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Sat at ft pickens

3K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  dailysaw 
#1 ·
Got out late saturday (about 1 o'clock) and fished a little around fort pickins but didnt have much luck. then me and my girlfriend went to the pier and within two minutes she caught a nice spadefish. The spades were bitin pretty good and within a few hours we caught sixteen keepers and released several.
 
#10 ·
I'm originally from Virginia Beach, VA and up there Spadefishing is a big deal. They eat jellyfish, and we'll usually get a solid month of great fishing from when the Spades show up (early May) until when the jellyfish show up in numbers (mid-June). Once the jellies are in there can be hundreds of spades swimming beneath you, and they won't eat a thing you throw at them. When they're biting we'll usually use a small baitholder or circle hook and a piece of chowder clam. Crack the clam and cut it into fourths, making sure you keep some of the 'foot' (the tough rubbery piece) so it will stay on your hook. The rig I've always used is about 1/4 ounce of split-shot on the line about 1.5 ft. above the hook, then just drop it down to where the fish are schooling (usually about 10-15 ft. in 40-50 ft. of water). We usually find them around bridges and offshore structure (The Chesapeake Light Tower being the premier spot).



As far as bait, I would imagine oysters would work as well as clams, and bubblegum has been known to work. Apparently down here they'll take shrimp as well. They put up a much better fight than sheephead for their size, and I think they taste a lot better as well. I didn't know they show up down here, I might have to go target them now.



Hope some of this helps, free advice is worth what you pay for it.
 
#11 ·
Oh man, I am a big advocate of eating spadefish. I didn't think much of it until one of my diving buddies told me they were pretty good, so now whenever I'm spearfishing if all else fails I'll thin a school of em out. I fry em up with that pecan crusted snapper recipe with honey mustard drizzle from the old forum. I haven't been disappointed. A mess of those things makes for a nice pile of filets. I don't know squat about catching them, with hook and line though.
 
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