Muskie Tatics payoff in Saltwater

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detroithardcore
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Muskie Tatics payoff in Saltwater

Post by detroithardcore » Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:11 pm

I just got back from a week long vacation on Captiva Island, Florida with the family. We were at a gorgeous resort called South Seas. I brought my Muskie gear down to mess around experimenting in Saltwater. Every night schools of big 15-30# Snook would come in to the docks and feed under the lights. I was told by baitshops, local guides and resort folks they are too finicky and you won't catch them since people fish off the main dock all year. I was told I specifically need either live bait or 40# fluorocarbon leader tied directly to like with a uniknot and use a smaller rapala or bomber crank. Well, after 1 week I hooked over 12 Snook and landed 8 with biggest at 40" and weighed 20#. All fish were caught on 80# braid, St. Croix Legend Rod, 180# Stealth Fluoro leader with big stay lock snap and either a 8" Hellhound or 8" Sebile Stick Shadd. Here's the best part... All 8 landed were caught on a figure 8!! I would cast out and burn bait along dock "an edge" and then figure 8 causing Snook to storm out from under dock and smash my gliders! I lost many by having them run under docks, wrapping under docks and popping off! These snook make muskies feel like wimps when it comes to stamina or endurance! What was so funny the baitshop guys and resort local anglers never believed my stories so I had them come down to dock at 10pm to prove it. Sure enough first cast I hook one in the "8" lose it, cast out again and hook another in "8" and landing it. She was 38" and 17#. Most guys never knew or thought to throw a much bigger bait and most never knew what a Figure 8 was...

My second fish story was on Thursday. I went out with Captain Jon Sebold to chase monster 180# Tarpon in the middle of Everglades on Muskie gear!! The saltwater is too cold from them this time of year and the Tarpon come into TE freshwater for warmer temps. We went 30 miles deep into glades. Gators everywhere as well and hundreds of Tarpon ranging from 120# to 180#. We used 7'6" St. Croix legend Rods, 80# braid, 80# Fluoro leader and 8" Big Game Balsa Cranks. Here's the cool thing... Jon grew up in MN and is a Muskie Angler who has spent last 20 years chasing Tarpon, Snook and Reds guiding. He's amazing and a awesome guide/angler. I only had 1 day to fish with him since I was on a family vacation but it was well worth it! It took Jon 5 minutes and he located schools of Tarpon coming up on surface in these bays (monster lakes really in the glades). At the end of day I hooked 3 Tarpon with smallest about 160# and lost them them all after 5-7 amazing breathtaking jumps. Jon also lost 3 giants. One took a brand new spilt ring 300# and treble with him. The strikes were violent and I actually have a few deep bruises on my rib cage from the strikes! We had another 5-10 fish strike, follow or thump our baits. We saw another 20-40 Tarpon throughout the day roll or we snuck up on a few sunning in the shallow bays of glades. All fish were sitting, striking or feeding in 5 feet of water or less and had nowhere to go but up when hooking them. I learned fast you lose a lot more than
you land and if I had another 2 days to fish I probably could have had a good shot at landing one but at least I got 3 hooked, fought for a bit and experienced amazing jumping/fighting ability of these gorgeous fish! Any of you heading down to SW Florida in Spring or Late fall need to book a trip with Jon Sebold. It's right up a muskies anglers alley! The best part was there is zero fishing pressure! Zero! Nobody is crazy enough to go so deep into glades and chase these fish. We didn't see 1 boat or angler anywhere. We had the entire glades and Tarpon to ourselves and Jon said that it's always been like this the last 20 years! The power of these fish fighting them is in a whole other class of trophy fishing! Tarpon were everywhere!! What an experience and I can't wait to go back! I've now committed to no more Muskie Trips and all funds for fishing will go to chasing Tarpon in the glades with Jon. There's one ramp in the glades. One way in, one way out and little nerving to think what could happen with boat issues that far away and nobody around but your in good hands with Captain Jon Sebold. A true gentleman and sportsman! I was lost driving through mangroves within the first 5 minutes. Everything looked the same! Miles and miles of little winding canals, sawgrass, mangroves and bays. I was stunned when Jon was navigating through all of it without a GPS. He knows the glades like the back of his hand. When I asked why I didn't see a GPS/Sonar combo he pointed down to the broken bracket and wires and said last week a 180# Tarpon landed in the boat smashing the unit and bracket. Check out www.sfpfishingoutfitters.com or look for him at certain Muskie shows this winter. He's targeting the muskie crowd and pretty much knows or fished with all the big names in the Muskie world. We chatted all day about Muskie and Tarpon and how much alike the species really are. It's so funny but I now think about muskies as being such wimps when it comes to a tarpon or snook strike and fight.. I could go on and on about what we saw out in the glades with Tarpon. It's one amazing fishing trip unlike anything else. Make sure you seriously
consider a trip down there before your next Muskie trip!! You won't be disappointed! We had Tarpon bigger than me strike 5 feet from boat. Guys had have their wrists broken from such a close strike from a 180# tarpon!! I'm now haunted all winter thinking about the 3 Tarpon I hooked...can't get them out of my head....I'll post snook pics later. We caught speckled sea trout as well, jacks, grouper, ladyfish, pinfish and many other species on our vacation. My 4 year old boy was on the dock with me everyday reeling in fish while Dad kept baiting shrimp on the hook. What a trip!!'
Scott

