catfish combined with 2-3 bite-offs rounded out my day. Plenty of fun and home before noon.