Saturday, May 5, 2007

5/5-6 Un-timely Tides










Man, I love my boat. (just had to throw this in) because I received this pic in an e-mail from one of our group charter participants from last month.

Alright, it's May. The weather is so far so good. The Trout are chewin' in the river, the Cobia have showed up. Pogies have been spotted behind the surf. The Greenies (aka: Threadfin Herring) are readily available at the jetties. Sharks are on the beach, and I'm sure there's some Redbass on the bait pods for a change of pace. And the Jacks are getting larger. And at the same time FUEL is getting outrageous again. Because It's SUMMER. Which is a great excuse.

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I want a few of those GIANT 6" Shrimp (pictured above) that B&M bait and tackle had back in March and April. I wanna catch a Cobia on a live shrimp on a Float-rig.....sounds funny huh? That's what people think when ya tell them about Jetty Tarpon on a Float rig too. But that easily happens. IF, you're on the ball like me to be fishing with a Tarpon capable hook, rod and reel when they are around.

* G. Loomis - 9' Pelagic series, 15-30# fast/medium heavy rod

* Shimano Tekota 500 levelwind w/ 350 yards of Power Pro

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Nothing going on this weekend with me.

As with most events in this town, I guess I'll get some late notice callers from when the TPC starts. It's this town, I always say. It's not like we're a real tourist destination by any means. Maybe some day...maybe.

I did do some boat maintenance, and made some "summer-time" modifications, in case I have to put some bigger baits in the live wells. And took the small cast net out of the boat and put in the bigger Pogie net.

Tides this week: are slow and there's not a low-tide that's good and fish-able, during normal human fishing hours, till later in the week. But I'll probably go Monday or Tuesday anyhow.





Friday, May 4, 2007

5/3 - One fine day!




Had Dave C.
aboard today.
And we didn't
leave till noon.
Because when all else fails, FISH THE FALLING TIDE!
That's why. And Dave being an angler himself at home, up north he knew that too.
I had plans to T-rout fish. And go find those Whoppers, I've been getting into last Saturday and Monday. Dave as a "knowing" individual, comes alone and also books his trips well in advance. So I had him on my mind Monday, as I slayed some dragons in the big St. Johns, all by myself.
About the photo's... I cannot risk doing shots of where I was. And Dave isn't into picture taking....and I was glad to get this one shot of our "end of day" fish.
First spot.....wow what a story here. We barely had current. It was the last minutes of the incoming tide. We were talking about how hard it could be pulling a good fish from under a dock and around some pilings, that we were Float Rigging. Dave says, in so many words. This could get exciting if you were to get your ass handed to ya. I responded, that I have never gotten ripped so bad here, that I didn't get the Trout from the dock pilings.
And 2 seconds after I said that........
My float drifts by one piling and then in between two others. MY FLOAT VANISHES.....I SET THE HOOK.....MY 8 FOOT LOOMIS GREENWATER ROD BOWS HARD, THE DRAG PULLS....AND THE MONSTER TROUT RIPS AROUND A PILING........SPLASHES ON SRFACE BEHIND THE PILING........THE FISH PULLS, I FEEL THE LINE SHREDDING ......I CAN'T DO ANYTHING.......AND POP GOES MY 50# BERKELY SUPER BRAID LINE!!!!!!
Hmmm, what was I just saying?????
Then Dave sets the hook, and from between the pilings pulls out the first trout of the day, and decent 17 incher. Mine was big, so now I'm really excited. But we pull anchor and go get my expensive float, and come back. And we get a few more trout.
If they are chewin here, with hardly any current left. That means we are in for "one fine day!"
Because when you're into them with almost no current, you've found the right water to be in this time of year. (that's a Pearl of information, right there)
We only fished 3 spots, but all 3 are in the right area. (and there's a possibility I could find even better areas of the river right now)
Dave is a BLOG reader. He read about my R&D expoits, lately. And he wanted to find some big Trout. So I concentrated my efforts in the area where I've been getting them at different stages of the falling tide.
Early on, we had some 3 pounders, & 2 pounders. But were not keeping other than the first 2 or 3 (because they are good luck fish), any Trout less than 18+ inches. And wanted at least our 2- over 20 inches. My theory is; "A Trout in the hand, is better than 2 still in the water."
So if Dave caught an absolute monster, he'd let me take a photo of him and we'd release it.
But...and there's always one but, isn't there. We didn't get into the 5 plus pounders. Just 4 pounders. The spot where I caught the 5-5 pounders in a row the other day ( and released) was now reading higher salinity levels. It was the full moon, and the tide that may have been a tad higher, and drove saltier water up into the spot. Just a theory besides, them just not visiting it today(?)
But either way, it was a great day. Dave also caught a nice pup Black Drum, I caught a Spanish Mack, he also had some Jacks, Ladies, and small Blues as the tide really went low.
We easily had our 10 keeper Trout and even threw back a lot of fish. Could have had more limits of Trout if we stayed on a particular spot, but we went looking to get the Gators. And I was glad we did, but only came up with 4 pounders.
The wind became a factor as it always does during the middle of the day with the south-east sea breeze, blowing hard and coming straight down the river into our faces as the tide ebbed. But we worked through it as I did on Monday, too.
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I can't speak for Dave, but i know he had a lot of fun. But as far as I'm concerned. This is some of the finest inshore fishing. A Weekday, solo passenger, just two guys out working a specific area, leaning the techniques, enjoying the river, no long boat rides, no constant snags on the bottom, watching A LOT of the float disappearing under water with all good quality Specks on the hook.
If this really gets ya going, and becomes addictive. YOU'RE A FLOAT FREAK, 100%. If not. That's okay too. But for me, I'd rather be a Master of one, than a jack of all trades, master of NONE. My goal is to do what I love to do, very well. And share what I love to do with others.
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Tuesday, May 1, 2007

IT'S MAY!



