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Lake Worth Lagoon

Today the old man (yes, I do call him that sometimes) went to Lake Worth Lagoon. The Top Spot map marked a few places as being very, very good for snook (and a few others nearby for jacks and ladyfish). We couldn't launch at our original spot (Lake Park Marina) because it is still under construction, and we couldn't launch at our second spot because it's literally just a marina - no ramps. Instead, we headed down south about two miles and put in there around 8 am.

After paddling through the intercoastal, we beached at a small key. It was nearly low tide (9am) when we arrived. We fished the grass flat (red sea grass, mostly) with spoons and had a few hits but no takers. We saw pelicans diving, but they were diving deep indicating a lack of predators driving the baitfish to the surface.

We moved up against the key (Munyon Island) and tried our luck there with a variety of lures - even a topwater buzzbait spoon with a rubber skirt (hey, it's fun to watch!). No luck.

We began drifting the flat as the water came in and dad picked up a few jacks and a pufferfish. I landed a small jack or two as well and a small ladyfish. Neither put on enough of a show that dad even saw me land them.

I headed back through the canal between Munyon Island and the mainland and began fishing along a dredge hole near to a shoreline. I put out my drift sock, would cast the 50 yards or so to the muddy/sandy shore, and reel my silver spoon (1/2 oz) back slowly until it would about reach the fall-off point of the dredge hole. I quickly hooked up with two nice sized jacks, two great snook (including one that went about 30 inches), and too many ladyfish and barracuda to count. Damn those annoying ladyfish!

Dad, having regrettably turned his radio off earlier (regrettably because I tried calling him excitedly several times, not knowing he'd turned it off after I'd turned it on for 'im), came around the bend just as I completed my first drift (which had netted all of those fish). I told him what to do, and he promptly ignored my advice and instead fished the center of the dredge hole with a spoon and a crankbait. I rested - I was a bit tired - and had some Gatorade. It was about time to go anyway.

Dad hooked up with one or two ladyfish in the channel. Here he is with one of them (the focus here is on the weird-looking ladyfish, not the guy who caught it). Click the picture for some info on ladyfish.

ladyfish.jpg

We paddled back, occasionally stopping to throw a spoon. That was that.