Scott Williams
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Post by Scott Williams » Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:25 pm

Sounds fantastic!

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Steve S
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Post by Steve S » Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:30 pm

Scott, WOW!! sounds like you had a great time. Did you come close to hooking a gator? How were the snakes?? [smilie=2thumbsup.gif]

Larry Porter
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Post by Larry Porter » Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:51 pm

Great trip and your enthusiasm was easy to catch!

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kid coulson
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Post by kid coulson » Fri Dec 14, 2012 10:14 pm

Awesome story bro, I wish I was right there with ya!

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jawtag
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Post by jawtag » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:53 am

Sounds like a sweet trip! Ive had 2 on and lost both one I fought for a while before losing it. not having those hero pictures will eat at you until you can get your revenge.
A fish in the sewer is better than none in the pool, or something, I think -Duke

detroithardcore
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Post by detroithardcore » Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:24 am

Steve,

The gators pretty much leave ya alone and we didn't see any snakes but they are loaded in there. I was curious about the extinction of Florida Panthers and Captain Jon Sebold said there are a few left and he saw one last year in the glades crossing a bay and then run up a tree.

It's just an amazing experience. It would be compared to fishing remote shield lakes up north. Islands everywhere out there except there mangroves and sawgrass but from a distance it all looks the same until you get close. The shocking thing to me was I was expecting or hoping we could maybe see, hook or spot 1 or 2 Tarpon and that would be a good day. We saw upwards of 50 Tarpon in an area smaller than a soccer field. We were actually surrounded by monster Tarpon. Most people think "Saltwater" and the whole "Boca Grand Pass" type Tarpon fishing. Drop a crab down and wait for bite. This is totally different. It's fan casting or sight casting to Tarpon in shallow water with Muskie tackle. Jon was using Tooth Tammer Rods and had a bunch of Muskie cranks in the boat to use. What shocked me even more was it was simple fishing. Cast out, reel crank in lazy and slow. Just enough to stay right under surface. The fish would explode on the bait in the first 4-5 cranks of reel or sometimes hit close to boat. We'd see one roll, cast about a foot in front of it and watch the fish explode out of water trying to kill the bait. When the struck, every single fish would create a big swirl, wake and then exploding strike out of water. It was amazing and would scare the &$@" out of you! Sometimes if you land the bait right on their head they would smoke it just as it was hitting the water. Such cool stuff!! The tough part for me was wanting to fish longer but you don't wanna be caught in glades at night. It's asking for trouble so we left ramp at 7am, drove 30 miles in a 17' skiff w/ 70 HP and took an hour and half through jungle/glades to reach tarpon. We didn't start fishing till 830-9 and had to leave by 230pm to get back to launch by 4-5pm since it gets dark in winter but think about it.... We hooked 6 Tarpon over 140-150#, had a bunch strike, thump or miss and seen another 40-50 roll all in 5-6 hours..those numbers are not like Muskie numbers... I was stunned at the amount of giant Tarpon in such a small remote area of a bay in middle of glades..simply awesome!
Scott

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Chris Musselman
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Post by Chris Musselman » Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:36 am

The Snook story is amazing.
If I'm not going to catch fish. I might as well not be catching Muskies...

