Dale always says, "Dave the weather will be perfect, don't worry." When he picks a day to go fishing with me. And he's basically right, each time. Last trip was back on April 11th. It was cool, foggy, and then the afternoon was beautiful. And we did well on big Trout then, when they were at the inlet. But that trip was "introduction to Float-rig fishing". Today was also beautiful, almost to beautiful (and I'll discuss that as I go along). And was "the finer points of Float-rig fishing" 101.
We left out good and early, prior to 7am. The plan was to casually hop from spot to spot. No high stress, no frantic fishing, just two guys out enjoying a day of hunting big Specks.
I had Tuesday still fresh in my mind. Which turned out to be almost the opposite of today.
WHY??
Tuesday, (my previous report to this one) was one of those days that I will not forget anytime soon. Cool, overcast, with storm clouds imminent almost all day. And with probably a serious barometer fluctuation...ALONG WITH SO MANY BIG TROUT (over 20"), IT WAS RIDICULES!
Today, was standard summer time kind of weather. Very warm, humid as hell, nice blue sky, no high winds, basically a Bluebird. On any given charter, the kind of weather we dream about.
Dale and I soft peddled our way around the river. Going by my gut instinct's. Which I go by 95% of the time. Because I know which spots should yield what, and when they don't we move on quickly. It's what I call the "ten minute rule"....give or take a few minutes.
Spot #2......"ah, this was nice." Dale set his depth flipped his float out behind the boat made a perfect drift and was rewarded with an over 20" Trout. A fat 22 incher to be exact, the first Trout of the morning. I.G. - instantaneous gratification! Which was nice. Because spot #1, let us down big time!!
And that's the way the day went. We had to work our tails off to find Specks under 20", for the fish box. Because I flipped my float out, and was also rewarded with an over 20" trout too.
"A bird in hand is always better than two in the bush", is an ole saying I'll always go by. Because you never know what the rest of the day could be like. So put those in the fish box, and if bigger ones come, just release them for next time.
That's the way the day went, after catching most of our fish at spot #2. We did real well there, considering it was a falling tide, really getting hot now, and my favorite tide to fish this spot is normally on the flood incoming tide. Go figure, go with the flow.
The spots that I thought won't produce, produced. And the spots I thought would, didn't.
Even though it was a really nice, hot humid day. Tuesday's weather was obviously perfect Trout weather. And I do find that when there is the slightest "bump" in the forecast, with out the day being a disaster weather wise, are great fishing days. And Tuesday's cloud cover, rain threat, and coolness was the difference between an all out waylay, and having to work a bit harder.
The day with Dale was a school day, and we caught really beautiful Trout, and released really beautiful Trout, with the emphasis on techniques and where to execute them. But the majority of the fish were caught just before the afternoon, and on the first of the falling tide.
I wanted Dale to get the BIGGEST ONE. So even though the best part of the bite was seemingly over, we continued our hunt. And while working a double whammy secret spot, I caught the largest Trout of the day a 24 inch 5 pounder. I love it and I hate it. I wanted Dale to get that fish! Just like when I caught the 10 pounder, I would have loved Dave Cohen who was with me that day to catch that fish, too. But they want me to fish....so I easily oblige.
Most of the Trout today were 17 to 24", and as hard as we tried to catch smaller fish, boxed 4 shy of our 2 person limit. We also had the "summer river variety package" too, a small Black Drum, Bluefish, Mangrove Snappers, a Toadfish, a Needlefish, Jacks, and Pinfish.
Our next scheduled trip is in June. We just may head to the jetties for a serious whopper; big Red, Tarpon or blacktip Shark or maybe even to the near-shore reefs for some butterfly jigging, in search of; Snapper, Grouper, Cuda's, King and Spanish Mackerel, what ever will eat a properly presented jig.
Back at the boat ramp, my friendly Egret showed up again. Along with many other marine foul.
But if this is the same Egret every time, it sure knows there's a softy on that Big Metal Boat. Because this bird always gets nice pieces of trout belly from me till it's completely full. And then just stands there watching me.
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The time is now if you'd like a nice box of fat Speckled Trout. I'd get while the getting is REAL
good. Plus I need someone to break in some new reels that should be here any day.
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If you have a small group, and would like to go butterfly jigging, on a drift fishing charter on the near-shore reefs. Call for details.
