4/4 - Easter Sunday.....went deep.

Had Dave H. and his two sons aboard, and glad I did. I remembered the name, but couldn't remember when we were out last. So I looked through my log books and found it. April 8th of 2004, is the last time Dave and sons fished with me. I even wrote down that we had 5 Reds, 3 Sheepshead, and 15 Trout, all at the Jetties and all on Float-rigs and live shrimp.

Can ya do that at the Jetties this year?

N-O-P-E!

The Jetties have been completely invaded by the 6" Bluefish, that eat everything that moves, which includes all the shrimp in my livewell. And could I take them there and produce a day like we had back in 2004 with even Sheepshead or Reds on the float-rig. No way.  This history making N.E. Florida winter we just had, altered everything about float-rig fishing those rocks. Everything I do there in the spring, isn't working. Does it really upset me......hell yeah. But there isn't a damn thing I can do about it, either. I just hope that someday which I thought maybe by April, comes back to normal. But that has not even come close yet.

So since the only alternative is hitting the bottom, that's what we did. I had a burlap sack full of giant chowder clams, and a coffee can full of well seasoned frozen shrimp. The perfect cocktail for a lingering smell, down deep on the bottom. With a long shanked 11/0 circle pro-baiter hook, and heavy metal to keep it in one place, on heavy tackle. I'm not a huge fan of the "bait-n-wait" game, but whatcha gonna do? The Black Drum are around and quite hefty. Plus, it's time for the Jettywolf boat to try and catch one the size of a Army foot locker, anyhow.

So with aquired 4 days earlier and kept cool, we headed out at 7am. I thought the river might just be a real zoo, but it wasn't too bad. Guess everyone wore themselves out on Friday and Saturday. Oh, by the way I remember a few Easter Sunday's when I had 4 and 5 person limits of Specks, before 1pm. Damn those were the days, huh? That was in the back of my mind all day long as I cracked clams shells, and had clam juice running down my arms and fragments of shells all over the boat by the end of the day. One thing float-rigging is, it's clean fishing for sure.




















The tide was low at 7:30am at the inlet. So I ran down river. No sooner got anchored up, and was prepared for a wait till the tide slacked before we'd get the first Drum. But that didn't happen. The current was smoking as usual. And the rod bumped. And we got the first drum of the morning. And then got chased out of where we were by the all mighty not having a clue Marine Corps Police. Yep. The rules change along Blount Island weekly. As the first drum was being reeled in. We had to move. Last week, last year, the rules were along Blount island were different.......the security zone is on my chart plotter even and wasn't the same as what these dudes were barking at us. Then, they said they checked their chart and they were wrong. We could be on a different imaginary line. Key word: some ones imaginary "LINE".  Via my charter plotters red line, I was just fine.





















Nice Black Drum in the 12 pounder range. Just like last Friday when I was out doing some R&D. We eventually moved on and out to the Jetties. The tide was so weak that the same place I caught Drum on Friday was now nothing more than a slice of moving water on the south tip. But one thing is for sure, the spawning Whiting sure are fired up. So I broke out some lighter tackle and the guys used dead shrimp pieces and caught about a dozen nice friers while we kept a 1/2 dozen. Many went back that should have ended up in the fish box. But my crew didn't know these fish lil' fish, don't have to be big to be super tastey, fried up in some Zaterains.

The south tip of the rocks was just not happening for us. So I made a move and there we found Reds. No keepers of course (under 27 inches) But nice fish none the less.

WANT T-U-F-F? TRY OUT A SHAKESPEARE UGLY STIK CHARTER BOAT SERIES ROD.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_103334 - BPS has them, all. The true test was today. My crew reeled up these fish, straight off the bottom, while using heavy lead to keep the baits in position. Yes, the rods are my "meat-movers" and yes, that's why I'm using them. 6'6" heavy action. Because ya never know when we'll hook the VW beetle sized Black Drum. And Cappy Dave want to be prepared for TROPHIES! No room for error, then.

