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I am having to keep my county safe on this Independence Day. I would truly enjoy hearing a few stories of the best day(s) each you are willing to share about fishing the pier. Pictures and stories and anything else you wanna share.
Thanks in advance,
Phil
I believe 2012 spring break vacation with the grand kids.....190+ king day,plus many jacks & bull reds .... the sorest I have ever been fishing(noodle arms).....between catching , netting and gaffing.....this is when Pete still fished the pier.....I believe a saturday....the wed. Before had over 100 kings(that might be reversed on days).... (I missed that due to thinking it wouldn't be good due to the wind and waves) never again will that keep me off the pier
Edited
That was the whole octagon
wow 190+ Kings, that sounds like a dream.
My best day may have been the day the LSU girls' soccer team strolled out on a warm spring day. There were bikinis. It was truly inspiring---a sight to make an old man weep and a young man burn.
Honestly they are all memorable visiting with all the friends I have made,
you all have truly blessed me with that friendship. .....THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH
Haywire - that would be something to behold.
That's a great but tough question to answer, truthfully.
I've been blessed with a LOT of great days on the pier.
Some fine catches (first king on my first trip, first tarpon, largest fish to date: 9 foot hammerhead, and unusual sights like the whale at Pensacola Pier in 2004), even some memorable 'almost catches' like hooking a sailfish.
Yeah a LOT of good times with good friends.
But through it all I'd have to say my "BEST DAY" is my NEXT DAY ;-)
They have all been great however hot the fishing may have been. Some days we caught fish, some days we didn't but the company is always entertaining.
That's a great answer, best day is the "Next day".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pier#r
It's impossible for me, given the great days I've had. Maybe some of the greatest days were the lessons that I learned, the people that I met, the things I've seen that I'll likely never see again, or the great catches, epic bites. I think that it's all of those things! It's both beautiful weather and raging storms that remind us of the power of nature and how we're at its mercy. It's grilled pompano and fried fresh mullet, discovering new ways to prepare and experience coastal cuisine and sharing those good times with great friends. In that context, I'm sure that the best is yet to come!
My best day:
Summer 2014(July to be exact) Bite was SLOW. Wife 8 months pregnant, it was HOT. We set up our cart and chairs just north of the 'draw'. The pier was not very crowded, and became less so when the rain moved in. It started pouring then it started coming in sideways... I felt like Forrest Gump, rain even seemed to come from the ground..
Anywho, my wife managed to keep me dryish with our large umbrella and then it happened... The Spanish turned on like crazy... I got near my limit in the monsoon.
It dried up a bit and I tried drifting a large hardtail in hopes of a king... My wife started hollering at me from the north west octi, I pulled my bait up and walked over, there was a red/jack boil going on. I tossed the oversized hardtail and before I could flip my bail closed a monster jack started south. Fought him forever, then I looked and my wife was lowering the net. She helped net him, and we fed some random Asian family that night that wanted it.
We then started fooling with spades and managed my 1st and 2nd Lookdown's.
Anyway, it was a great time. My wife never lets me forget how hot it was, nor how pregnant she was. Just last month she was fussing about the heat, and being pregnant again, yet she was still fishing...
Februaryish early Marchish most years. We come to Mobile for Mardi Gras most years. No fishing as it's usually cold.
I've had two days that would be my best so far last August when I limited out on Spanish mackerel and met several new people that have now became friends. Then in September of last year when my girlfriend Dixie fished a couple of days with me, she was catching under sized mangrove snapper just about ever drop and I caught my biggest Spanish mackerel and caught several mangroves myself but you need it's not about just catching fishing it's catching up with friends on the pier and meeting new friends !!!!!!
There is no one best day.
My best days are when I meet someone or a kid that needs help catching fish and they're eager to learn with a really good attitude.
They often wind up with full access to my tackle and bait bucket.
Love to see the smiles when they go from skunked to having a fish or three in their cooler.
Sometimes it as easy as showing someone a basic Carolina rig and a trilene knot.
Give a Man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and...
That's a really tough question! I've had several really good days on the pier. It was January of 2013 or 14 we came down for the first time in the winter. The water temp was still pretty warm that year and every day out there I caught Whiting, Black Drum, Redfish and Pompano. I think I caught my first Sheepie that year as well......I was hooked! We come for a week every year since in the winter. Not every year is great fishing but I enjoy the cooler days and less of a crowd. It's always a real plus to talk with Harley while he puts on a clinic on how to catch more and bigger fish than you. I hope it will be much more than a week in the next few years. The days of a hot Spanish bite and when the Specs are catchable in the skinny water all rate high as well. I've been skunked a few days on the pier but I never remember having a bad day.
All tend to be great. My last trip about two years ago is an example. I was steadily filling my cooler with big spadefish near the bathrooms. A school of bull reds came up. I grabbed my ambassador 6500 and tied on a rattletrap. First cast and 20 minutefight and decked him. Second cast same and third cast same. Gave one away and released two. Decided that was enough and put up the 6500 and went back to my big spade fish. This old man left the pier wore out with great memories and a cooler full of delicious fish.