Sunset at Sunglow
I had to be in Daytona this afternoon, so I grabbed my new baitcasting rig (okay, it’s actually a salvaged Ambassadeur 5600 CA strapped to a ten-dollar ebay rod) and a cooler with a block of ice for the ride. My appointment went well and ended right on time, so I slipped over to Sunglow Pier at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I had a half-pound of mealy bait shrimp from the Bait Shack off Dunlawton on the east side of the bridge and some thirty-pound leader, Mustad 2/0 kahle hooks, and a three ounce pyramid weight. The strikes were okay in the afternoon, but right at sundown everyone else left the pier. Two large fish got away, one eating my hook and another spitting it out at the last moment. With a one-hook freeline rig I managed to reel in four good whiting (best one 15 inches) and three legal bluefish. I have to admit that Babs found a lucky bag of discarded bait at the end of the pier. Loading two and three shrimp on the hook at a time certainly did entice the nighttime biters. To top it all off my last piece of bait yielded the last keeper fish of the evening, a good day on the pier.