Then, another big Black Drum for the fish box. (they sure are a Redfishes ugly cousin aren't they?)





















Then, we finished the day with another big Red. And headed on back to the dock to clean Drum and Whiting.

There was parts of the day where we had to wait on the right current of course. Not every minute is packed with action. That's the nature of the game. And having the right bait and lots of it really helps.

Advanced reservations is the only way for me to have adequate time to get the proper amounts of the right bait. The bait that catches Drum and Reds like these. Always call, as far in advance as you can.  Less than 72 hours notice many times, is not enough time, to get what I want and you'll want. The old saying is, "good bait ain't cheap and cheap bait isn't any good."


-------------------------------------------------------------------

4/5 - Back to Float-rigging, with Tim from St. Pete

Got a call from Tim a regular aboard the Jettywolf. To confirm he would be in town on Monday. It was short notice, but if it's Tim it's okay in my book. I was  hoping to get back on the Trout and at least find some, where maybe the Bluefish aren't.

Well, spot one had no Trout on it at all. Spot two was perfection as far as the tide was concerned. But we only got a good sized Yellowmouth.














A 14-1/2 inch Speck and a small Flounder. And it was a world tour of the St. Johns river, too. We hit alot of spots, from the Damnes Point area all the way to the south & north jetty. It was DEAD. And so was my my quest to get back on the Trout. Tim and I have had days together that were absolutely EPIC! Like last Summer, when we did  2 days in a row of nothing but float-rigging the jetties and had over 50 Reds of all sizes, monster Mangrove Snappers, Jacks, Tarpon hook-ups and a tackle testing two days I'll never forget.

That is what I wanted for Tim, today. Or at least some thing near it. But we ended the day just catching one bluefish after another. And I guess that'll be the theme for awhile now. So I guess no light tackle drifting the perverbial live shrimp......?  No, not till I see a change. And for me it'll be like quitting smoking. De-Toxing myself for just a week or so from having my float rig rod in my hand, will be tough.

4/2 - R&D for Easter Sunday.

It's official, the lil' Bluefish have invaded the inlet.

There's no way you can float-rig fish the rocks right now without handing every shrimp to a Blue on a bronze platter. I tried. So, it looks as if we completely lost this years early spring Trout bite at the Jetties. This heinous winter keep them hunkered down in a few select creeks, then as the water temp rose slowly, I figured we'd get a trickle of them heading to the ocean. NOPE!

Then, when the bubble finally breaks, and the water temp reaches 63 and were steadily over the 60 degree "tipping point" the nasty lil' Blues show up along with some small sharks, cow-nosed Rays, plain old Stinger Rays, and still no jetty Trout! Or if they are there, you can't even get a bait to them. Lures don't even work, because there so many Blues. But the Trout could be there, too.

Next up will be small Jacks, and then Spanish Macs. Maybe by then, the Blues will dispurse and I'll get a chance to Float-rig for Trout at the big rocks. For big spawning Trout. Till then, I wouldn't run a single float-rigged shrimp down the inlets rocks. But you can, and let me know what ya come up with.

Prepared, I went and did some R&D for Sunday's trip with some folks I had aboard the boat all the way back in summer of 2004, the Hamrock group. I brought monster chowder clams. And quickly switched from float-rigging the rocks to bottom fishing outside the rocks.

The Whiting were all over the clams at first on the mid incoming tide, but my hook was a bit too big for them. So I only caught a few. The clams were of course intended for that 50-60 pound Black Drum. Not a half pound Whiting.

I planned on this, so an abundance of clams was needed. It didn't take long to get bit. And as I have said before this is MEAT fishing. No light tackle sport fishing involved, at least not today. The rod bounced back and forth hard and I knew I had the mornings first Black Drum. I cranked it to the boat with my heavy Ugly Stik charter series rod and Accurate twin drag (ATD) reel. Heavy leader and a Mustad Pro Baiter long shank circle hook made short work of ole rubber-lips.

