Salty Sarge here with another report from Mathers Bridge. Due to the weather on the beach with super high winds and waves, me and my buddy, Jawstriker84, went to kill some time on the bridge and do some relaxing fishing. We started landing some mangrove snappers without much size, but still fun. Soon came some nice sliver trout and whiting. We were using live shrimp, finger mullet and live clams. All the bait was from our local bait tackle shop Man Over Board off South Patrick Drive. “Shout to Al” for the great service.
As the day grew longer the bite turned into “Cat Fish City,” as we like to call it. My buddy landed a massive sail cat that was about an 8 pounder. I hand-lined a nice cat as well. Some other anglers made their way to the bridge and things got interesting. They were fishing close to the mangroves from the bridge. That’s when I heard that unmistakable sound of drag spooling off. I grabbed my phone and ran down to see what it was. My first thought was a big sting ray pulling toward the middle of the Bridge. I told the dude to tighten the drag and he finally started to bring him in. Then it broke the water and could see the Massive RED Drum. It was too big to pull over the hand rail. My buddy, Jaw striker, jumped the hand rail in to the mangroves and waded out and grab it by the mouth and pulled it to safety. I pulled out the scale — 10.13 pounds and 30 inch plus. The kid who reeled it in was amazed by the big fish. We got some cool videos and killer photos. The young kid was from Orlando and had never been to Mathers bridge before. Let a lone bringing in a monster. We had a great time helping these Anglers. And as for the Red Monster, it was released back under the bridge. Till the next time, Salty Sgt Signing off.
Way to go guys, that’s how you jump in and help out a fellow angler! Nice Red!
That’s how we roll on spacefish. Salty Sgt