Today's Mayport archive photo - Barge full of JETTY ROCKS, and how they got them out there. (photo was marked: Barge with jetty fill)

It's May...now lets see if it'll be truely like May. Although the winds with EAST in the discription was very apparent, again
today.

Did my Group Charter with some Insurance Brokerage guys today...about the same Group as last year, I think. 10 people, 4 boats...and of course I was one of the boats with 3 guys rather than 2.

Take Note: High Tide at Jetties 9am, that was right when we departed, of course.

And when am I catching the GATORS (Trout) all on the low, of course.

Always take a low tide over a high tide. That's my theory.

So we all basically started at the Jetties. The go-to area to always catch something.

My guys caught, Ladyfish, Jacks- small and mediums about 5 pounds. Blues, and hooked two Manta Rays that were swimming down the rocks. Plus two Spiney

Puffers, one 14" Trout.

Some of the other boats had a Flounder, some Reds to 34" a few Trout. They were about the only few Game fish caught. Everyone caught Ladies and Jacks.
We all had a good time, and I always appreciate taking this Group every year.

TIDES...It's all about those, TIDES. If ya' wanna really fish for game fish species.

Yesterday, when I was catching those big beautiful Trout the salinity was a 22 parts per thousand, on a scale of 0-40 parts per thousand. The jetties are about a 36PPT.
So 22PPT is pretty low considering NO RAIN, and no real flow to the St. Johns River.

If I had my druthers here's what I'd do the rest of the summer.
*have unlimited fuel at my disposal at a good price......."That will not happen".
*fish only the river south, and keep up with the salinity day by day.
*stay away from the inlet because it's a magnet for many non-game fish species.
*when I'm down river and start catching Ladyfish, Jacks, or Blues...go further south!
*and fish on a perpetual falling tide, only! Yeah, like that will ever happen.

Today's Ramblings:
I go through this every single spring time, and that's wondering why when a friend of mine comes back from Venice LA. from fishing with his Guide brother-in-law, and after hearing all those Redfish & Trout stories he tells me,why is the fishing there so great? There's a scientific approach to why...and I wanna know it.

I think besides the endless marsh and waters, lack of people/pressure on the fish. It has to do with the Mississippi River! It flows fresh water ALL THE TIME. We have a river right here. But it does not flow, and flow endless Fresh water all the time 365 days a year.

This may sound obvious, but it's not. Especially, in the spring and summer when spawning and estuarine species (

Redfish, Trout, Flounder, Drum, Sheepshead etc.) want to find and live in "brackish water". Because it has a lot to do with their spawning cycle. Just as it does for our river shrimp.

So think about it....When we have Hurricanes/Tropical storms to the south, all the rain water goes where? Into the river. And the fishing is off the chart when it reaches us in J-ville.
We must have rain, hurricanes and tropical storms.
In Venice LA. they have that flow all the time. So when the fish want it, it's there. Which also possibly makes for very successful spawns, which in turn means more fish year after year.

Here's actually a quote from a fishing guides web site over there about the salinity & spawning:
"There is little doubt that Venice is an amazing fishery. In spring vast numbers of speckled trout are on the move to the south in search of saltier waters to spawn. April and May are two of the best months to catch the big sows ."
So it sounds as if the "opposite is happening there...they move closer to the Gulf to get the right salinity??" Because they are in brackish. Just the opposite here in our river.
Kinda the same deal of when the damn flows-over down in Guana River State Park...the fish stuck in the lake side (the sweet water side) rush to the salty water coming in over the damn from the ICW side.

On another note; for one second think of all the pollution that went into that river after hurricanes Katrina and Rita!
I had a native New Orleans man on my boat today. He lived through Katrina. So we talked about it naturally. He said, "I do not know where all that 'garbage' went in the river, out to the Gulf of Mexico I guess", he stated. And I was thinking, "how about all those TOXINS, SEWAGE, & CHEMICALS that went into the river and out into the marshlands and passes, Gulf??" And the fishing again is through the roof over there. Because of the constant flow of fresh water from the Mississippi River?? I guess the word "flush", means more than a good poker hand.

We have a river in name, maybe. Not necessarily in theory. The Timicuan Indians called it, "THE RIVER OF LAKES", because back then the river had a mean depth of 9 feet, the inlet was a giant sand bar, and the Timicuan's knew that the river had no real flow, so they aptly named it for what they thought it was more like. And according to anthropologists, they were dead on. A theory is that thousands of years ago, the river was a chain of lakes/wetlands. And through erosion, forces of the tide, and Ocean height, the banks broke through and connected to form kind of what we see today.

Basically, some rain would be nice.

That's the thought of the day. So I'll just live with knowing Venice, LA. is over there. And I'm over here. And I'm happy as long as I get my fill of big fat Trout, one way or another.
I just have to stop talking to that friend of mine after he goes there. Because now he's telling me he also saw a fellow BlackLab Marine Plate Alloy 26' owner over there, too. (Ya' know Louisiana is a big Aluminum boat state) and says to me every time I see him, "Dave, ya know how great of a boat that would be for fishing the passes and rigs over there?" I usually say...."No, I don't because I've never been there, but you need to invite me!!"

Rule O' Thumb: BOOK YOUR CHARTERS "TO FISH", VIA MY TIDE RECOMMENDATIONS....