The next morning I wanted to fish for the cats, but was lured back to the Continental. I wanted a Bowfin and maybe one of the gar I saw the other day lurking about.
I drove around the community checking on other spots so I didn't get all pinned down on one. I figured I'd get a bass at the least.
So many gar in the water, but I couldn't ID which type. I unexpectedly get what I felt was a needlefish hit and realized I have one of the gar! The hook was right in that long snout so I wasn't sure if it was hooked, or just chomping down on the hook. I reached for my phone to get a picture and as I looked down heard a loud WHOOSH and a huge wake in the water came a good foot in height. Rod was super tight and then gone. I didn't see it but was pretty sure it was a gator. I saw a wake go into the swamp so figured that was it going to eat my fish. Such a bummer.
I moved around since I only had a few hours before I had to run back and wasn't sure how I would get my gar or a bowfin with gators all over. I pinned on a gulp sandworm on a C-Rig and tried that. Bluegill were biting it, but I wasn't getting anything substantial. I moved on and found the apparent "Fishing Spot".
I knew I had only a few casts before heading back to meet the family for breakfast, so casted the surf perch rig to see what I could get. Well dam, I got a great hit and quite a snappy fight! I was expecting to see a catfish, but BAM! Mission Accomplished!
After getting some good shots for what it would let me get, I pitched him back and 2 casts later, had another! Homey Hole!
I had to get a picture of the Gular Plate! Only fish in North America that has one. One of the first fish I learned about in Ichthyology.
Then I cursed myself by saying, man, this is easy! Next 20 casts nothing and I had to vamoose. This place is 4 miles away from where I am staying so I couldn't maximize small windows of time to get out, but it was glorious!
Time to hit the retention ponds just before dinner. My father said, "For someone I remember telling please don't make this a fishing trip, you sure are doing a lot of fishing. LOL
Next Post will encapture a few days catching cats on Zara Spooks, LC's and wine corks.
