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Joe's
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With Maine lobster and filet mignon in our bellies, we loaded up to do some nighttime fishing. The wind was kickin', the current was rippin', but the fish just weren't hittin'... Correction: They weren't hittin' anyone's lines, but Joey D's. At 10:35pm, I was the first to reach the pier, with Derek, Will, Steve, Joe, and my cousin Ken showing up shortly after. There was almost no bait to be caught in the murky churned-up waters that hurricane Jeanne left in her wake. It's been 5 days since the last feeder-band passed over South Florida, but the big swells were still rolling up onto the beach. The mullet schools that were swimming near the pier were few and far between. Sabiki rigs were mostly useless, except for the occasional moonfish that snacked on the tiny hooks. It's a good thing I brought along 2 dozen frozen finger mullet to use for bait on our main rods. The wind and current conspired to consistanly tangle many lines. The winds would blow casts off-target, and the currents would drag lines over each other if not heavily weighted. While most of us dealt with the taxing conditions near the end of the pier, Joe took a walk towards the beach. Using live finger mullet, he dangled his baits on the surface just outside the breakers on the shadow line cast by the pier. It didn't take long for him to nail his first snook of the night. 26-1/2 inches! A keeper by half-an-inch. Over the next few hours, he bagged 2 more at 27 and 28 inches. Being the generous guy that he is, he offered one of the snook to Robert (a regular at the pier) who supplied him with the live finger mullet. Using cut mullet, the rest of us were occasionally getting our drags yanked by reefers. Most likely small snappers or grouper which weren't large enough to swallow the whole chunks of bait. Those that did grab took our rigs straight into the rocks. I think I broke a personal record for losing the most lead and line in one night. At least my tackle box was a bit lighter on the walk back to the car! haha Hum... bummer. Nearing 4am, we started to pack up our gear and head in. As we were walking towards where Joe was fishing, he heaved a large snook over the railing. Much bigger than the first 3 of the night, this one measured within 1-inch of the keeper size... 1-inch under the maximum allowed of 34 inches. This was the largest of the 4 keepers he caught that night. And before you say, "hey, the law only lets you keep 2 snook," I'll remind you that the law states "a maximum bag limit of 2 per person" for legal-sized snook. There were 6 of us in our group. No worries, mon. We could have kept 12! Besides Joe's four snook, we collectively caught several snapper and moonfish too, although only three of the moonfish were eligible for the cooler. At the end of the night, I crammed all the keepers in a 5 gallon bucket, with half of the big snook hanging out. I stopped by a gas station to pick up a few bags of ice. At home, I had to think creatively to fit the big snook inside my 15-quart Igloo cooler. I squeezed 'em all in, packed 'em with ice, and called it a night. Minus the one that Joe gave away, the three remaining snook became an excellent Sunday evening dinner at Joe's father-in-law's house. Since we had plenty of fish, the snook were cooked in three ways: skillet-blackened, oven-baked, and citrus-baked on the grill. It was all incredible. With a fish as tasty as snook, it's no wonder they're a strictly-regulated species!
-->Bill Buckley parrothead1973@mac.com
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