We left the dock good and early. The rain was falling, the skies were overcast with dark clouds all over, and the river was dead calm...but that didn't last long! After the rain passed, here came the winds, NE winds.
We had already rescheduled this trip from Sept. 20th. That day it was 25 knots from the east, and raining hard that morning, and when I made my way to the boat ramp to take a look. We would have been one of two boats out that morning. So rescheduling was a good idea.
But as luck would have it, today didn't seem that much better.
After the rain, the wind started blowing pretty damn good. And since I've been finding fish really close, we just stuck it out there all day.
We could have ran around trying spot after spot that was out of the wind, but why? This area was just as good as any of those, and better. Because I've been fishing here for two weeks.
I know the pattern. Only thing that's different is the advancement of the tide an hour each day and boat traffic .
H-A-R-D B-O-T-T-O-M = F-I-S-H, is an ole saying from my offshore bottom fishing days. And it still applies in the river too. Plus every morning the schools of bait come pouring through this area and with it comes flocks of birds. But right then, is when the current is the strongest. And I cannot even describe to you how hard it is to get anchored on this bottom, between the current, wind, and the concrete like river floor.
I must have anchored no less than 10-12 times! Add in all the inconsiderate weekend crowd, who come flying past you while hanging on your anchor by a thread. And there ya have it...getting waked, means having to re-anchor, once again. (Thanks, BELDAR)
On the high water it's always Ladyfish, a few Trout, Mangroves, and lost shrimp. But as the tide goes down I usually try out deep for some big Reds. We tried today. But between the wind and the wakes, my gut was telling me, "this is a waste of time." So back to the float-rig we went.
I can easily deal with the fishing and the hard bottom. But the wind and the weekend wakers, that's the challenge in this area.
But then all of a sudden, the other boats just went away. The anchor miraculously stuck good and we were into a bite of Yellowmouth Trout with a mix of Jacks and Specks, like last Thursday.
EVERY SINGLE DRIFT OF THE FLOAT-RIG WAS A BITE!
My crew was having a ball! And I just stood ready with the net.
I love this. It rivals the big bites I will be into of Yellowmouths & Specks come this winter at the Jetties.Same exact thing. But add in Reds and
Sheepshead then. When the water's cooler.
We didn't and usually do not get into GATOR sized Trout here. But that's okay. There's hardly a throw-back fish. Just good keepers up to 18-19 inches.
My crew put their limit in the box in a matter of minutes (12) Yellowmouths and a few Specks. Played with some Jacks in the high speed current on the small hooks. And then we just played catch and release, till all the shrimp (10) dozen were gone.
Basically, any day that we go out and burn every single shrimp in the live well, and some dead ones, on Trout is a good day no matter what the weather's like.
I always bring a lot of bait!
And I'm glad I stuck with it.
I could have moved, done more bottom fishing for Reds, float-rigged
some different spots. But it just didn't make any sense to me. We might have just been wasting time.
Finally, this week I have some
weekday trips. But then of course
Monday's supposed to be heinous.
But if we can switch to another day, later in the week. I believe we'll be okay.
As long as the "weather" starts to
clear out by Tuesday. Because I'll be out again Weds. Thurs. Friday, and Saturday. Pour me in a Dixie Cup, by Sunday!
I'd really start thinking about November, folks.
It's probably #1 on the list of favorite months. Because it's all about JETTY-TIME! Get a calm day, with a 2 passenger trip for versatility, and man ya' never know what can happen.
John and his wife went home today with a big ole bag O' fillets...Fish Fry! I hope they enjoyed a rainy, windy, weekend day, enough to come on back on a non-rainy, windy....weekday, sometime in the near future. Because this is just the start of my favorite season, fishing, and species.
