8/6 - When bad gets a bit better?

Had Larry F. and his son Adam aboard today. Larry's new to J-ville and his son came down to visit from Detroit. It was a beautiful day, if HOT with a HOT west wind is your bag.

So I headed to the jetties, and figured if the wind wasn't all that bad we'd float-rig and see if we could catch a weekday Flounder, Jack, Red, or Ladyfish. Adam caught 1 Ladyfish.
Not from a lack of trying, that's for sure. Larry and Adam got no other bites except for bait stealers. They literally could not give away a live shrimp to a decent fish.

I usually see Tarpon rolling outside of where I was anchored at the last of the falling tide, but the only interesting thing I saw was a small school of mullet, pass by the boat. No glass minnows, no other bait, no nothing!

Holy Crap......not another day of this again, I thought. I just went through this BS on Saturday. Is it summer doldrums? Has things gotten so hot and miserable that the inshore Mayport fishing finally broke down? Because I can't figure out why last week was a fish fest and now this week is a zero fest!

And that's the way the whole falling tide was.....spot after spot. Absolutely zero bites, except for the ever so often tiny Mangrove snapper , 2" Seabass, or rock blenny.

Every year I get to a point where I really cannot wait for cooler weather, a change, a transition into winter. I had a better day last week in the NOR'EASTER, when it blew 15-20 knots!!

And then this past Saturday's nightmare of a fishing day......looked like I was in for the same thing, today. And that's what we ended up having. Hours worth of fishing hard, without a single decent fish. What are ya supposed to do? I had 3 hrs. left of this, should I pull anchor and drive to a "distant land" where something might be going on? Not at this time of day, and not at these gas prices. The only thing to do is stick it out and keep trying close areas, I thought....but more like wait for the tide to change. And hopefully change the fishing along with it.

The tide turned. So I mimicked the same thing I did on Saturday. And hit a spot I call "Pipe Point". The incoming current was fighting the hard west wind on this spot, but it was my last ditch effort. The shrimp were dieing, I had to change the water in the well one more time, pick out all the dead ones, chummed with them and try to get something going. So I took over, and pitched Larry and Adam's float-rig into the spot where I had my ass handed to me on Saturday. Showing them, EXACTLY what they needed to do to fish this HIGH level of difficulty spot. A very shallow rock pile, that on the first of the incoming tide gets frequented by the Reds, as they travel down the bank.

Adams float goes down and he hooks a 4 pound Jack. Next drift, it goes down again and the fish breaks him off. Then it's Dad's turn. Larry's float disappears and OH MY GOD...does he get his butt handed to him. This fish smokes off like a rocket. Up into shallow water, then out deeper, then back into the shallows. It's a serious battle. His rod is bowed and he's pulling hard to keep the fish in deeper water. And since the bank is strewn with nasty boulders, keeping the fish in deeper water is a good idea. I was coaching Larry and he was doing really good. I said, "this is a really big fish to have in those rocks!!", as Larry worked the fish gaining some line, just to have it take off more. I'm thinking 10 pound Jack the way it was pulling. But as it got closer, I saw RED..."it's a big Red Larry...It's a real nice fish!", I yelled as I reached out with the net.

We went F-I-S-H-L-E-S-S for hours, and I finally found something. And it's all about the incoming tide! GOOO figure??? The wonderful thing (SARCASM) about Jacksonville in the summer is nothing is ever the same from day to day or week to week. Three day's out of one week it'll be all about the falling tide, then the next week everything will be all about the incoming tide.

Adam take's a few photos of Larry's trophy fish and then the measurements, dead on 31 inches. I said to Larry, "I guess I should have the rest of my charters this week meet me at the boat ramp around 1:00-2:00pm, and we can fish the incoming tide during the heat of the day, instead of fishing the morning huh???"

Larry and Adam at least had a sense of humor, joining me in making fun of how crappy today's fishing was. And how idiotic this all seemed, catching fish at the last spot after all we been through so far. (so much BS that I cannot even explain it all here.....which included having words with a asshole Navy Squid at Atlantic ship yard.)

