Pre-Sunrise on the Beach

I was on the beach this morning to see the sunrise and to walk. I took this picture about a minute before sunrise. I like the picture because it gives me a feeling of serenity. Like many, I think there is something therapeutic about the ocean. When I took the picture, it was quiet except for the sound of the small ocean waves as they came on shore.

Surprisingly, I did not see anyone fishing until I was heading towards the steps to leave the beach. I would think these fishermen will catch fish today. Yesterday whiting and small sharks were being caught. I did not talk to anyone who had caught a keeper pompano.

If the day produces some more wave action, I think that today might be a good day for catching those delicious tasting pompanos.

Boats Off Indialantic Beach

I apologize to any regular readers of this blog for posting so little recently. Due to a family emergency, I have been unable to get to the beach much during the last week or more. This afternoon, however, I did get to stroll the beach for about half an hour. It was almost 4 PM and there were a lot of people on the beach. Some were just sun bathing or fishing or walking the beach or sitting in beach chairs reading or watching their children play in the sand. In other words, people were enjoying the beautiful beach day and that is what the beach is for.

Believe it or not, this is an unusual picture that I’ve posted. Off Indialantic’s beach you seldom see boats like the ones pictured here. You seldom see one boat let alone two. I’ve been told that this is because it is so far in each direction where such boats can be launched.

Dunes In Making

It has not been a pretty day on Indialantic's beach. The wind is strong from the east. I would estimate the wind at about 15 to 20 MPH. Needless to say, the ocean is on the rough side and not many people are walking the beach. I saw no one even attempting to fish.

I snapped this picture near the dunes. When the wind was more northerly, the sand was being blown down the beach. You can see a little from this picutre how the vegetation near the dunes captured some of this blowing sand and started building llittle dunes.

Sunday on the Beach

This morning I walked down to take a look at the ocean. I’m still waiting for surf fishing conditions to improve. From the looks of it, I’ll have to wait some more. The water is on the dirty side and the wave action isn’t good for catching pompano, but it should be decent for whiting and sharks.

Otherwise, it is a pretty nice day to be on the beach. I took this picture on Indialantic beach looking south. There is something for everyone. Of course there are people walking the beach. There are a number of people fishing. Conditions have been favorable for surfing in recent days and there are surfers. And, there are the birds. My picture doesn’t show him, but there was a man with a metal detector looking for buried valuables.

A front will pass through the area on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps it will bring better surf fishing conditions.

Problems of a Surf Fisherman

I had looked forward to fishing today. After more than a week, I was anxious to get my lines in the water. I was disappointed; however, when I walked down to check the conditions. The water is not clean; there is a strong south to north current; the waves are fairly high, and there is some annoying sea weed in the water.

It is not easy being a surf fisherman. Someone wrote that for anyone fishing in the surf, everything favors the fish! I believe it. Seldom is there a day when the conditions are ideal. They are far from ideal today. I talked to one fisherman who was throwing 6 ounces of lead. He said that he was only throwing out 100 feet because he could not hold bottom any further out because of the strong current.

Well, there is always tomorrow!

I Want to go Fishing!

I so much wanted to go fishing today. It has been over a week since the last time I fished in the surf. The conditions today, however, are not the greatest. The water is not clear and there is a moderate chop on the water. I suppose I might hold bottom with 6 ounces, but I’m going to wait for a better day. Another negative is that I noticed a little bit of sea weed along the shore.

I snapped this picture of a shark that someone had just caught. Not being an expert on sharks, I did not know what kind it was. It is not a bonnethead or a hammerhead shark. I didn't get a picture of the mouth, but the mouth had the classic shark look that we associate with Jaws.

There have been a lot of sharks being caught along the beach in Indialantic the last month. One man told me that he fished one day last week and caught 8 bonnetheads. Although sharks can be caught in any type of water, more are caught when the surf is on the dirty side like it has been the last couple of days

If anyone reading this blog can identify the shark in the picture, please comment and share the answer. To comment, you have to register or be registered with Google who hosts this blog.

Rough Surf & Surfers

After church I walked down to take a look at the ocean. It was not a pretty sight. There is a strong wind out of the east southeast that has made the ocean rough. Unless you are a fisherman who knows how to fish rough waters, there would be no fishing today even though the water is clean. Also, there continues to be some minor beach erosion.

I snapped this picture that shows the rough surf and two brave surfers. There's no way that I would venture out with a surf board given today's conditions. I hope the ocean calms down soon. I'm anxious to wet my lines again.