What do I know?!?!
Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2026 3:03 pm
Met up with a coworker this morning at J street. He fishes the bay but had only fished once before from a boat for one small shark. Launched at 6:30 and headed up to the flats on the south side of the bridge. I got 4 or 5 quick on my trusty crankbait. He had tied one on but I said I had the same one in a different color he could use. I gave him a tip or two for crankbait fishing as he hadn’t used them before. He got his first fish shortly after and was stoked.
We had a nice flurry in the first hour and had 11 or 12, then it died down. As previously discussed, there was no tide to speak of today and I was thinking that might have been it. I said let’s troll the cranks for a bit on our way down south. A few minutes in I get smacked, 1st time getting a bonefish on a crankbait, cool. My buddy had never even seen one. Here’s where it gets interesting.
We get back to it and my buddy hooks something on the crank, another bonefish! I had purchased a new net for landing these slippery things but for some reason didn’t use it for this fish. I reach over to unhook it in the water, it thrashes and sinks the second hook in my left pointer finger. Now I have a wriggling bonefish on one hook and my finger on the other! I bring the fish on board and have my buddy cut the line first. Then I had him get the fish off, ouccchhhh!
Fortunately I switch all my cranks to single hooks so at least there was only one barb to worry about. I said “ you get a good grip on the hook with the pliers and I’m yanking.” I twisted my finger to what looked to be straight down from the barb and with my other hand gave a quick jerk. Thank goodness it popped out first try, that would have sucked to keep going.
We proceeded south and I think let’s do another drift or two just south of Pepper Park. We ended up getting into them and added 20 more fish in the next 90 minutes. We finished the day with 1 corvina, 1 micro sand bass, three bonefish and 27 spotties. All spotties except for one were one the same two crankbaits. Needless to say my buddy was totally stoked.
Today was a great reminder that what may not look like a good day on the chart can turn into a memorable day on the water. And most importantly, you can’t catch them from the couch!
We had a nice flurry in the first hour and had 11 or 12, then it died down. As previously discussed, there was no tide to speak of today and I was thinking that might have been it. I said let’s troll the cranks for a bit on our way down south. A few minutes in I get smacked, 1st time getting a bonefish on a crankbait, cool. My buddy had never even seen one. Here’s where it gets interesting.
We get back to it and my buddy hooks something on the crank, another bonefish! I had purchased a new net for landing these slippery things but for some reason didn’t use it for this fish. I reach over to unhook it in the water, it thrashes and sinks the second hook in my left pointer finger. Now I have a wriggling bonefish on one hook and my finger on the other! I bring the fish on board and have my buddy cut the line first. Then I had him get the fish off, ouccchhhh!
Fortunately I switch all my cranks to single hooks so at least there was only one barb to worry about. I said “ you get a good grip on the hook with the pliers and I’m yanking.” I twisted my finger to what looked to be straight down from the barb and with my other hand gave a quick jerk. Thank goodness it popped out first try, that would have sucked to keep going.
We proceeded south and I think let’s do another drift or two just south of Pepper Park. We ended up getting into them and added 20 more fish in the next 90 minutes. We finished the day with 1 corvina, 1 micro sand bass, three bonefish and 27 spotties. All spotties except for one were one the same two crankbaits. Needless to say my buddy was totally stoked.
Today was a great reminder that what may not look like a good day on the chart can turn into a memorable day on the water. And most importantly, you can’t catch them from the couch!