So we continue to beat the hell out of this area, as the tide rolls in. And Adam pulls in a 19" and a 21" Redfish. Then, all bites completely cease. Because the Reds have moved on.....to where is the question?? This is the only spot I've found them on lately. But I will continue the search at a later date. Adam had a really nice digital camera on board today and he took some photos. I hope to add them into this report when he e-mails me them. I should have my new camera here on Tuesday.

I have trips on Weds, Friday and a 3-boat group charter on Saturday.

I guess I'll be heading to Nassau Sound, and see if we can't get into some kind of trouble up there on the falling tide that I'll have. Because I certainly cannot take another day like today, again.

I think fishing the Pier today wouldn't have been all that bad. If you're not catching at least the scenery could keep your imagination working.
huba, huba....sun goddess'

8/4 - I MUST BE NUTS. (weekends and why I hate them)

Yeah, I went out fishing by myself on a Saturday. ( had a bunch of calls for today from people who thought I was a cattle boat) Man, how the hell does one stand it. You work all week, itching to go fishing, and then there's so many people, noise, boat wakes, and inconsiderate assholes on the water it makes the whole experience, less enjoyable by the hour. Or maybe you don't know the difference. And that's okay too.

I hit the water for the sole purpose of trying out a new reel. I was at the boat ramp at 6am. Heading to the jetties in the dark (that's how I get a parking spot at the boat ramp). I fished and fished, and hardly a bite. I sat on the south jetty, counting boat after boat heading around the tip in search of the rare and ambiguous "Pogie". Wake after wake was doing nothing but giving me "river rage". If I wanted to fish in a washing machine, then this was the spot. Saturday morning summer weekend Pogie chasers.......I couldn't take it anymore. No fish on my new reel, no bites, incessant boat traffic. What am I, a glutton for punishment? I guess so. And that's what made me leave.

I headed north, towards Nassau Sound passing one boat after another coming south doing 50 MPH with billboards on the sides of them....."OH, there must be another PRO (LOL) Kingfish tournament somewhere and they are all heading south."

So I finally got up to the sound, and looked around a little. Of course there was boats everywhere, Kayakers, pontoon boats (the bass pond is over there Mister.) I kept thinking how Nassau Sound USED TO BE a little bit of paradise, a hide away, a place to get away from people, before they built that boat ramp in Sawpit creek (a crappy boat ramp too). Now the sound is a Walmart parking lot. Thank goodness 3/4 of the people are anchored, sitting out in the middle of no where. And if they really knew their way around up in the sound, they'd know the fish are up in between the sand bars.....not out in 38 feet of water. (if quality Whiting, Pompano, Trout, Redfish, Drum, Flounder, Sheepshead and Tarpon is your quarry) But if Stingrays & Skates are your bag.....by all means stay out there.

So......I looked around, and the tides just starting to come in. I work my way between a beach and a long sandbar. I anchor in 3 feet of water. It's not a thorough-fare. I'm where no one else should go unless they are like me, looking for fish up in this slew of water. SO I THOUGHT.
I no sooner start making a few drifts with my float-rig and here comes some asshole in a flats boat and he flys by me going full bore right down the side of my boat and rides right over my float-rig!!!! I'm minding my own business......and there's literally millions of square feet of navigable water elsewhere he could have taken. Scout Flats boat....maybe 20', poling plate form with a huge hand rail on it, Mercury outboard...I'M COMING FOR YOU. If I ever see this guy again, pay backs are gonna be pure hell on him. Believe me! I'll do donuts are him, just for the fun of it.

Yep, Saturdays suck and so does the boating public, ya cannot convince me other wise. I was gonna pull anchor and chase him down. But I'll let him forget what he did, so he's good and pissed when I rock his world next time I see him.

I move around up there in the sound and hook but loose two Flounder. That's the only bites I had and I was up there for hours it seemed, amazed how the place has gone to hell. So I head back to the jetties since the tide was way up now. I search for Flounder...I hook a small one and it comes off at the side of the boat. I keep looking at my hook, because I swear they're not teflon hooks. The current at the jetties is outrageous, the incoming is super strong. Which was half my problem here and at Nassau Sound too.

