Since Snook season is in full swing Mr. Gerry Busk a recent transplant from Ft. Lauderdale and now Cape Coral resident decided he wanted to get in on the action. I convinced him our best bet at a Mogan Linesider would be in the afternoon on the late evening outgoing tide. The weather didn't look very good on the way to the ramp and when I arrived the second time Gerry was there waiting and willing to brave the weather. We headed down the river and luckily found some ladies schooling at the mouth of the river. We managed 3 ladies to the boat before the torrential downpours ran us off. After the rain passed we fished the same spot again and caught 3 more ladies. Then the rain ran us off again. Once we found a break in the clouds we decided to forgo anymore lady fishing and go after a Mogan.
When we arrived at the Mogan Mansion the winds started up and so did the rain. Fortunately for us the large buildings blocked most of the nasty weather off of us. I baited Gerry up with a 13 or so inch ladyfish and tossed it in the hole. The wind kept blowing us off the spot, so for the first 30 minutes I had to keep repositioning Gerry's bait to have it in the best spot for a hookup. As the rain came down I tossed a half dead lady to the hole and POW!! Gerry's bait got slammed. He did a good job of following instructions. However in the end, that first one was a little to much for him. He wasn't able to clear the Big Girl from the structure and the hook pulled. It was no big deal though, we knew they were in there and it was only a matter of time before we would get another.
Sure enough the next bait I tossed to the hole was inhaled in about 5 minutes. Gerry did a great job. He let the fish eat, dropped the rod tip as the Snook headed off with it's belly full and set the hook nice and low to the water. Gerry and for the most all of the first timers on a "Chew On This Charter" don't know what they have in store when they hook into a 36 plus inch snook with the drag on lock down. Gerry pulled and the Snook pulled, Gerry managed to get the Snook away from the structure. Once she was pulled from the structure she exploded out of the water shaking her head. We both knew she was big but when she came out of the water, both of our eyes got big as saucers. She went a healthy 16.5 pounds.
Gerry looked like a happy man, but as he soon told me, the trip was missing something. He wanted some dinner! He was the first one that ever asked: "Are there any smaller one's in here." I said: "Let's catch dinner then." The bite slowed at that particular hole so we moved a little and the bite was on once again. I tossed Gerry's bait into the hole and his fished was pounded a few seconds after it reached the bottom. Gerry got a little over excited on the hook set and the hook pulled once again. It is very easy to set the hook a little to soon when fishing this way, especially since the bait is so large. It takes the snook awhile to get it all the way down. We put a fresh lady on and within 5 minutes he had another Mogan on. He pulled as hard as he could and started walking down the gunnels in order to pull the fish out. He sure surprised me with that one, I usually don't tell customers to do that because I feel they may get over excited and fall out of the boat. He was a natural and acted like he had done it before though. He drug her right out of the hole. When he got her to the side of the boat I was calling out: "here's dinner" while I tried to Boga Grip her. Sure enough that is what I get for counting my Chickens before they have hatched. She did one last head shake at the side of the boat and away the hook and the fish went. In all honesty though, I think she was well over the slot.
Finally, we started to run out of bait. Some of the ladyfish we used two and even three times. As long as they weren't stiff I would put them on the hook. At one point we had a live 20 inch lady fish on and a dead stiff one on the other rod. Well Gerry was originally fishing with the live one and I made him take the one with the dead bait. I know he was thinking: "I ain't gonna catch nothin' on this dead bait." Little did he know a fat snook was down there just about to inhale his bait. The Mogan Linesider pounded his bait and took off for the pilings. After a minute or so she broke Gerry off. I kidded him about that for a few minutes. I told him I knew what he was thinking when I handed him that dead bait. All in all we had 7 or 8 good fish on and we managed to get two to the boat and one Boga Gripped. Not a bad evening especially in the rain.
If you are urning for
some rod busting leader fraying excitement then give Captain Chancey a call @ (239)540-7529
Until next time may you have line singing, leader fraying, and
rod busting action!!!!
