This works pretty well for the most part. Inshore or in the Intracoastal, I take my normal eight-pound light spinning outfits, and a small box with terminal tackle for reds, flounder and trout. Offshore, I take the big stuff and just one or two small outfits.
What this means is that I commit when I leave the house. If I get on the water offshore and the winds kick up, the day is over; I have no tackle with me for inshore fishing. Conversely, if I commit to inshore light tackle, I have no heavy gear with me for bigger fish.
As I said, this works pretty well most of the time. Last Saturday was not one of those “pretty well” days.
My partner and I planned an inshore trip to pick up fish for a coming fish fry. Sheepshead, reds, flounder, drum – any and all of these were on our list of desirables, and our tackle reflected that.We headed for the jetties at the mouth of the St Johns River to look for an early sheepshead bite. The west wind had calmed water that had been blown up for the previous two weeks. Some good-sized ground swells were making their way to the point of the rocks and crashing there in rather spectacular fashion.
The outgoing tide pushed schools of mullet out of the river and around the end of the north jetty. When I say schools of mullet, I mean huge schools of mullet. There were several pods of six to eight inch fish, and they covered acres of water. You’ve heard the term, “so thick you could walk on them”. This scene had to be where that comment originated. I have never in all my years of fishing seen so many mullet in one area.
