Starting about half way up a 16-foot Calcutta, we tied eighth inch nylon rope, looped it all the way to the tip, and tied it to a 00 stainless swivel. To the swivel we tied about 10 feet of the same nylon rope with the terminal tackle on the end of that. Terminal tackle consisted of double stranded 120lb-test wire leader with a 10/0 or 12/0 hook and 00 swivel. We loosely wired a 6 oz weight to the swivel, in such a way that it came off easily during a fight.
Bait consisted of a small live fish, usually a salt-water catfish with its spines cut off (for our safety, not the jewfish) or a mangrove snapper. We fished in the creeks and rivers at slack tide. Places like East Cape or Middle Cape canal, Little Sable River, and Turner River come to mind. Slack tide is that 30 to 45 minutes that the tide takes to slow, stop, change directions, and begin moving again. The outside banks on curves in the creek are usually as deep or deeper than the creek is wide, sometimes 12 to 15 feet, and always undercut. Jewfish love to hangout in these undercuts. They are not fast moving fish, being members of the grouper family, and they hang tight to cover until the current slows and stops. Slowing current is a dinner bell for them and they readily take most live baits presented to them during the slack period. High slack tide seems to be best, the theory being that some fish came into the creek on the incoming tide.
Pulling ourselves along the creek with overhanging mangrove limbs, one of us gently placed the bait down next to the bank and waited 15 to 20 seconds. If nothing happened we lifted the bait and let it down a little further down the creek. We continued this until we got a bite. Someone asked me once how you could tell if you get a bite. Trust me, you know when a 40 or 50 pound fish grabs a bait and runs back under the bank with it! Trust me, you just know! When you feel the fish, there is but one thing to do, and that is set the hook as hard as you can with the Calcutta pole! You never know what’s going to happen next. That, my friends was part of the fun and excitement! This bite could be a 5 pound baby (which you will promptly launch about 20 feet into the air with your hook set) or it could be a 200-pound monster. I liken the anticipation to flippin’ worms or jigs in heavy bass cover. The hook set there can give you the same type of excitement; you never know how big the fish is until after the hook set!
Generally, a fish up to about 60 pounds can be handled and fought with standard cane pole techniques. Over that weight, the fish will begin dragging the boat and you end up pointing the pole straight at him. Remember, you’ve got rope for line. They eventually tire and are easily gaffed and lifted aboard.
My memory takes me back to a time when fishing with my Dad was all I looked forward to. My Mom used to say that if we weren’t fishing, we were either getting ready to fish or cleaning up from fishing.
You may notice that all of this is in the past tense. Oh sure, you can still catch jewfish the same way, but severe commercial fishing pressure on the offshore wrecks and reefs depleted the breeding stock so badly that Florida, in 1990, closed the season on jewfish indefinitely. Over the next five years they made a dramatic comeback and the population continues to grow today, but it isn’t the same anymore.
I took my Dad fishing in Florida Bay for the last time in May of 1995. We couldn’t fish for jewfish. Even if the season had been open, Pop was no longer strong enough to handle a Calcutta. In fact, he had a hard time even handling a small rod and reel. We fished a shoal area and I caught several nice mangrove snapper in some really clear water while he watched. As we looked at the baitfish and snapper moving in our chum line, a small jewfish showed up. We watched him swim through the chum and with tears in his eyes my Dad said goodbye to him as he moved away.
We took my dad’s ashes to Florida Bay last year, my brother and mother and I did, and spread them over the shoals where we caught our biggest fish. And with tears in our eyes, we said goodbye to him.
