Thread: Vacation Slam!

Started my vacation today and had to go find some fish. I haven’t found any Crappie to speak of and the bluegill are all out in the woods due to the river being high. That was as of about two weeks ago and I haven’t been looking since. So this morning I started early and headed East to my saltwater stomping grounds. Timing couldn’t have been better. With no clouds on the eastern horizon I knew it would get bright and hot rather quick compared to my last trip. With the breeze from the southeast, I set up and began a shoreline drift.

I always throw a top water to start the day, usually a Zara spook of some kind. The full size spook I had on got smacked a few times but no takers. Switched colors and downsized a little and it was game on after that. The bone color had been recommended a few times and now I see it was with good reason. Pitched up near an overhanging Mangrove and twitched it about 3 times and the line came tight, then the fish erupted from the water for the first of several jumps. Pulled some drag and covered ground really fast. Got him in the boat and admired him a minute but didn’t want him to be dry for too long. Took a pic and measured him and back he went after I held him long enough to move off on his own. These knees don’t dance but I sure wanted to. I looked up to see some wakes from feeding fish coming down the shoreline among the mangrove roots and stumps. I got back on the front deck and cast right into them, twitched twice and got the thump. Line came tight but no acrobatics this time. He came out of the mangroves, turned left and stripped drag for a good bit. He stopped and neither gave nor took, then took off again. Little by little, I got him coming my way. He got close and wanted no part of me, reckon he knew me? When he turned for a short burst I saw the spot on his tail. Got him in the net and two of the hooks on one treble hook out of his front upper jaw, he wasn’t going anywhere. Now my heart rate is up a bit. Not only had I gotten two of three fish needed for the inshore slam, but I had gotten them on top water! So I continued down the shore, got popped a few times and then a strike and tight line once more. Not very big but it was a Spotted Seatrout, the third part of my top water inshore slam. A tarpon and a flounder would have made a grand slam. I was in the area that Jessie and I had caught some flounder a few weeks back but never got one today. And before I left, I became surrounded by rolling tarpon but couldn’t get one to bite. It was just 8:15 and lots of the day still to go. I was having a pretty good day.


I fished til about 11:30 and caught a total of three reds, two Snook and two trout. None of the trout made the 15” mark and I pitched them back without getting a pic. I’ll probably go again Wednesday and hope I can find most of what I found today, which has been one of my best ever. Here’s a few pics of the other visitors of the day, even had some porpoise come by about the time the tarpon were around. Thanks for coming along, I sure had a good time. If you go, look for me. I’ll be easy to find. I’ll be the guy with the big smile. Til then……..Skeet

Thanks for sharing Tim