Pulling the Trigger on some Spades

As the seasons come and go, so does our extremely diverse fisheries in the South East.  For me, the springtime allure of Specks, Reds, Flounder, and Bluefish fades to our harder fighting species as the mercury rises.   For me, the summer means one thing...  Its time for the CBBT!

As I spent early summer chasing Cobia as they entered the bay with my friends (see Richie Bekolay's Mr. Brown Clown), I couldn't help but feel like something was missing.  It wasn't until late June that I made my first trip after the glory species.  My first and second drops of the year boasted the bounty of the season to come!

The Convict Gets Captured

Sadly, after the first two drops I have been cursed with pulled hooks and poor sets in my pursuit of The Sheepshead.  The good thing is that there is plenty of time left in the season for these bay bruisers.

Another target of the CBBT is the Triggerfish.  Triggers are super aggressive, tenacious bait stealers that frustrate the most seasoned anglers.  For me, they are a tasty, willing fish that loves to grace my diner table.  I drop either a dropper loop or a carolina rig to bring these bad boys to the diner table!

Finally, the fish that completes my trips is the Spadefish.  Spades are pound for pound the toughest fighters of the three target species.  While the Sheepshead makes bulldogging runs and have fins like railroad spikes, the Spadefish is like hooking into the drum of a spinning washing machine.  While the smaller fish run in circles while shaking your rod to high heaven, the bigger spades take you on drag peeling runs, trying their damndest to take you into any structure they can find.  Oh, and I failed to mention, they too try to shake the rod out of your hands too!  In my last few trips with Rob Choi, Kayak Kevin, Seth and Kam Goodrich, and Ted Crumb, I have been extremely fortunate to find a very solid class of in (and near) shore spades!

15" Spade
Photo Credit Rob "RMFC" Choi

16" Spadefish

15.5" Spade

Thankfully, the fight of the spades can help ease the pain of my Sheepshead Struggles!  Until the next adventure!

Ted with one of his first Kayak Spade at 15.75"

Kam with a solid 13" Spade

Ted with his first Black Drum

Seth closing it out with another solid spade

Product Review - Shamano Crucial Spinnerbait Rod

So, I have been able to get a few trips on the water, and caught enough fish to write a confident review of one of my newer, more enjoyable purchases.

A few weeks back, I bought a 6'10" Shamano Crucial Spinnerbait rod.  Mainly fishing saltwater, I chose this rod for a simple reason, the exposure of the rod blank below the reel.  This exposure allows me to feel those subtle little ticks of non aggressive fish chomping on the lure.  I have thrown 1/2 oz jigs with trailers, 1/8 oz wacky work rigs, shallow crankbaits, and of course 1/4 oz spinnerbaits with this rod.  Even though it is designed as a technique specific rod, I feel comfortable using it in multiple applications, fresh and salt.

My favorite casting rod is a MH power, Fast or Extra fast action.  The rod that I chose was a MH/XF.  It allows me to wing baits a country mile, but still have enough backbone to get fish to hand as quickly as possible.

It is an IM-10 rod, and built with the same blank construction as my beloved Teramar's.  The rod itself is only 4 or 5 ounces, and paired with a Curado 200, the entire package comes in around a pound.  More than light enough for me.

Even though this unlucky pickerel was a nice test for the rod, I am anxious for my opportunity to chase some specks and reds in the near future.

Now to the money aspect of this rod.  I paid 150 for the rod, and pair that with another 150 for the reel, you would be hard pressed to find a combo that is as light, durable, and preforms as well as this does for 300 bucks.  So go out there, get you some fish, and enjoy!