Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

[Fishbusters]

I have had to try some new spots and have actually done prety well. In fact I have actually done better that I expected. Mostly I am a catfisherman although I do chase other species and have caught a lot of chanels and blues as well as a few flats. Most of my flatheads have been by accident I was fishing for blues but ended up with a flat not a bad thing. All that has changed with a new spot I found. I heard the flats were there as well as some big blues so I took cut and live bait. Both nights I caught flats a small one the first night and one about 20# last night as well as having one on that was as strong as any cat I had ever caught before the night I caught the small one. All were on the live bait and I will assume the one that got away was a flat. I plan on heading back Wed or Thur night to confirm my theory with a bait wel (converted cooler with pump) full of live bait. Still wishing the boat was up and running but I have to wait on some parts so I might as well fish. Even when the boat is up I still may have to hit the bank every now and agian. <br />I posted this for those who may have a broken boat or those without a baot because I wanted them to know where there is a will there is a way.

 

[losinbama]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

I also fish for catfish from the bank. My boat isn't up and going now. I mostly use my boat to get to good looking spots like sandbars and then fish from the bank. I am going to start fishing jugs when I get the motor going. I think that would be a lot of fun.

 

[bKelly]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

I have caught a lot of cat fish from the bank this year. There is a small lake that a creek backs into each spring and the catfish come in to the shallows. When its right you are constantly catching fish. We usualy catch enough to have a good fish fry for the family and friends. We also fish from the sand bars on the Mississippi River for big blues and flat heads

 

[derwood]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

There is'nt a thing wroung with fishen from the bank....untill last year thats all i could do.<br /><br />30 years worth.<br /><br />Fishen from shore is easy...fishen from a boat is hard.<br /><br />All you guys probly think the oppisite.<br /><br />I don't fish for cat's to much....to much fur <br /><br />Na...i catch so many saltwater cats that i have gotten to dislike the things a little. Have yall ever caught a sailcat with one of your last two live (pain in the but to catch) greenbacks....RRRRRRRRRRRR <br /><br />There just is'nt a hole lot of water round here right now....my brother-in-law catches them at the river sometimes.....kinda spotty as of late cause of the river drying up and turning into a chain of lakes. They just can't get through the river.<br /><br />We have had some rain lately...I hope it helps.<br /><br />derwood.<br /><br />P.S. I do like F.W. cats when i can get some water to fish for them in.

 

[losinbama]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Those sail cats are fun to catch but a letdown when you are trying for something else. I have caught quite a few when I lived in Florida. Sanford 20 miles east of Orlando on the I4 parking lot. lol

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Sail cats can be fun and are prety at least to me with that long fin but those danged hardheads that swim side by side with them I hate with a passion. I have heard in the spring fed rivers you can catch some big cats using grass shrimp fished in the deep spring this time of year you may want to pass this on. To me it is much harder to fish w/o my boat I hate being elbow to elbow with folks and having complete idiots move in on me and ask all sorts of questions when all I want to do is fish and relax. Bank fishing can be productive and sometimes is the best way to present a bait but I love my boat. I need my boat. I wish that manual and parts would get here I ordered them a week ago. I think Tohatsu and the only dealer within 60 miles know they have a lock and don't realy care how long it takes to get you something. Anyway the family vacation is a little over a week away and it will be off to the mountians camping so I would not have time to work on it next week as i got to get gear ready. Lets see flyrod (check) Fly vest(check) I guess I am ready LOL.

 

[derwood]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Don't ya just hate that....thats why i decided to get a boat.<br /><br />It gets more and more crowded on the shore down here every year.<br /><br />The worst is when you are quietly fishing at the pier and some jerk and his six running wild screamming children plops down beside you and throws out one of those @@$#@$#@$ crab traps with the long rope and chiken necks inside.RRRRRRR <br /><br />Gafftip sailcats are funny lookin....they fight hard. Sometimes i will catch a few small S.W. cats for the table. (10-12") They are'nt near as good as F.W. cats though.<br /><br />Have a great time camping...and catch some nice fish for all the landlocked monks. <br /><br />Derwood

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

derwood, i've never thought that thought before. <br />

fishing at the pier and some jerk plops down beside you and throws out one of those @@$#@$#@$ crab traps with the long rope and chiken necks inside.RRRRRRR

<br /><br />several yrs ago, we did just that when camping on Hunting Island over near PFB's place... we ate crab nuggets, but i didn't think of how it affected other pier fishermen. i'll keep that in mind next spring when we get another chance to visit there.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Don't tell me you GA boys invade Hunting Island with all it's beauty and fish. Dang it I knew it was too good to last. Instead of dropping it off the pier you may want to head to the lagoon and try placing it as close to the opening into the bay as you can. Also the little creek that runs right from the boat ramp has some nice crabs in it and you may get a stone crab or two up there as a bonus. The wife told me this fall when it is not so danged hot we are heading down there so I guess I better get my crab trap ready. Usually I can net up a mess of shrimp and it is nice to have a few crabs to go with it.

