Memories That Matter: Cal Starling

This week’s Memories that matter comes from Cal Starling where he tells us about a recent trip he had with some of his friends and family:

My dad let me take the day off school and we went out fishing on Friday for pretty much anything that will bite, but we were especially looking for dinner. 

We were really just looking for something to make great fish tacos! 

We started the day at the jetty, but the tides just weren’t quite right, so we then went to a concrete wall and caught a few solid snapper that we got to keep, on live shrimp and a jighead. 

The fishing died off there so we went back to the jetty once the tides were right, and caught a nice sheepshead on live shrimp and a knocker rig that we added to the cooler.

We ate subs at the jetty for a quick lunch, and then headed to a few docks looking for flounder and reds, but couldn’t find any.

Saturday we went out with a charter with my dad and my two friends for my birthday.

Captain Brad of Southern Salt Fishing Charters took us on his boat which happened to be a 26” Yellowfin, so that was pretty cool.

We started out the day with 15 dozen live shrimp on a 1/8 oz. jighead by a big rock pile that runs along with the bank fishing for sheepshead and redfish.

We caught two nice sheepsheads and a ringtail that we kept for dinner.

Then we tried to fish a few spots for bull reds but that was way too crowded, so we went to the jetty for slot reds and sheepshead. We got a 14 inch red there and a solid bluefish.

After we all ate subs at the jetty again for lunch, we then went to some docks to go for reds.

It was pretty quiet until out of nowhere a massive school of probably around 50 or so redfish happened to pass us while fishing a dock!

We caught one after another for a total of around 30 redfish out of that school; all of which were barely under slot.

It was another fantastic day of fishing in Northeast Florida!

By the way….  The fish tacos were legit!

-Cal

Note from Cal’s dad:

Cal loves fishing and learning about the area and the tides.

Cal was especially excited when on his birthday trip, he, Luke, and Brayden tripled up on redfish!

They screamed, “Doubled Up!”, then “Tripled up!”

One of the main highlights was when the boys brought fish home for dinner!

They were super stoked to provide a healthy delicious meal for their families!

Friday night we had fish tacos at the Starling house, and Saturday the boys had fish tacos at Brayden’s house and we had blackened sheepshead and cornbread at our house!

Not only were the boys excited to bring fish home, but the parents were excited to cook and eat it!

That’s what fishing has the ability to do.

Make lifelong friendships at an early age, and bring families together to break bread and enjoy the catch. 

Cal & His Dad:

Cal & Friends:

The Final Product: