7/25-26 Summer's Pinnacle.....

Last week was a "marker" for me. Because I see the photos everyday of different summers, as I shuffle through my thousands of fish pictures on my computer. Comparing then to now, isn't all that healthy of an activity. Let me tell ya'. It makes for second guess-itis. Because some summers seem as if I was in a whole different world.

In bazzarro world nothing is ever the same. At least not the things I look forward too.

One thing that's the same is the Algae bloom in the river once again......yeah, crap like that is always the same in that poor river during the summer.

But last weekend like many summer weekends we struggled to catch enough decent fish. So what's the difference between right now and what was going on in this photo??


















Obviously a WHOLE LOT!!! Yep, that was 7/14/07.

HUGE difference, huh?
The secret was then, and probably now also, is "GET OUT OF THE RIVER!!!"
These fish above, in this photo came from no where near the St. Johns River.

This weekend I worked really hard and this weekend's fruits of our labor, were some Trout to 19" and lots of 14 inchers with Don M. and Jamie and Eric on Saturday. We finished up our 12 dozen live shrimp with Mangrove Snappers about 12 of them to 16".


















It's just not my kind of summer when Mangrove Snappers make for the majority of the catches and the fish in the box at the end of the day. I want better and more that Mango's!

But, then on Sunday I had Ray L. Sr & Ray Jr. along with Ray Jr.'s friend. In the morning we fished the river for zero. That's where we had strings of algae on our lines and plenty of the particulates of it in the water. NOT GOOD!

We ended up at the jetties where Ray Sr. lost a Speckled Trout along the rocks .(WOW, Speck #2 at the jetties so far this summer) lots of small Jacks, and then finally one that was big enough to put up a fight. And then later we ran out of 12 dozen live shrimp after catching about 10 Mangrove Snappers for the fish box.






















I'm going again on Tuesday and Wednesday. And I'm thinking....."NOT in the St. Johns River".

When we reach this time of year. I believe the river gets to where it's begging for a summer flush. Usually Tropical Storms or passing Hurricanes take care of all that.


You'd think that the astronomical tides we're having right now would flush that river. The New moon tides this month are some serious ones. Upwards of 5.5 feet of water movement in 6 hrs. Hope things are better afterwards. I'll be able to tell.

Looking forward to fishing some where else for a change. In less than 30 days, I'll be heading to Venice Louisiana for a week. Totally different enviroment over there, thats for sure. I'm so excited!!

And Tuesday 7/28 , we'll be talking techniques at Dick Wings on Beach Blvd. Come on by, the topic is Float-Rig Fishing. Need more info: email me or call.