Sea Isle, over the lights.

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impulse
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Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

It's that time of year... This morning, pre-dawn. With a lot of slurping sound effects all up and down the canal. They're attacking the little silver shad looking minnows.

Hard to tell from the photo, but mostly reds, and mostly around the 15-20ish" size. Some bigger ones, and I lost one the other night that I just couldn't turn with my light rod.

They scattered when I accidentally triggered a motion activated light on the boat lift, so approach as stealthily as you can. The lights closer to the bay have the best concentration of fish, but they're all up and down. Catch one or two on a light and they spook for a while so it's time to move to the next light. With over a dozen lights on each canal, that's a lot of chances.

Edit: And though I took this photo in Sea Isle, I'm sure it's just as good in the canals at Jamaica Beach and Isla Del Sol.
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Sea Isle Lights 200312.jpg
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Getz-Some55
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by Getz-Some55 »

Thanks for sharing this. Haven't hit the lights in a few years.
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kickingback
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by kickingback »

Like Sea Isle! Thanks for the report and sharing the picture! I gotta get out there soon!
mwatson71
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by mwatson71 »

Well given that all of the schools have closed until the end of the month, every day is a weekend as far as I am concerned. Anyone want to join me on a night time trip?
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Ron Mc
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by Ron Mc »

Great to see - reports are picking up all over - on corpusfishing, several big reds including two 27" were reported drifting ULM.
Spring bite is on.
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

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YakRunabout
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by YakRunabout »

Nice video! The way it starts is like I have seen recently - one light loaded with fish, others nothing visible.
It has been my luck at times to cast into a group like that, with obvious big reds, and pull out some 18" one!
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

I should note that, though it's easier to film the fish that are in the lights, they were popping the surface bait all over the canal. Not just in the lights. If you sit through the video, you can see the schools moving from one light to another. Sometimes so thick they blot out the lights completely.
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shoffer
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by shoffer »

Now that schools are closed for two weeks, and I predict mandatory furloughs in non-essential workplaces in the near future, we are all going to get some more time to fish. With the market in free fall, and my 401k down 20% in a month, I am going to need some groceries. One benefit of Covid-19, I guess, but I'd rather it just be normal like always.

I am still headed to Florida's emerald coast for spring break with the family, and I have my usual guide lined up for Friday, the 20th, so I will report back.
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kickingback
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by kickingback »

Awesome overhead footage of schools in lights! I see that sometimes myself and try to guess which light they will move to when I spook them by hooking up with one. There are very few good light locations like this in your video. When you go two or more lights in the same are it is funny how one light would hold more than the other/s!
Id that filmed from your back porch/deck and is this sea isle lights or other, I can't tell?
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

That's a cheap Wyze security camera pointed off the top deck at my 3 lights on a Sea Isle canal, with some neighbor lights off to the side. I added the 3rd light yesterday, the 3rd from the left. I've been experimenting with some home made 12V lights to see how they compare to a commercially available (and $$$) 120V high intensity lights. That's part of the reason for the camera...

The left most light is a 12V light, and so is the new one (3rd from the left). The one between them is a 120V light. The 12V lights burn 50-60 watts each, while the 120V light burns 275 watts.

The leftmost light has been in the water around a year. I have to pull it every 2-3 months to clean the algae off it, because it doesn't get hot enough to burn the algae and barnacles like the 120V light. But that's easy- just pull the wire, scrape it off and throw it back. It's epoxy encapsulated LED, so it doesn't break like the glass 120V bulbs.

I started experimenting with 12V LEDs after a boat ran over our glass bulb, and a fisherman snagged the wire on our neighbor's 120V light, both times resulting in $200+ service invoices. I also don't like the idea of running 120V where the kids are swimming and kayaking, even if we do have GFI.

Probably a lot more than anyone wanted to know, but I'm pretty pleased with the results...

Edit: On an aside, I took a smaller (20 watt) LED light, mounted it under a boogie board on a 50' wire, and I can pull it behind my kayak with a small 10A-Hr battery lasting pretty much the whole evening. It's already pretty bright, but this week I'm adding a silver mylar sheet between the board and the light to see if that increases the circle of light.
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by shoffer »

Cool! Thanks for the great video and the test results.
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

Updated time lapse video for March 23/24, 2020. They're in even thicker, and just in time for social distancing...

Under the (Galveston) county’s (stay at home) order, residents may only leave their homes to seek medical care, pick up essential items such as food — for either humans or pets — or household supplies, participate in solitary outdoor recreational activities or to work at an essential business.

Source: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/h ... 152206.php

Gets a lot more interesting around 4 minutes into the video. And amazing in the wee hours. This photo was taken just before dawn.

I'd add that there are lots of reds, many of them keepers. But the hardheads are even thicker and quite a nuisance even on artificials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8gSsJEBLBY
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mwatson71
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by mwatson71 »

Man that looks like a good time right there. I'd still be a little worried about getting pulled over the first few days of the lockdown by an overzealous officer. Although when I was driving back to Houston from San Antonio early last week I flew past a patrol car (actually two on separate occasions) and neither even thought about coming after me. My guess is they'd rather watch me go by a little fast then expose themselves to COVID-19, but who knows.

If anyone wants to make a go in the Sea Isle lights I could be persuaded. Social distance rules apply, of course.
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by SteveRetrieve »

Wow! That sure is tempting.

The way I interpret the rule, outdoor activities are a go, mind the social distancing.


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Ron Mc
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by Ron Mc »

need to toss a popper in there to watch them chase it

Image
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kickingback
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by kickingback »

Watched it on the other post and loved it! Thanks Impulse for sharing that! Give us more like that and I will buy you some live bait next trip we may meet! Well done sir! :clap:
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

If one guy (or gal) watches the videos and decides to go fishing instead of social distancing at home, I'm chalking it up in my win column. If they take a kid with them, that's even better.
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

I couldn't resist posting a video with a guest appearance (in and out all night long, starting around 20:30 on the clock). I estimate him to be 6-7' long- one of 2 in that size range that we occasionally see together in the canal. We also have occasional visits by gar of 3-4' length.

As before, the best mob of big redfish show up in the hours before dawn.

https://youtu.be/oFlbuWKa2os
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Sea Isle Gar 200325.jpg
mwatson71
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by mwatson71 »

Okay, Impulse. Put one in the win column for yourself. At around 0415 you should see someone in a red T160 pull a 21” red out of the middle light. And the person in the T160 went in and out of the lights til about 0545.
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by mwatson71 »

I just realized your video is a day behind.
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

mwatson71 wrote:I just realized your video is a day behind.

Yeah. It takes awhile to get them off the security camera, look at them to see if there's anything worth noting, then post them to YouTube.

I'll look for you in this morning's video.
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by Ron Mc »

With security camera scrutiny, I think you should be arresting some of those loitering redfish.
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by mwatson71 »

Ron Mc wrote:With security camera scrutiny, I think you should be arresting some of those loitering redfish.
I took care of it for him. :D
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impulse
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Re: Sea Isle, over the lights.

Post by impulse »

For anyone contemplating a trip to fish the lights, here's last night's video.

https://youtu.be/met7_c8VMtc
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