Jacksonville Beach - Wes an I got down to the beach about 7:30 AM. It was a nice morning, warm but overcast. It was mid-tide, but the water was deep enough to fish, even over the sandbar, whcih is where most of our casts were landing. The bluefish started biting immediately. We started the day, a little light on tackle. We only had one leader each, and on a good day, we might go through three or four. The bluefish have sharp teeth and fight like mad, so we lose a little tackle when the blues are very active. Anyway, Wes hooked a big bluefish, but couldn't get him reeled in.
It seems the main gear in his reel failed. He finally got the line reeled in, but the fish was gone. I ran back to the house to pick up a spare rod and reel. Wes stayed and fished with my rod and reel. Just as I was returning Wes hooked what appered to be a redfish at least 2 ft long. We could see it coming over the sand bar. Unfortunately it broke the line and made off with my only leader. Since my only leader was gone, I started tying hooks and weigfhts on, with my regular line. I caught several more fish, but their sharp teeth kept cutting the line and I lost all my weights. With no more weight, I started flat-lining some of the larger mullet, with nothing but a hook on the end of the line. I started getting bites right away, which felt weird, because there was a lot of slack in the line, without a weight on the end. Anyway, I caught a couple more bluefish on the flat-line. About 10:30 AM we sarted wrapping things up. It was a good day, despite tackle challenges, and as always we had a blast.