REDEMPTION.....I NEEDED REDEMPTION!
After yesterday's follies in Simpson Creek and numerous other creeks with DOA Rob, where I fished behind him all day and never caught a fish on a DOA Shrimp lure. As he caught at least 18-20 fish! Good fish.....Specks!!
I went out to dinner with my dad after fishing yesterday, because it was his birthday. And as we sat in "Rite Spot" in Jax Beach eating a fine meal, all I could think about was what a crappy day I had. I take these things personally. And I know what you're thinking because I hear it all the time from readers in e-mails....."geez, I'm glad to hear you had a day like that too. It happens to me all the time, Capt Dave".
Well, my response is..."I can have a bad day when someone else picks the day, and I'm not fishing, THEY ARE." But I can tell ya, it doesn't happen to me very often. Just so you know before you hit that email button!
So, I got up to yet another wonderful morning. And had NO plans on going fishing. Even told a friend that asked me too go, "naw... I've fished three days in a row I think I'll take a break."
But as the morning went on, all I could think about was redemption. I needed to fix, my mental attitude. So I checked my email, drank my coffee, and looked out the window at yet another perfect day. (why people are letting the first weeks of January go by without calling to go fishing is beyond me. The first two weeks or so of January is ALWAYS beautiful!!!!)
So I hitched up the boat, threw in a few rods and took off. I could feel my anxiety starting to subside just by putting the boat in the water, if ya can believe that. I needed redemption. And this fishing thing and competing with myself is like a sickness. Plus, THEY'RE BITING, so get while the getting is good folks. February will roll around quickly and the Specks will be closed for harvest then. So this guy's stocking up!
I ran to the spot where I have confidence galore. And found two friends sitting there Float-rigging. I asked them how they were doing and they said it was super slow. Oh No! I need redemption!!!
So I grabbed my Loomis 8'2" casting rod matched up to a Shimano Curado DSV 300, that had the last lure I was throwing yesterday with DOA Rob, and that was a ugly colored MirrOlure TT. It was one of my bargain bin lures, perfect for winter time trout fishing. Because the flashier and the weirdest colors work in the winter time. This MirrOlure has a fluorescent orange head, yellow body and a gold foil insert. Really an ugly lure......perfect for winter time!
I made my second cast to the rocks with this winter bait, and it got slammed. But it was a small Trout. So I kept throwing. Only to feel it get hit numerous times without another hook-up.
So I grabbed my float-rig rod and fished a live shrimp.
My friends were right. Damn, hardly a bite. I worked deep, shallow and in between. Eventually getting a few small Trout and small Yellowmouth Trout. Then my buddies picked up and left.
They happened to be anchored right near a spot I call "point rock" now, after Kirk and I caught so many the other day in front of that rock. And their leaving left the spot wide open now.
So I picked up the MirrOlure rod and made a cast up to "point rock" let the MirrOlure sink a bit and then gave it a twitch, and I GOT SLAMMED!!!! Something hit that MirrOlure hard and was peeling line down the jetty. This was the exact spot where I caught the 7 pound Speck on Monday!!
I worked the fish toward the boat, very easy. Never ever yank and crank on a possible Trout when on a MirrOlure. They have a way of throwing THREE treble hooks real easy, for some reason. I could see it now, it was a big ass Speck, and had my lure across it' jaws. I grabbed the net, eased the fish closer, and went for it.........SCOOP.....and my REDEMPTION was made!!
Holy crap, I was so happy. I did it, and I did it with one of the lures that I used yesterday with Rob, after cutting the DOA Shrimp off my line out of frustration. Which made this fish only sweeter. I grabbed the boga-grip and weighed it. An even, 6 POUNDS!
I grabbed my phone and called my buddy Jeff.
"hey Jeff, you won't believe what I just caught on that MirrOlure from right where you were just fishing......a 6 pound Speck!"
He was glad to hear something good was caught, because he left because it was so damn slow out there.
But, I stuck to it. And it felt good.
So I continued fishing back and forth with the MirrOlure and my Float-rig. The lure caught a few more aggressive but small Yellowmouth Trout, and the live shrimp on the float rig was catching nothing! Because I kept having Sheepshead eat my shrimp. My float would "bob", and my shrimp would be gone. So I went to the smallest shrimp I had in the well, and kept at it. And finally nailed me one on the float-rig.
A 6 pound
Sheepshead
"SIX" was my number, today.
I anchoring once. And had redemption just that easy. And it felt so good, too. The tide really slowed, so I moved on with 4 yellowmouth trout, my big Trout, one 15" Speck and the Sheepshead in the box. But I needed my limit. I eat a lot of Trout, so stocking up was the plan.
I pulled anchor or should I say, "pulled cinder block" .......By the way, I'm still using the first cinder block as a jetty anchor. I bought 5 because I thought I'd break it or loose it, but as it turns out, this 1/2 cinder black thing is really the way to go for me. Back to ole School. Because like many things in life, over complication is sometimes just that COMPLICATION! (see older report for Cinder Block anchor tutorial)
I tried jigging for a Black Drum for about 15 minutes, had one good fish on, but it got off somehow. Then went and Float-rigged a really good winter Trout spot, and caught 5 more trout, and kept 3 to fill my 5 Speckled Trout limit.
Then, headed back to the boat ramp, to clean my fish. So I can stare out the window at probably another nice day again tomorrow. A day I should be booked. But for some reason ya'll only want me to take ya fishing on windy, freezing cold days instead of perfect ones, like today!
I caught the tide perfect too. I wasn't even fishing till noon, and was done fishing at 4:00pm.
Not bad.
And what did I do when I got home?
I ate me some 7 pound Speckled trout fillets from Sunday's trip.
So when are we going Gator trout chasing? Reserve your charter for them quick, because in February it'll be all "catch and release".
