I went fishing at the jetties on the surf side of the Texas coast intending to catch sheepshead. When I arrived, several anglers were already cleaning their catches, each with a bag limit of sheepshead, and others were leaving with stringers full of them. After setting up and casting into the surf, I had no bites for several hours while the tide was rising and the water was high and murky. Some anglers caught fish occasionally, but the sheepshead bite had mostly ended.
As the day went on and the sun began to set, the surf calmed and the fish finally started biting. I was fishing about 50 yards from the jetty using a pompano rig with circle hooks and salted shrimp as bait. During this short feeding window I began catching fish in quick succession: first a large pompano, followed by two whiting, then another smaller pompano, and finally another whiting, along with a sand trout earlier.
The pompano felt smooth and heavy on the line and stayed deep until the final moments near shore. After finishing fishing around high tide at dusk, I cleaned the fish by gutting them and removing the gills at the jetty, then stopped for a burger and ice for the fish on the way home. The fish were placed in the refrigerator and planned to be grilled the following day.
Posted by TraditionPhysical603