So I give up. I start to head in for the day. And as I do, I pass an area that peeks my curiosity because I've had some fast and furious action there before during other seasons, so I stop to see what's going on in the 84 degree water and boat wake after boat wake.

I pitch my float & live shrimp out, and instantly catch a 5 pound Jack. FIRST CATCH, AND IT'S OFFICIALLY 12:54 PM. Remember, I've been out since 6:00am!!!!!!
Wow, my new reel actually can reel in a fish.....imagine that? Then, I pitch out again, and before the float drifts 2 feet I get slamm dunked, the fish runs up into shallow water, I see it. It's a giant Redbass, and before I could say "Please STOP", the fish breaks me off in the structure. It doesn't take much to break a 15 pound leader, by the way. Next drift, I actually catch a Flounder. A small 13 incher, I released it. Then, the next few drift I do are in deeper water, and I catch two Baby Gag Grouper. I switch back to the shallows and pitch my float up into the structure and I get my ass handed to me, again. Before I could engage my reel by turning the handle, the float went down, I rear back with my 8'2" rod and get my thumb burnt by brand new STREN super braid line as the fish pulls and breaks me off.

REDS. Yep, that's why I stopped here in the first place. Last fall I was fishing here with two customers and the same thing happened, at this same tide. They'd hook up big reds, have them on and loose them to the massive structure that draws them here in the first place.

I'm the kind of fisherman, that's an observer. Because I anchor. I sit on a spot, and will sit and sit as long as there's some action. Observe and learn. I watch the way the water moves, where the bites come from, the way the baitfish hide and travel the bank. And at this spot I observed a Flounder up in 6 inches of water chasing bait, and jumping clear out of the water. If your a trolling motor-head......try stopping and anchoring once in awhile. The reason I say that is I watch the trolling motor-heads and watch them pass right on by fish, bait, structure, and me, as I'm anchored watching and learning a spot. Hey, Been there done that. I've had as many of 5-6 boats with trolling motors on them.

As I continued observing and fishing my float-rig The sun was nice and bright. I decided to continue to fish that shallow spot where those viscous strikes came from. Then, I see a Redbass come up to the surface and is chasing my live shrimp. My shrimps snapping and dancing around on the surface of the water eluding the red. When all of a sudden he really goes for it, and at the same exact time a seagull comes down and as I'm staring at this Redfish, I see this bird swoop down and grab my live shrimp just as the Red's about to eat the shrimp! The shrimp and Redfish is in about a foot of water....I can see it all, and when the bird comes down and takes my shrimp I freak-out. I cannot believe this is happening!!! The bird got in my line actually and as it fly's away with my float-rig, angered I snatch my float & bait from it's beak and I still have the shrimp on the hook. In slow motion form reminiscent of the TV show, "Kung Fu", I can now see myself snatch the bait from the bird and buzz the float-rig back to the boat and all in one motion make a cast back to where the Redfish was and when the bait hits the water the Red boils up on the surface and eats the shrimp!!! AMAZING, is all I can say!

The whole thing happened so fast. But now I have a Red hooked up right where two have already broke me off. I put the muscle to the fish, and truly get to test out my new Shimano Curado 300 DSV - high capacity low profile reel. The Red peels drag, and I have to high stick it so to keep it out of the snaggy structure. I'm elated, as I whip the fish to the boat. A nice 26" Redfish. Whewwww.

If it didn't happen to me, I'd have a hard time believing such a tall tale. But in my best literary form, that's exactly how it all went down.

I'd have to say this single fish was close to, if not the most rewarding fish I have caught in the year 2007. Probably because I watched the whole thing go down, in clean incoming tide water, about a foot deep atop some seriously snaggy structure.

And that damn bird didn't help......OR DID IT?

Summer weekends are the absolute pits for an inshore fisherman, that's for sure. If you don't realize how nice it is on a Monday morning at 7am, that's okay. Then you don't know what your missing so it'll never hurt ya. "keep America rolling....go to work".
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New digital camera on the way. This time a divers camera so it better be water proof! Can't wait to actually have some photos to post.

8/1 - August Nor'easter already????

Yep, if the temp was lower, if I had on my Grundens fisherman's fleece, and the shrimp were bigger......I'd almost swear it was February, or March at the inlet today.

