# Perdido Key - blues, sharks and cats



## JBK

Down here for the week. On Sunday caught a few catfish and a ladyfish. Didn't get a bite all day Monday but got some cigar minnows and tried again later at around 9pm and caught a bluefish and some more catfish.









Went out today at around 10 using cigar minnows and shrimp. Ended up catching another blue, another ladyfish, 2 small sharks and probably 15 catfish, they were all over the place. The rain came in and i got soaked but the fish didn't stop biting and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'll add another update or 2 later this week. 

Had tarballs wash up on Sunday for a few minutes but it wasn't too bad.

Also had another nice catch Monday night after a storm moved through but this one involved a tripod and camera instead of rod and reel. :takephoto


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## Jaw Jacker

That is an awesome picture of lighting.:bowdown


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## Kookmeyer

Fantastic!!


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## Gulflady

<span style="font-family: Arial;">Wonderful pics of the lightning!!!


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## Kookmeyer

Hey brother,

Love the photo. I was chased inside by that storm. I was fishing the Inter Coastal by Hub Stacey's at the time. I live on Innerarity Point. I'm also an avid fisherman and photographer. I fish Johnson Beach mostly, and have done very well this spring and early summer. Hope to run into you sometime. <a href="http://livinginpensacola.blogspot.com/">http://livinginpensacola.blogspot.com/</a>

Steve


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## Baitcaster

good lookin' blue, how long was it ?


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## JBK

Didn't get a chance to measure the blue but I'd say it was around 14 inches. 

Well, on Tuesday after my last post I went back out with my sister at around 5 and caught a ladyfish and a few more catfish and then at 6:30 my sister was headed in to eat dinner with the family but I was feeling lucky so decided to stay for a few more casts. Bad idea. Caught yet another catfish (realize now that I should have changed locations), and I've always been hesitant about holding them to take the hook out because of the barb I've heard about. so I just grab the hook with needlenose pliers and give him a shake. The probably 8" cat flopped off the hook and flopped all around on my foot, and in the process put his fin bone about a inch into my second toe.









This picture was taken today so it's well on its way to healing but that red line is the path that the barb took under my skin. Right after the incident I asked a couple of kids who were watching me fish to keep an eye on my stuff and I hobbled about 75 yards through the sand trailing blood and in some pretty intense pain. We called the hospital and they said to come on over to the Pensacola ER (that place is a whole 'nother story) for x-rays to see if the barb was still in there. Luckily it wasn't and I got home around 12:30 am with antibiotics and some nice pain meds.
Moral of the story....eat dinner when told to.

Many of y'all been hit by a catfish barb? Hurts like absolute hell and the pain didn't stop for 3 hours straight.

Anyway, fished Thursday and Friday with nothing too exciting to speak of. I did go to the lagoon side of Johnson Beach and caught a few of these

















Wasn't sure exactly what they were. Is the top one some kind of grunt? They looked like possibly good baitfish.

Hoping to hit the beach one or two more times in the next couple days. Hope everybody's doin' well.


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## hogdogs

Only got the "horn" one time... I had junior in the front seat of a 12 foot skiff, I was in the back seat. He caught a little cat and i told him to swing it my way but keep it "over the side" of the boat... he thought that meant "back over to the inside"... Well before i could grab the line, it swung and spiked me about an inch inside from my left nipple... GOD THAT BURNED LIKE FIRE!!!! While I have never been shot, I have known literally dozens who have and one common denominator in their description is HOT SHARP PAIN!!! Well I guess I my first thought was "So this is what it feel like to be shot!"

It literally felt like a white hot metal rod/ice pick had been stabbed into me... No doctor, No good legal drugs... Several hours of pain that radiated from the wound, up the left side of my neck, and down the inside of my left arm to my elbow or so...

Brent


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## Ron19

That is an awesome pic of the lightning. Nice work......


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## Croaker Chris

Och .... Oh my toe ....... Congrats on the catch !


