FATHER AND SON GETTING IT DONE – Calvins first Reds, Sheepshead and Porgy’s

I hit the Inlet this weekend with Mitch and his son Calvin. Cal had never caught a big upper slot Red before and we fixed that Got out early and the Inlet was covered up with boats. Been a while since Ive seen so many people out. At first, we tried closer west on the inside of the North row. Most boats were fishing closer to the inside tip of the north and it looked like a cluster up there. We hit the catwalk for about an hour or so and did ok. We got 5 or so keeper Sheepshead and before long the bite died off completely. Eventually, the crowd moved back West of us and we had the opportunity to fish closer to the tips. We really wanted to get out on the outer tips and fish out there but the swells were kicked up pretty high. We settled for the inside tip and got tight to the rock wall. The bite there was very slow. We picked up 2 more Sheepshead but fishing was tough. There had been boats hammering the area all morning and there was just no sign of life. We gave it an hour and there seemed to be somewhat of a break in the massive swells on the tips. The ground swells were still kicked up fairly tall with plenty of rollers reaching 5 feet or greater. I dropped the Trolling Motor in and sat down on the bow. Standing wasn't an option as it was like a roller coaster out there. Tell you what though, the gamble paid off quickly. We got a couple really nice 26 inch Reds and some nice fat Porgy's to add to the box in no time.

The bait of choice that produced the Reds and Porgies was the trusty live Shrimp on a 2/0 Sheepshead Jig attached to a 25 Pound Mono Leader. We pitch the jigs right up against the rocks and work the jigs with the rod tip facing the sky. This helps minimize snags. When the Porgy's are stacked up, the bait gets hit before the jig has time to hang up. The Reds and Porgy's stack up together and we tend to get a healthy dose of both species as well as the occasional Sheepshead. The action is none stop when the water is clean. Porgy's and Reds out there definitely prefer cleaner water and on the day in question, the water was absolutely filthy everywhere except the outside North areas. We went outside our comfort zone but in the end, the decision paid off.