Nasty, slop choppy seas, high North East winds and a fun swell. Ahhhhh, my kinda day matey's.

I was almost not gonna go, but what the hell I thought, "go try your luck...I mean, "skills".

So after getting maybe 12 usable size shrimp in my 6 dozen I hit the river and headed straight towards the jetties. Yeah, I got 6 dozen and maybe 12 were of usable size. The rest were either 2 inches long or dead already. Bait frustration again.

I wanted to see if I could bend the "whoop-ass rod" on something badly. I've been out on days like this in the middle of the summer before, when we get a rouge Noreaster. And have hooked as many as 5 tarpon in that kind of sea. So don't cancel out any big fish when it's nasty. A full moon incoming tide, white caps and froth gets things all stirred up.

But anchoring where the "stirring" is happening, can be the trick O' the day. I pitched my anchor and it held for 5 minutes. Just long enough for me to catch a 31" Redbass that weighed in at 10 pounds plus. Then the anchor would get snatched free of the jetty rocks and I'd get a case of haul-ass and drift away.......

So I re-anchored again. This time I caught a 19" Flounder. Then the anchor would get snatched free of the jetty rocks and I'd get a case of haul-ass and drift away....

I re-anchored again........I know what your saying! Get a better anchor, or put out more scope, right? NAW...I couldn't put out more scope and my customized JettyWolf anchors are okay. It was windy, lots of current, lots of swell and the water was breaking over the jetty rocks, (SEE PHOTO) as I tried my best to get the boat to stay in a 50 foot circle of space along the rocks. This has happened before, it'll happen again....I thought as I repeated out load SERENITY NOW.....SERENITY NOW, attempting to not get mad.

So I re-anchored again, this time paying as much attention to technique and strategic placement of the anchor as I could. It held! Long enough for me to work the area again a few times. Making perfect drifts with my big float-rig and usable size shrimp.

Float goes down behind a swell and never comes up. I reel and come back with all 9 foot of the whoop-ass rod and drag peels. The fish goes from 28' of water straight to the jetty. I could see my float being dragged across the surface fast. I put this 9 foot rod where it needs to be...In the shape of a horse shoe, cranking fast and pulling hard. And I can see it's a good size Jack Cravalle. Against the "BIG" rod it wears out quickly. And into the net it goes. A solid 10 pounder.

Then guess what happens???? The anchor gets snatched free from the jetty rocks, and I'd get a case of haul ass and drift away....one mo' time. Just for fun!

I anchored no less that 12 times along the jetty rocks today. Pulling in that 12-14 pound anchor and 8 foot of heavy chain, another 8-10 pounds. Reeled in a 10 pound Redfish, and a 10 pound Jack, and I wasn't out there but maybe 2 hours, so far.

WHAT'S YOUR DESCRIPTION OF A GOOD DAY??

Yeah, this wasn't what I'd describe as a great day either.

I was down to maybe 2 usable size shrimp by now, so I moved down to the south jam where it was much calmer, and tried 4-6 feet of water. Nothing was happening. So I pulled the anchor loose myself and headed up river.

I went into a creek no one ever goes in any more (except for me) I've been fishing this creek for what seems as long as I've lived in J-ville. I used to live in this creek when I had my 14' Aluma-craft boat. And man, has it changed since then.

The NE wind was absolutely howling by now and the tide was just starting to ebb in the river as I entered my oldest of "stomping grounds".

I picked and poked around, having the wind give me a serious fit, but managed (2) 14-3/4 inch Trout, and (2) small Mangrove snappers up in there.....on shrimp that were so small they made my "TINY" #8 hook look tooooooooo big.

I about had it at that point, most of the shrimp were dead and I had my fun at the jetties doing the, re-anchor, catch a fish, re-anchor, catch a fish, re-anchor, catch a fish.

So there ya have it.

SOOOOOO glad I didn't have a charter today, not because of the weather really, but because I know how people burn baits. And if I had a 6 hr. trip, the bait would have lasted 2 hours maybe. I made what I had last 5 hours.....that's the difference.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be due EAST, then come around to the south for Friday. (so they say)