 

[gonfishn]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Heve a great trip PFB. May that trout honor and bless you with their presence. For myself I am resigned to "Pooter Fishing" with a bobber until I heal. Anything bigger than a sunfish will reguire help.

 

[derwood]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Hey there Ebb,<br /><br />No offence intended....you just have to hear my side of it. Not every person that tosses a crab trap is a jerk.<br /><br />We have this place down here called "Jenkins creek". It's a small creek that comes in off the gulf.<br /><br /> You know the ones....Tea colored water, saw grass all around, Eagales and ospreys sitten in the old dead tree from time to time watchen whats going on (waiten for a easy meal), Misty early mornig fishen as a young pup with Gramps.<br /><br />On any winter morning bout dawn you could go out to it and chase off old "Sam" (the resident gator....11 footer ) and toss out a shrimp or pinny under a bobber and catch trout, reds and an ocationl snook. Heck, for awhile you could even get some pompino at the bridge.<br /><br />The bottom of the creek was coverd with turtle grass (a fish MC Donalds).<br /><br />Just me, Gramps, a few Oldtimers (true respected master monks) and a bag full of honey buns. The good old days!<br /><br />Then one mornig we went out and there was a sign saying it would be closed for construction....WHAT!<br /><br />4 months later there was a shinny new pier....HACK PUHH on the new pier. It was just fine the way it was!<br /><br />For a while we got to liken the new pier cause it kept the mud off our boots and it was a handy-dandy thing to tie off the fish stringer to.<br /><br />BUTT....soon the nimrodds started to show up. new fisherman + stroung tide flows + raidos + loud cussing - hitting the trashcan with their litter = fist fights and bad fishing.<br /><br />THEN....pepole started showing up with the crab traps....rude on a rope....they did not care if you were fishing....they would walk right up next to you (close enough to smell their Breakfast) and then...KASPLOSH! %^$#@$#$*&*&<br /><br />Ever tried to untangle your line from a trap and rope while a grinning idiot says "sorry bout that...Did'nt mean to throw over ya." $^%#%#@^%#%<br /><br />Before to long they had drug those traps over the bottom enough to rip up that carpet of turtle grass, left enough fishing line discarded on the pier to kill countless birds and littered enough to make that TV Indian cry.<br /><br />Since then I have not been back. I am sad that they ever made that pier. Not only did it destroy a pristine fishing/nature spot, It stripped me of alot of good memories.<br /><br />I like crab meat just as much as the next guy, but there is a way to go about doing it without being rude and distructive. Plus it was'nt just the crabbers, it was the pepole without commen curtisy and manners....fishing poles, crab traps and whatever elese.<br /><br />So now you see where My mental scar came from....I was not directing it twoards you or anyone elese with the curtisy not to infringe on someone's private time with nature or their sons and daughters.<br /><br />I'm sure some of you can relate to this and i hope i have not stepped on anybodys toes that did not desirve it....that was not my intent. <br /><br />Derwood.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Derwood there is good and bad in everything. I agree with having problems with idiots. Recently I was fishing a little but actually looking for bait to come by so i could throw my net and here comes some fellows throwing out about 12 of those crab nets almost elbowing be out the way to tie them off. Plenty of dock to put them on but they wanted them everywhere. I saw some bait brok out the cast net and threw it they started fussing about those people who think they own the dock making all kind of noise scaring off the crabs and such. Well I left soon after with a cooler of bait and made a cell phone call to boot. It seems these folks never heard or bothered to check that crabs have to be 5" point to point before you can keep them. They had some that were 3" or less before I left. I have no problem letting folks put a crab net/trap where i am fishing and in fact if you ask and are polite i will move to let you tie off but don't be rude. It is just like those folks that come up on you and practically tie off to your boat and start fishing.

