The Fisherman's Wharf > Fishing Stories

"You Can't Catch Saltwater Fish on Bass Tackle, Little Boy"

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Otter:
When I was 10 years old (22 years ago), I went to a place called "Shantytown" near Ocean City Maryland.  It's primarily a shopping venue right along the waterway that connects some back bays with the Atlantic Ocean.  After our family beach trip, we went there to let my sisters and my Mom shop.  I had fishing gear with me and paid a few bucks to fish the local pier that really just ran alongside (not really out into) the water.  I knew that snapper bluefish and some nice weakfish were running from previous evenings spent with my brother (Fat boy).  The night before, we seemed to be the only ones that could catch the snapper bluefish that people were using for bait.  We had 1/8 ounce jig heads tipped with squid and we tore 'em up on the ultra-lites.  The old timers were paying us a buck a piece to use the snappers as bait.  I made $7 that night and that was alot back then for a 10 year old; many, many videogames.  Anyway, I through a grub a while and I noticed that there were needlefish that were getting attacked on the surface so I switched lures to a 6" Rapala floater, the closest thing I had that resembled a needlefish.  I was tossing it with a medium action rod and 8 lb test monofilament.  This was far below the local standard of massive surf rods and heavy baitcasting setups used to cast conventional bait rigs that weighed more than the fish they were catching.  Minimum 30 lb test mono.  I started to cast this lure when one of the local curmudgeons decided to educate me about saltwater fishing.  While he was giving me his dissertation on how these "bass lures" didn't work in saltwater, my Rapala innocently fluttered in the current alongside the dock as I listened.  He was about mid-way through his spiel when a chopper bluefish lived up to it's name and chopped my Rapala in half!  I was amazed and astonished and I looked for the closest thing to my demolished lure and found it in a similar Rebel floater.  At this point, I had an excuse to ignore the Shantytown gentleman, there were fish to be caught!  I cast out the rebel and on the first cast a large, 6 lb weakfish attacked it as if it were a needlefish, getting two treble hooks full of Rebel.  I landed the fish and another guy on the pier helped me net it.  A few casts later, I landed a 4 lb weakfish.  I was absolutely thrilled!  It was about 10:00 PM now, a late night for a 10 year old and the shoppers were finished.  As I looked down the pier, I could see that all the old farts, yocals and curmudgeons had switched to anything that resembled what I was fishing with.  I left with two fine sea trout and a noticeable spring to my step.  ;D

I told this story so many times to my brother that I think he called it "fishing story number 17" or something like that, but I remeber it as if it were yesterday.

sbfpa_Mike:
Otter,

     This is one of my "Credo's" in life;  Don't ever tell me I can't do something.

perch pounder:
  >:( Telling me I can't will only make me try harder ;D

Otter:
Yep, I've always been a bit of hard head myself.

reelcharacter:
Great story with a great message. Fish don't read all the things the fishermen do, so they do not realize they are not supposed to bite on freshwater bass lures. Through the eyes of a 10 year old, who also had not read all the books the fisher"men" had . . .

-Reelcharacter

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