# Fishing slow in Sargent this weekend



## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

I hate a full moon. All the conditions were great this weekend, but the full moon screwed me over again.
Started off Saturday morning fishing in the creek with dead shrimp, trying to catch bait for the surf. Very first cast I caught a slot red. Fished for another hour and caught 2 more slot reds and more rat reds, mangrove snapper, and puppy drum than I could count.
Finally got down to the beach around 11am and met up with Runway ,his lovely wife and Lucy the wonder dog. Mullet were very scarce, but we managed to catch enough to put a couple rods out. In the first hour we caught a couple small sharks and a Zombie bull red who had seen her better days. After that there was some type of dead water hyacinth in the water that kept fouling our lines, so we gave up for the day.
Sunday when we got the the beach I threw out 1 rod ,and before I could get a second one out the first one was already washed up on the beach, fouled with water hyacinth, so we packed up and went to the cut. The sand trout and big whiting were thick in the cut. We probably caught 50 or 60 in a hour. I managed to catch 1 speck on a cut finger mullet. Than the tide changed and we started catching hard heads and gafftop, so we called it a day.
On a side note, be careful out there. Saturday when I was taking a rod out I stepped right in the middle of a big sting ray. Luckily it only caught me with a glancing blow and just left a scratch on my calf. I washed it good with alcohol and after a few hours the pain was gone. I'm willing to bet that everyone that was watching me would never believe that a 250# man could jump 8' straight in the air while standing in waist deep water, but I proved them wrong.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

more pics


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

few more


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

I also found another 50 cal in the surf.


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## hate23putt (Aug 27, 2016)

Thanks for the report and pics. We are headed down there on Thursday for our first trip to Sargent. Looks like a cold front is going to move through on Thursday as well so not sure how the fishing will be but the weather looks to be perfect. Couple of questions for you. What do you catch the sand trout and whiting on and when you say you fished the "creek" what area are you referring to. Would love to know some spots to fish other than the surf if the conditions are not ideal. We are staying on a canal so I am hoping to catch something using soft plastics.


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## Surf Rodder (Jun 28, 2013)

Sharkchum, you are a blessed man and I'm here to tell you so.

Once, as a 9th grader when I lived in West Palm Beach, I was surfing early Sat. at Palm Beach with my two best buds, Scott Wittman and Jimmie Neal. The three of was were walking our boards out about stomach-deep, I was in between them. All of a sudden I went from stomach deep to about knee deep or less and screamed like a little girl! Scott and Jimmie JUMPED on their boards and started paddling in. (They told me later they thought a shark had hit me, and there WERE & ARE large sharks along the shoreline there in the early mornings. The come in from the reef at night and cruise the shoreline unti just after sunrise.) 

Jimmie and I both saw two very wide wing tips , maybe 6-7' feet apart, break the water some 15 feet or so in from of me. That ray came off the bottom but it never dawned on me that it had a barb or tail it could have hit me with. PTL!


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## beerdruid (Jun 12, 2015)

After that there was some type of dead water hyacinth in the water that kept fouling our lines.

Sharkchum,

I had the same issue on the Freeport side. Very annoying as a matter of fact. We caught nothing but a few large croaker on the surf rods. That was it.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

hate23putt said:


> Thanks for the report and pics. We are headed down there on Thursday for our first trip to Sargent. Looks like a cold front is going to move through on Thursday as well so not sure how the fishing will be but the weather looks to be perfect. Couple of questions for you. What do you catch the sand trout and whiting on and when you say you fished the "creek" what area are you referring to. Would love to know some spots to fish other than the surf if the conditions are not ideal. We are staying on a canal so I am hoping to catch something using soft plastics.


 When the front hits, it's gonna kill the fishing for 2 or 3 days. When the barometer is high the fish get lock jaw.
I catch all the sand trout, whiting, and almost anything else on fresh shrimp. Don't buy the half rotten bait shrimp from a bait camp, stop somewhere that sells fresh seafood and buy eating shrimp. We went through 8# this weekend, but when the fishing is slow and you don't use it all you can always eat it, so it don't go to waste.
The creek I'm referring to is Caney Creek. As far as I know all the land along the creek is privately owned, so unless you know someone with property on it, you probably won't be fishing there.
If the surf is messed up for some reason you can always fish the ICW. There are 2 barge landings on the island, one to the west by the boat ramp and one to the east past all the houses. I've caught a lot of fish from them when the surf is either to rough or weeded out. You can also fish in Mitchells cut if it's not packed with people like it was this weekend.


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## buton (May 23, 2016)

looks like a good day man...... glad you had fun


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## bigdav160 (Aug 25, 2004)

hate23putt, do you have a kayak? It will open up more fishing opportunities. The area around Mitchell cut, the old river, lights around the ICW and caney creek. 

The fishing can be good but, for the most part, the beach is very shallow. It's best to travel east or west when you get off the swing bridge. 

4WD? Lot of clay directly under the sand so be careful.


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## Billygoat (Feb 1, 2013)

Thanks for the report, I think I'm glad I didn't skip my obligations this weekend to go fishing.