 

[derwood]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Hey Peter,<br /><br />Why are they like that.....were they left at home while Daddy took the neibor kids fishen? <br /><br />You know, In the past, When I wanted to get some crabs I would wade out with a net to get them. Not because I did'nt want to do it from the pier because there were fisherman there...They would not have cared a bit as long as i was polite about it.....I just did not like to sit there waiting for them to come to me. <br /><br />Heck, I have even pointed them out to pepole and told them to come on one side or another to get them...just to be careful of my stringer and lines. <br /><br />This pier just happends to have a very strong current when the tide is flowing and even a fisherman will be busy with one pole trieing to keep from getting in someone eleses line. Not a time to be nappen! <br /><br />Sometimes pepole just don't care about other pepole. Or nature for that matter! I have a piece of broom handle that i cut a slit in. I use it to keep old fishing line when i have to take it off in the field...I just tie the tag end off to the piece before it and rap it up putting the loose end in the slit at the end of the stick. When i get near a trashcan i slide it off.<br /><br /> What's the big deal in that? <br /><br />However, I am waiting for the day i get yelled at for pulling up a marked crab trap in the gulf. I don't take the crabs out....I get the worm colinies and plants for my S.W. fishtank off the sides of the older ones....sooner or later someone will think i am takeing crabs ....but i'm not.<br /><br />Oh well, guess if solitude wont come to me, I'll go out and find it...I'll let the pinheads have the pier....All the good things it held for me are gone anyway.<br /><br />Derwood.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

yo ho ho an a bottle o rum!<br /><br />I just got back from the flatwoods of SC caught tons of cats, bass, bream - only kept @ 8lb between us 4 families. it was all bank fishing in privately managed ponds. sweeeet - uh, that was 8fillet# <br /><br />Anyway, I just posted because I like the good advice, that's what I'm all ears for(ok,eyes).<br /><br />I have no,none,nill understanding of the etiquette of saltwater pier-fishing except for the tourist type mentality, so i like your info. I do understand what you meant reflectionwood <br /><br />Thanx for the tip PFB - i will avoid the wooden path, but instead seek the ricepaper stealth into bayou & practice the stork gungfoo. - yes - the beauty of hunting island has been deflowered, since my nephew from hickville GA was on Parris Island for a good while

 

[derwood]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

Yo Ho,Ho to you my freind,<br /><br />AAAHHHH yes...."Stork style gung fu" very wize choice....A steathy aproch is very important. <br /><br />Old proverb: "The clumbering giant in daylight sees less crabs than a quiet lady of the night." .....Oh wait...thats not right.... <br /><br />uh..."The quiet crain leaves a deeper foot print than the noisy gull."...Yea thats it...it's a zen thing with the quiet fisherman catches the most fish <br /><br />The Crabs around here were getten scarce for awhile....back in the day i could shuffle through the sand in 2-3 ft of water next to the grass patches and get all the crabs i needed for a crab bake in a few hours....I quit going after a year of haveing to saveup to get enough. <br /><br />I don't know if yall have to do the stingray shuffle up there but down here it's a must unless you like pain. <br /><br />I have'nt been in a while...i wondert if things got better since the inshore net ban....HHHHHHMMMMMMM. <br /><br />Derwood.

 

[Greg Lawrence]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

pier fishin here in texas can be a pain.. alot of ppl dont even have any business fishing. if they come up to you and start asking if they can have half of your live bait, that tells me they are not fishermen.. probly not even licensed. As it has gotten BAD with drunks and jacklegs over the past few years, i dont hesitate one bit. I call the hotline for TPWD Game Thief.. There are always fishing violations. after they have come and gone, half the pier is vacant. open for fishin. ahhhh but you say im wrong for calling in? i say theyre wrong for breaking the law.. plus it gets rid of the riff raff alot of the time.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

I guess my size and look keep most people from asking to "borrow" bait. I too will call the DNR boys out if i see someone breaking the law most recently i did it to save someone from a nasty case of stomach problems. He was digging clams in a closed area. The area was right on the harbour and i know it was closed for health reasons rather than to protect the resource. It had a sign and everything but he was digging them anyway.<br />Derwood the stingray shuffle is not unknown and should be practiced at great lengths around here. Personally i have never stepped on one but I have stepped on a flounder or two back when we used to use pithcforks and blind gig for them. We also got a good many crabs that way too. I also have noticed a decline in the crab populations dirrectly proportional to the rise in comercial crab traps and roadside crab sellers.

 

[horndog]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

there are those types of people at every fishing public fishing spot, even up here in Illinois

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

well the time for going back to the saltwater pier fishing is next week. but its supposed to be raining all week. i wonder how that will affect the fishing & crabbing? and do people dig clams this time of year?

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Bank Fishing is not all that bad.

In SC any month with an R in it is clam/oyster season more or less. You have to check the exact regs for true dates but it is a good rule of thumb. This means that yes people may still be gathering them but I prefer to get them when it is colder. As far as the rain and such it depends upon how much fresh water it forces into the marsh. It can and will run fish off for a few days and crabs being not as fast will get a little stressed and not be as readily available. What makes things worse is I don't think any river system that dumps into the salt has had enough time to come down off flood or close to it so there is a lot of fresh water flowing in right now along the SC coast. I can only assume it is the same for GA. Also with heavy rains the Oyster/Clam beds are closed so check with the DNR's website for the latest info.