Had Kathy and Rick with me today only after calling them real early and saying, "Can we go on Saturday or Sunday? " Kathy said, "Can't go then, we're heading out of town then".
So as I pulled the "Metal Monster"out of it's lair, here came the rain. Oh no!! Can this get any worse? I thought, it was 6am.
Yes, it can. Kathy and Rick are from San Diego, California and are yearly regulars of mine.....SAN DIEGO.......They left forest fires, and a 5.6 Earth Quake back home. Now they're here in Florida, and we have Tropical Storm NOEL!!
I was wishing for weather like we had last year when Kathy and Rick came November 9 & 10th. It was a lot cooler and very nice. Besides we hit what I figured was the EXODUS, in the creeks. Exodus of shrimp and following right behind was LOADS of Trout, BIG TROUT! (here's a snap-shot of last years first trout,of the morning (5 pounds) that Big Rick caught!) 
Unfortunately, that didn't happen today.
Kathy caught the only Speckled Trout all day, small ones mostly and just a few 14-7/8th's inchers.
All the while the 20-25 knot winds, over cast skies and noise pollution of all those jets practicing for the Air Show this weekend, were giving us major grief!
The rest of the fish we caught were Bluefish, some tiny Yellowmouths, and a Mangrove Snapper along with the incessant Pinfish when we were up in the shallows.
Damn, was it windy. Most of the places we tried I couldn't even stay anchored. The wind would blow so hard, whipping the boat back and forth snatching it out of the bottom.
And we were supposed to go again tomorrow.
When Rick and Kathy come we always fish two days back to back. And in past years we've really had some great days. Kathy is getting to know what seasons I prefer. Or at least she's getting to know that "Bobber Fishin" as she calls it, is best in the fall, winter, and spring.
She's officially a Float Freak now, because last year she caught he largest Trout she ever tangled with. A solid 6 pounder. She was so proud of it she had the fish mounted here in Jacksonville and shipped to her in California. (that her 6 pounder next to Ricks 4 pounder, they had a double hook up at the same time!)
Last year they caught bunches of 3, 4 and 5 pound Specks, along with Drum and Reds. It was an amazing two days!
But going with this years theme of being one long summer and a really weird fall so far. Today's weather wasn't a real shocker to me. I look so forward to them coming, and even rushed to have some new tackle here and ready for when they arrived. But just felt as today approached, the weather wouldn't cooperate.
Really finishing up my my ultimate arsenal, for deeper water, big fish Float-rigging I made plans to have ready new G. Loomis Bucara 8' rods matched to Shimano Tekota 300 reels.
I wanted these for using a larger float heavier leader, larger hooks and a 2 ounce trout lead. Instead of trying to make work my lighter rods with a small float, lighter leader and a 1 ounce trout lead that's now just reserved for shallower water and slower current. We got the opportunity to use the new rigs, but only caught a few blues, mangrove snappers and small trout. 
Actually we did pretty good today considering. We went through 7 and a half dozen live shrimp today. Mostly because of the bait stealers. But I told Kathy, "I bet no out here caught as many Trout as you did today."
Nothing today was worth taking a picture of. It was gloomy and dark all day. Although the water temp was 72-73 degrees 'on the surface', by no means has the water temp really dropped low enough to rid of the river bait snatchers. There's still plenty out there. And have you ever noticed, that no matter how terrible of a day it is, windy, rainy, overcast, a terrible barometer, or even red tide, the bait snatchers always bite?? It's one of those things that makes ya go, Hmmm?
Looks like this weekend "MAY" calm down some, but still things will be really shook-up out there. The VFW Croaker tournament is this weekend, along with the air show at the Navy Base.