If you want to use artificials for the sand trout, get black with a chartreuse tail. I was getting a hit pretty much every cast until I ran out. If they are bigger than 3", try cutting an inch off the head if you keep losing tails.


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## buton (May 23, 2016)

I am tempted to fish this coming weekend butt... that front is coming


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## Illbethere (Mar 11, 2015)

I fished for 3 days, this past Wednesday , Thursday and Friday. Surf fishing very bad, no mullet in surf. Inter-coastal canal fishing was very good under the lights. We caught lots of Specs, sand trout and reds under green lights on the inter-coastal. The inter-coastal water was uncharacteristically clear, which made night fishing very good under the lights. We caught 7 keeper reds and lots of keeper specs, I limited on the specs each night. Caught ALL the reds, sand trout and specs on artificial.


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## Illbethere (Mar 11, 2015)

Sharkchum, were you able to get to Mithells cut by Truck? The beach was way high, so I wasnt sure how to drive down to the cut without getting stuck. I usually drive to the beachfront across from the boatramp and drive on the beach all the way to the cut. So how did you drive to the Cut?


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Illbethere said:


> Sharkchum, were you able to get to Mithells cut by Truck? The beach was way high, so I wasnt sure how to drive down to the cut without getting stuck. I usually drive to the beachfront across from the boatramp and drive on the beach all the way to the cut. So how did you drive to the Cut?


I take the sand road all the way down. It's getting soft and the ruts are getting deep. We need a little rain to pack it down. I never drive on the beach because of all the clay.


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## Illbethere (Mar 11, 2015)

Sharkchum, there used to be 2 roads,one that runs closer to the inter-coastal side all the way down and the other is the sandy road closer to the gulf side, you took the Sandy road closer to the Gulf side?


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## Billygoat (Feb 1, 2013)

Illbethere said:


> Sharkchum, there used to be 2 roads,one that runs closer to the inter-coastal side all the way down and the other is the sandy road closer to the gulf side, you took the Sandy road closer to the Gulf side?


If you're talking about the road that's straight ahead where the paved road ends (at the boat ramp), all I can say is Good Luck! That road is very torn up and very muddy - looks like too many people tried having some fun versus using it to get down the intracoastal.

The path I've been using to get to the cut branches off across the road from the washroom building near the boat ramp parking lot. It looks a bit muddy, but if you keep tight to either the inside or the outside in the beginning, its not bad.


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## steve holchak (May 18, 2012)

sharkchum said:


> When the front hits, it's gonna kill the fishing for 2 or 3 days. When the barometer is high the fish get lock jaw.
> I catch all the sand trout, whiting, and almost anything else on fresh shrimp. Don't buy the half rotten bait shrimp from a bait camp, stop somewhere that sells fresh seafood and buy eating shrimp. We went through 8# this weekend, but when the fishing is slow and you don't use it all you can always eat it, so it don't go to waste.
> The creek I'm referring to is Caney Creek. As far as I know all the land along the creek is privately owned, so unless you know someone with property on it, you probably won't be fishing there.
> If the surf is messed up for some reason you can always fish the ICW. There are 2 barge landings on the island, one to the west by the boat ramp and one to the east past all the houses. I've caught a lot of fish from them when the surf is either to rough or weeded out. You can also fish in Mitchells cut if it's not packed with people like it was this weekend.


Charlies had fresh dead shrimp 2 weeks ago for $5.00 a lb.All were table size, eating shrimp.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

Illbethere said:


> Sharkchum, there used to be 2 roads,one that runs closer to the inter-coastal side all the way down and the other is the sandy road closer to the gulf side, you took the Sandy road closer to the Gulf side?


Yea, the one about 50' from the beach. There is no way I would try the road along the ICW.


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## hate23putt (Aug 27, 2016)

Good info guys. Unfortunatley we will not have kayaks this trip. I know the front will probably screw things up but the weather looks good and the beer will be cold. We plan on trying to catch a mess of crabs to boil up one night and I like Sharkchums idea of going ahead and buying a good mess of shrimp that are table worthy and eat whatever we don't use for bait. Hopefully we can catch our share of whiting and sand trout and fry them up as well. Where is a good place to buy shrimp coming in from Houston? Also, any suggestions on places to fish on intercoastal or canals, other than the barge landings and Mitchell's cut?


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## Runway (Feb 6, 2005)

Thanks Sharkchum for a good day of living. Mrs. Runway and I really enjoyed slowing down, while Lucy the Wonder Dog ran her little a.. off. She slept all day Sunday , but came back to life today. It was great to talk fishing, mowing, and having a nice cigar. Hope to see you again at the Beach Round Up.


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## davidluster (Sep 16, 2008)

Chum, you are the gold standard. When I have a bad day at Sargent I always check your posts. Our results are always pretty close. They "Lilly pads" this weekend kicked our butts.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Nice fish/surf report. That is scary about the ray, I caught one in the cast net for the first time, maybe 8" across on my last surf trip.
Really got my attention.


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