Depart just after 7am. Fish just a certain area of the river. And use only lures...preferably just a DOA shrimp. At least, that's what DOA Rob uses. That's how he got the name. People only wish they could catch the amount of fish he catches on that lure. Probably almost as Mark Nichols, the inventor.
I've caught alot of fish on them too. But I'm not as spacific as Rob. I'm just as happy with a 1/4-3/8ths oz. jighead with my favorite soft plastic pinned on it, the Creme Litl' Fishie.
What is a DOA Shrimp? Here's a color chart: http://fishnutsblog.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/doa_shrimp.png
How to fish a DOA Shrimp? Here's a link with some tips: http://www.paddle-fishing.com/fos/articles/doashrimp.htm
What the heck is a Creme Lit'l Fishie? http://www.cremelure.com/store/store_product_detail.cfm?Product_ID=52&Category_ID=2
We weren't on the spot 10 minutes when Rob had already lost 2 nice Trout at boat side. The only problem with a DOA shrimp is that Trout do alot of head shaking, and do it on the surface. And the lure goes a flying..... Ripping a hole in their delicate mouths. And the DOA Shrimp, has one large hook and it's obvious the lure can get thrown, very easily.
Mean while, I worked straight through my DOA Shrimp with only a few bump-bumps. And was on too the Litl Fishie on a 3/8th oz. jighead. And finally was now catching a few Trout. No whoppers. Never have caught whoppers on a Litl' Fishie, for some reason. Rob boxed a few, and lost a few more. He was definately getting more bites. So we joked about that poor ass amateur that has to stand in the back of those Bassboats while the "Pro" stands up on the bow running the trolling motor catching all the good fish. During those Bass tournaments on TV. Well that was me.....but I kept getting right behind Rob and doing my best to get "better" casts off.
It didn't take long at all that we had our 10 keepers in the box, all nice Trout up to 20 inchers, and a small Flounder and Mangrove Snapper.
I bounced between two rods. One rig with a just a soft plastic, and the other a shorter rod, and a Shakespeare $23.00 bait caster I got off Ebay. A graphite framed reel called an Axium, that has a magnetic spool control. I was very impressed. I just got the reel the other day, and for the sole purpose of having a super light weight reel on a super light weight rod for plug casting all day. This little low profile reel is really damn nice for the price! If it wasn't for the price, I would have never even thought about it. But let's just say these Axium reels from Shakespeare can sure cast, once ya get the "mag" set up, just right.
I put a small shallow diving "slash bait" on, called a Bite-a-Bait. Which has been a good trout lure for me in the past...even though I'm a MirrOlure man, 90% of the time. But right now, seemed to be one of those times it should work. I was wizzing this little lure at the spot and got slam dunked by at first what I thought was a GIANT Trout, then I thought it was a Redbass, then I yelled to Rob......"It's heading toward the structure", we caught a glimpse of it. The light weight Axium reels drag just peeled, and was very smooth too as.......up popped a Grouper! A Gag Grouper.
It was the largest inshore/river Grouper I have ever caught. At a full 21 inches of pure bad ass!! And what a surprise, too. In a whopping 8 foot of water along some serious nasty structure...But the Shakespeare reel did it's job and I was surprised. Heck, If I find more $23.00 Shakespeare reels like this one. I'll get a few more.
What the hell.
We eventually started to loose our falling tide. And the bite dropped to near nothing. But Rob lost a few more and caught a few more, while I think I only caught one more. So we headed in, after about 20 Trout between us both. The agreement was to be done by noon. And we were now done, it was 11:30am. One spot mornings.....ya' gotta love it!
What a great trip. That's what winter days are supposed to be like. Because it's the best inshore fishing of the year. People that believe that in the heat of the summer, is the time to inshore fish in J-ville sure do have it wrong. I've been preaching that to my potential and regular customers for years. Some hear my sermon, some don't pay any attention. Well, they're probably the ones that don't read my daily reports, either.
One more time.......Now, is the time to book your inshore/river charter. Because it doesn't get much better, here in N.E. Florida.
Wednesday, I have "Traveller Bob" on board, from N.C.
I think I know where I'll be fishing.
---------UPDATE: of course it is nasty and raining. So Traveller Bob and I will hit the river Thanksgiving day instead. Oh how is the weather really screwing me over these days-----------
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