Drum are 100% smell feeders here in our deep dark water. So keeping a fresh clam on and smelling good is important. I have a few tricks on the how's and why's, that I use and it all worked like a champ. Between the hook, tackle and presentation. I was happy.

A 28 inch, 8.5 pounder. Did kick and put up some fuss on my "HD" tackle. But loosing the fish was not a worry. I just reached over and slung the Drum into the boat. One down, and a one 50-60 pounder needed, for the JOSFC "inshore board" year long tournament. 

The fish sure looked bigger than 8.5 pounds! But into the box it went. Saw no one yet tangle with a VW beetle sized one. So "a bird in hand is better than two in the bush"... is what I always say. Kind of not good, because if I had gotten a monster today, I would have two over 24" then...."free Black Drum anyone?" With all the fish being caught looking like this size. And being out there by myself. I was only allowed one over 24 inches. So to keep more Drum, I would have needed more bodies aboard. Or smaller fish.










So I pitched out all new Clam on 4 rods and waited. The Blues and Whiting tasting the new clams was a real pain. Having to constantly be checking baits over and over again.   But the bites were there. Unlike when I fished with DOA Rob in 45 degree water....." we would loved to of had bites back then."  at least, so no complaints out me!  The rod bounced hard again. And I cranked another exact same size Drum to the boat.

I had a few ripped off baits, a few runs and then no hook break-offs. And a few more Whiting ingesting my large circle hook. And the bite quit. As the tide started to change and a long rip line heading my way confirmed that. So I changed positions and even marked big fish off the rocks in 65 feet of water. So I tried it. The tide was slack and the Whiting were all over my baits.

So I tried float-rig fishing one more time, on the North Jetty.  Figuring I may get a Redbass like I usually do. But the Bluefish were here too. Which confirmed my "the Bluefish are everywhere out there", suspicions.

It seems to me that the big spawning Sheepshead should be off the rocks out on the mud or sand, because this is the time of year I catch them no where near the rocks. So I tried a spot that usually produces a big 7-Striped Jetty Snapper, by now the tide was starting to fall perfectly. Not too fast, not too slow. So I anchored up on the spot and was there 5 minutes and the heavy duty Ugly Stik started to bounce. I just left it alone.

If it's a whopper Sheeps, it'll eat that clam and by the time it does and I check the rod, it'll be crapping the hook...."that's what I let them do." It means no loosing the fish, not a chance!  Sheeps don't eat clam like a shrimp, or a blue crab, or a fiddler. They inhale, and swallow that juicy clam. So after a few minutes, I grabbed the rod and just felt for tension. That's all. No Bill Dance hook set. Just feel for tension, then movement. And then, just reel fast with that long shanked circle hook. YEP, FISH ON!

`














Not a super sow Sheepshead, but a decent 8 pounder. Nice and thick and full of roe. Then, I caught two toadfish, ands that's a "here's yer sign" kinda thing. So with no more sheeps bites I took off. Went looking down river for a new spot to try and the river was a complate zoo of boats. Had two idiots in Go-Fast noisey pointy boat, race by me even and cut straight in front of me, that I had to grab the throttle and come off plane. But as usual, no idiot goes unpunished in the long run. They ended up floating down river with the engine hatch up and something wrong as I slow peddled  by them looking for a spot where it wasn't 4 foot seas in the river from all the wakes. Good for them. I hope their engine blew up!

I stopped on one spot and anchored but the tide was screaming, and no Drum is gonna bite when the boats planing in current like this. And the SE sea breeze was honking. So I headed back to the ramp to clean my fish.

Decent morning, and a no good afternoon. Too may people and not enough water in the river for them all.

I'm sure Sunday will be the same exact way. Looking back in my log books at Easter Sunday, it's always been tough Trout fishing the river because of all the people. So Sunday I'll be leaving the float-rig rods home and going bottom fishing instead. Hope for a big Drum bite, as I'll have 4 people aboard plus me, that's 5 Drum over 24 inches we can keep, if they want too.