penn 10/0

Went out to Johnson's today to try for some pomps and ladyfish, pomps for fun and ladyfish for bait later on... Threw out a pomp rig w/ fresh shrimp and a couple of casted shark rigs just to see if i would get a hit... Well i reeled up the 4/0 about 10 mins after casting out b/c the seaweed had the bait pretty much on shore, then my other reel went off so i left it there w/ the bait on it on shore, while i was checking the other rod a Heron grabbled the bait and tried to fly off... I found out that herons are STRONG, he got wrapped up in my leader and pulled the pole and rod holder out of the ground and drug it about 5 yards, so at this point i'm expecting to get tore up by a heron while trying to get him out of my leader, but he just sat there calm as could be and let me unwrap him and he stayed with me the rest of the time i was there... After all that fun i did manage 2 whiting, one about 13in the other about 8in, so at least i caught something, not what i was after but something none the less...

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penn 10/0

Bigger pic of Heron

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Ultralite

good report...and story about bigbird...

i was out there monday and fished from about 3 til 5:30...nada...

either early or late i reckon...

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Charlie2

That guy is a big time bait thief

I have caught him many times with his head in my bait bucket earing up on the free lunch. He's unafraid; just backing off enough to try again!

Treat him well; he's 'one of the guys' out there. C2

penn 10/0

Thanks guys, and i know what you mean, one of his buddies got the bigger whiting from the pic as i was releasing him... He actually waited for me to throw him shrimp after getting caught in the leader.

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tuan850

i hate herons soooo bad.

KingFishin613

herons are not meant to be hated they are just trying to live their lives eating what they can find don't down them just if you have spare bait and are willing to give it up throw them a couple pieces.

stevesmi

not the herons fault. people start feeding them and they become used to people.. anytime they see buckets and people with long poles they assume that person is gonna give them food. all birds are very intuitive when it comes to these types of things and its illegal to harm any bird on the beach so don't even think about it

Boliver T Wheelock

All wildlife is protected at Johnson's Beach. Up to and including rattlesnakes. One should be careful how they treat them. Not only because of the law but human denency. I look forward to the herons showing up. Last time the first one showed up way before sunrise. Due to the lack of other fishermen I ended up with a total of seven. Put a lid (board) on top of your bait bucket.

penn 10/0

All very true, i ran into another at Ft. Pickens on Sunday w/ one foot... I don't know how it happened but i didn't like the fact that he only had one foot and the other was broken, he made it around fine for a bird with one foot especially when i threw a couple of fish his way... But whatever did happen these birds are just looking for food and mean no harm, like I said the one wrapped up in my leader never even tried to bite me... Here are some pics of the one footed heron from Ft. Pickens...

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