Species: Yellowfin Croaker (Umbrina roncador) Location: Torrey Pines State Park, California Date: August 7, 2018 Even though the last post included the same link, I’m posting it here again. Read it here. Please consider subscribing to my weekly column and access my past columns for as low as $1 per month by clicking “Become a Patron”…
Species: Spotfin Croaker (Roncador stearnsii) Location: Torrey Pines State Park, California Date: August 7, 2018 I haven’t been published in many big, national magazines, but there was a brief stint where I wrote for Game & Fish before they consolidated their writer pool and fired the previous editor I’d worked for. Kinda disappointing, but I made…
Species: California Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis) Location: Mission Bay, California Date: August 5, 2018 There are very few opportunities to catch true micros that sit up in the water column in the salt, but when you find them, they’re typically quite easy. The silversides swarming in Mission Bay were the exception to this rule. For almost an…
Species: Shovelnose Guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus) Location: Torrey Pines State Park, California Date: August 5, 2018 Crussshhhh. Crussshhhh. Crussssssshhhhhhhhh. The sound of my dreams being crushed was actually audible. Wait. No. That was the rhythmic lapping of the (spirit) breakers on the beach. Little did I know that living out my dream would soon become a nightmare. Footsteps It…
Species: Gulf Kingfish (Menticirrhus littoralis) Location: Saint Petersburg, Florida Date: July 14, 2018 After spending most of the day fishing at two separate piers and finding plenty of fish but little in the way of species variety, I opted to move to the outer edges of Tampa Bay. I found myself not far from Saint…
Species: Gaftopsail Catfish (Bagre marinus) Location: Bayou Texar, Houston, TX Date: August 2, 2017 Houston was a bit disappointing. I mean, this place gave me my 100th Species, and it was a dirty catfish. Houston is a mudflat stretching for miles in every direction, and I ended up going down a toll road for miles without knowing…
Species: Frillfin Goby (Bathygobius soporator) Location: Graffiti Bridge, Pensacola, FL Date: August 1, 2017 This is likely the most aggressive fish I’ve ever caught. I buy frozen shrimp as bait, allowing a few pieces at a time to slowly defrost in the water to achieve that perfect, almost-frozen-but-not-quite texture that best allows them to stay on a…
Species: Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) Location: Graffiti Bridge, Pensacola, FL Date: August 1, 2017 Here’s the unsung hero of my Pensacola trip. These things fought like crazy, and I could always tell I’d hooked another Atlantic Croaker if it fought like crazy and made my imagination run wild. All of the Atlantic Croaker I caught were less…
Species: Hardhead Catfish (Ariopsis felis) Location: Graffiti Bridge, Pensacola, FL Date: August 1, 2017 Channel Catfish are the bane of the Freshwater Species Hunter’s existence across much of the United States and Canada, but Hardhead Catfish fill this role in the saltwater and brackish environments of the Gulf of Mexico. By day, Pinfish will ravage your bait….
Species: Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) Location: Graffiti Bridge, Pensacola, FL Date: August 1, 2017 Everyone should go fish the Gulf at some point in their life for Redfish or Red Drum. At least, that’s what fishing culture has told us. I have fished in Corpus Christi and parts of Florida where they could be found, but I’ve…