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Will Schultz
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Post by Will Schultz » Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:14 am

LOL! It only takes one trip to the south with big snook and tarpon to make you realize freshwater is just killing time until you get back to the salt.

That figure eight snook technique is called "swishing" is some parts of FL. Most guys don't even make a cast, just walk from spot to spot and figure eight.
Self interest is for the past, common interest is for the future.

detroithardcore
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Post by detroithardcore » Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:29 am

That's awesome!! Yeah, it was awesome and I was definitely surprised of the fighting power of a 40" Snook. Amazing jumping ability and peeling line like nothing...

Yes, I'm now cursed with Saltwater bug and my mind is racing on how I can get back down there ASAP!!

Your right Will.... Freshwater fishing is definitely killing time till my next saltwater trip!

I was trying to go for a Florida Gulf Grand Slam and for those that don't know it's a Snook, Speckled Trout and Redfish all in one day. I got the Snook and Trout but the Reds were just not in the area this time of year. I tried tossing into mangroves for hours but just couldnt see any Reds in there. It's amazing looking down at a snook from above how much there facial structure is very similar to a Muskie or pike (on a smaller scale) but same features. Such a cool fish!
Scott

Smada962
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Post by Smada962 » Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:54 am

That's an awesome story Scott, sure sounds like fun! I have an uncle that just recently retired and bought a big center console boat and moved down there. I need to try to make it down there to fish with him.
Ryan Adams

Yeah well ya know, that's just like, your opinion man

detroithardcore
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Post by detroithardcore » Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:14 am

The area I was in is without a doubt a fisherman's and family man's paradise!! The best part was the resort "South Seas" was amazing and had so much to offer for everyone and this time of year it's not crowded at all! At times it Felt like you had to pool(s), fishing dock, shops, bars, etc to
yourself. Plus I spent way less money on this trip than I did at Disney and my kids had way more fun! I asked my 4yr old if he's rather go back to Disney (complete ripoff) or back to South Sea's and he wants to come back to South Seas. There is so much to do on Captiva and Sanibel Island. There's several "passes" leading out to Gulf and timing it with the Tide's the fishing was amazing and not crowded. We would have a long fun day, go out to dinner, kids would crash and I'd head down to Dock around 10pm and catch big snook after big snook. You could fish early or late and still have plenty of time for family stuff.
One of my best friends just bought a 24 Ft Sea Hunt Bay Boat fully loaded and he's becoming dialed in on Reds, Cobia, snook and learning about Tarpon run's all along East and West coast Florida. I spent 4 years down in College playing D1 soccer at Florida Atlantic U and did some fishing back then but in college it was all girls, drinking and soccer..fishing wasnt a priority at that time in my life which I'm now kicking myself but I sure still had fun.. Maybe I should have married a rich Boca Raton sugar mama...lol!!
Scott

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esoxfly
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Post by esoxfly » Sun Dec 16, 2012 10:01 am

Awesome story Scott!

I remember when I went from a sweetwater fisherman to a saltwater guy. There's no going back. I've obviously been all sweetwater the past several years living on LSC, but I'm anxious to get to my next unit and hit the salt.

The good thing about saltwater is that you can apply so much of it back into other fishing. Bimini twists, the hardware, fishing tough conditions, even boat set up. Everything I fish with now is saltwater-safe and geared heavier than what you'd normally see in sweetwater. You don't see it as much in conventional gear, but in the fly world you see rods and reels listed as saltwater safe. Regardless, becoming a saltwater fishermen almost 15 years ago has made me a better sweetwater fisherman in many many ways.

Great story Scott! Keep it going!

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