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## captainblack

the two you caught in the lagoon side look like a pigfish on top, type of grunt, they sound like pigs lol. the bottom looks like a croaker. both can be good bait for certain fish. 

OUCH on the catfish, Ive had more of those than I would like. Got a couple scars on my hands and one of my feet from them. After one hit my left ring figer real hard on the tip into the bone a little, it got really swollen and numb, well kind of numb, it burned for a few days, but was numb on the outside. Never completely got feeling back at the top half of that finger, guess it hit a nerve pretty hard. I always squeeze a little and let them bleed a bit out, then squeeze a lime or lime juice into it, put some orajel and antibiotic ointment on it and go back to fishing, havent had a bad infection from it while doing that, but the lime juice hurts like hell no worse than it already burns usually though.

I always carry thick leather gloves, usually they only get used for cats, I like to get them on the ground, let them flop some energy out, then kind of roll them on their sides and usually they stick all three out as hard as they can, then i get them from the bottom and get my fingers behind the fins to keep them pushed out and this way done careful has never got me stuck, its always the little 10 inch or smaller ones that end up getting me, a little 6 or 7 inch catfish is usually what sticks me, the bigger ones are easier in my opinion to get around since the spines are bigger.

I hate catching cats, but occasionally when nothings hitting where Im at a few of those can be fun, Ive gotten some 20 to 22 inch hardheads and 20 to 24 inch sailcat that fought like hell and were fun to play with on a boring night


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## Pier#r

The top 'baitfish' is a pigfish (yep, it's a grunt).
The other is a golden croaker.

Both make good bait, live or cut.

Hope the toe feels better.
Man those catfish can hurt!!

Great report and pics.


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## how2fish

Great pic ! Man sorry about the catfish..got one like that two years ago OUCH!


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## DHB699

hogdogs said:


> Only got the "horn" one time... I had junior in the front seat of a 12 foot skiff, I was in the back seat. He caught a little cat and i told him to swing it my way but keep it "over the side" of the boat... he thought that meant "back over to the inside"... Well before i could grab the line, it swung and spiked me about an inch inside from my left nipple... GOD THAT BURNED LIKE FIRE!!!! While I have never been shot, I have known literally dozens who have and one common denominator in their description is HOT SHARP PAIN!!! Well I guess I my first thought was "So this is what it feel like to be shot!"
> 
> It literally felt like a white hot metal rod/ice pick had been stabbed into me... No doctor, No good legal drugs... Several hours of pain that radiated from the wound, up the left side of my neck, and down the inside of my left arm to my elbow or so...
> 
> Brent


Brent, Explain (No good Legal Drugs) did we use something else?? :blink: :whistling:


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## SHunter

Ouch! Getting stuck by one can make you sick at your stomach. People with serious high blood pressure and heart disease need to be careful when unhooking a catfish. As young as you are it probably would not affect you as it would me.

Great photos of the fish and the lightning.


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## dragman6693

very awesome pic of the lightning man!!!!! that's kinda ballsy stayin out there in that stuff...but we wouldn't have the pic if you didn't thanks alot!


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## OP-FOR

A fine catch and a great Picture! I am dusting off the rods when I get back in and it is ON!!! I hope I can have as good as luck as you. No really. I have not fished in a while. I just want to catch something with fins.
Also, took a hard head bard in the knee cap about 5 years. Pain for about 3 hours from the hip to the toes. I hate them, but still willing to take the chance to use one for the Cobia.


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## Ranger Rick

*Catfish spike help*

Had a similar experience about a month ago, got the spike stuck in my that soft area between thumb & first finger. "Hurt like hell" doesn't even begin to tell the story. BEST WAY TO RELIEVE THE PAIN IS TO SOAK IN HOT WATER. As hot as you can stand it. It won't remove the pain, but will make a HUGE difference - it will go from excrutiating pain to just plain hurting.

RR


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## RODMIESTER

JBK, 
Thanks, this Awesome lightning picture is my new screensaver!!!!!!!


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