# Sargent 8-19 through 8-21



## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

My original plans for last weekend were to go to New Braunfels, but all the rain messed that up so I had to go with plan B, fishing. I had a choice to fish the bay for trout or fish the surf for reds, and with the forecast calling for thunderstorms I decided it was safer to be in my truck on the beach than on the bay in a boat.
When I left to head to Sargent Friday afternoon it was dead calm, but as soon as I got there the wind was howling out of the West. To say I hate a West wind is a understatement. I would rather fish in a hurricane with 150 mph south wind than a 10 mph west wind. I'm not alone in my hate.
L. Frank Baum, the man who wrote the Wizard of OZ, also hated a west wind. He hated it so much that he gave it a name, "The Wicked Witch of the West", but he spelled witch with a "B". Luckily for him, his hate of the West wind turned into a world famous book and movie, but for me it just causes frustration.
On top of the West wind there was also a full moon. My love/ hate relationship with the full moon is about 50/50. Sometimes it the greatest thing in the world and other times its my worst enemy, next to a West wind of course. One thing I've noticed in all my years of fishing, is during a full moon the fish usually will be active in the middle of the night and in the middle of the day, but the time they are active is usually short, 1 to 2 hours. Now this may not be true all the time, but if I was a betting man it's what I would put my money on.
Now onto the fishing. Got down to the beach right before dark Friday evening to try to catch some bait, but the water was so messed up there wasn't a mullet in sight. Drove down to Mitchell's cut to look for bait, but there was nothing but finger mullet. We decided to try with some dead shrimp and caught croaker and whiting until it was to dark to see. Afterwords we decided to head to the bar to drink away the West wind.
Saturday we got up bright and early, around noon, and headed back to the beach. The water looked even worse, but it was full of 6" to 8" finger mullet and after about 30 minuets of castnetting we had a ice chest full. We got the rods out and for a couple hours we had steady action from redfish and had a couple sharks cut us off. After that the fishing was dead.
Sunday morning we woke up to rain. Everytime we tried to leave it started to rain again, so it was almost 3:00 before we got to the beach. Within minuets of casting the first rod out we had a red on. We caught reds and small shark nonstop for a couple hours, then it just stopped, like someone flipped a switch. So it goes when fishing a full moon.
Everything we caught were on small finger mullet hooked through the head with their tail cut off. The fish were holding in the gut between the first and second bar , it was nice because I only had to wade out about knee deep to cast. Now I consider most of this luck, because everything was working against me, but I'll take luck over skill any day of the week.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

More pics


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

More


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

.


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## mike flores (Aug 24, 2015)

Nice post. Sure beats my weekend. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Some birds


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

This is how I was rigging the mullet. 5/0 circle hook under the chin and out the top of the head. Rigged this way they cast better, stay on the hook better, and you get a better hook-up ratio.


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## beerdruid (Jun 12, 2015)

Man! You've got to be the most consistent surf fisherman I've ever seen. I need to come learn a few things. lol. Nice haul brotha...


Robert.....


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## TexasTom (Mar 16, 2011)

Great trip, pics, and report! As usual! Thanks for sharing, John!!!!


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## starr1005 (Apr 7, 2013)

Awesome trip, congrats and thanks!


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## Rawpower (Jul 4, 2011)

What an Awesome post! Thanks for sharing your insight and tips on surf fishing.


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## bong (May 1, 2012)

Great pics! Thanks for sharing your tips! Helps us novices out big time. 

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## Flounder Face (Jun 20, 2012)

Great post John, thanks for the pics and info. Congrats on getting out and doing what you enjoy too.


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## Castaway2 (Aug 8, 2013)

Awesome chum nice report, whole crew looks like they had a good time!!


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## Runway (Feb 6, 2005)

Looks like Logan needs a bit more beef in the rear end to haul in those big reds. Looks like a good time was had by all.
See you soon.


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

Nice!


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## Billygoat (Feb 1, 2013)

sharkchum said:


> Saturday we got up bright and early, around noon, and headed back to the beach.


:rotfl: Awesome report as always! I've been waiting on this one since the teaser in the reports section.


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## peckerwood (Jun 9, 2012)

That's good reading there,I don't care who you are.Getting up early,cup of coffee,and a post like that is a swell way to start the day.THANKS !!!!!


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

nice!! but....fishing Plan B? jk


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## jpdarby2 (Aug 17, 2016)

Great post, great pics! Thanks for the detailed picture on your rigging.


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## Yak a Tak (Apr 20, 2012)

Looking at your surf weight and I'm wondering if I have always rigged mine wrong. I bend back at the weight and then forward about half way. They grab very well, sometime too well, and I wonder if I'm missing pickups with this much weight resistance. Occasionally get small hardheads and can't tell they were hooked.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Thank's for the kind words everyone. There's really not a whole lot to being successful in the surf. It's just a matter of using the right gear and placing your baits it the right place. Anyone who follows my tips should be able to catch just as many, if not more, fish than I do.
A lot of people ask me "What do you do with all the fish you catch?". I actually release a lot and give most of what I keep away to people who don't get fresh fish that often. I only kept 2 reds for my self this weekend and just cooked them. Yumm,Yumm,Yumm. Pan seared with some shrimp and topped with a Parmesan cream sauce. There's not a restaurant in the world that can make anything better.


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## beerdruid (Jun 12, 2015)

> It's just a matter of using the right gear and placing your baits it the right place.


 I've been reading all your posts for some time now. I believe this is where your edge is to be honest. Bait placement in the surf provides more consistent catches. If I had to guess this is where most struggle IMO. I could be wrong though. Been fishing the surf for some time and don't always get it right myself.

Robert....


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Nice catching.


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