Sunday, February 14, 2010

2/13 - Took the long road North


Before my good customer Kirk, who was just out with me on the 3rd goes back to Lima, Peru. We headed out again today. Today was actually our pre-planned day. The one I had wrote down in my book. But yesterday it looked really dim. Rain on and off, cold and just plain nasty. But we spoke at 7pm last night and decided, "why not go? It's not like we haven't fished in some of the worst weather imaginable before, over the years."  

Kirk's up for about anything. He's like I am. A day on the boat with rod in hand is better than about any day, doing anything else.

Plus, I had a plan. Or more like a destination in mind. You could almost say it was "chasing a report", sort of.  But, there's one thing I don't do. Chase someone elses reports, or chase a bite, that's supposed to be.
Because more often than not, it doesn't work out. But I did head due north, only because I haven't been to this particular locale in a long time. And with a 15-20 knot NW wind blowing, I just didn't want to fish the same ole places, today. I wanted to go some where a bit different. I get so bored fishing the same ole areas, county, and even the state. If you know me well, you know I would love to be fishing some place new at least 6 months out of the year.

Hawaii? That would be NEW! "Can I just tie off to your stern?"
















It was at least a 30 mile round trip. But we headed to an area where the bite of Trout and Reds are a sure thing if you're in a kayak........"Yeah, like I'm in a yak alright!" Could I get any further away from a Yak in my boat?  But, being one to believe that ya have to be ridgidly flexible here in N.E. Florida especially in the deep winter. I'll try about anything. At least we'll be way more comfortable than if we were yak fishing.

The tide was mega high and stayed that way for a long while. Made for easy getting into the creek we headed too. But crappy for fishing. We waited out the tide and let it fall out of the submerged grass as we sat anchored up in a 25 foot hole, with live shrimp on jig heads soaking on the bottom, in hopes of catching anything. It was burn your hands cold, the sun was blanketed with clouds and the wind was blowin'.

Not a sniff on the shrimp in the hole. So the tide finally fell out of the grass and we moved around, searching.
We fished cuts in the creek, behind sand bars. Working float-rigs, popping corks in shallows, jigs and plastics. ZERO.......
















Then, like a button was pushed. The clouds went away and the sun started to shine. At least it makes us feel a bit better. So we worked our way out of the creek and stopped along a straight stretch lined with oyster beds on each side. The current was weak as all hell, but we float-rigged it. Kirk and I both had something take our floats down, very half heartedly. The water temp was a balmy 48 degrees again as we sat in the 6 feet of water. With no consistant action, we moved on to another area at the mouth of the creek. Float fishing again, we drifted our rigs past a sand bar, and I got a take down and a missing shrimp. Kirk hit the same spot and came back with his hook mashed down. Hmm, looks like Mr. Sheepshead is in there. Nothing can smash a hook like a 7 striped jetty snapper. The tide died so we moved on out of the creek and over towards the Nassua sound bridge, on the way back.

Kirk caught 2 small Trout at the bridge spot, on the float-rig and shrimp. I don't really want to say LIVE shrimp, because they seemed dead. Lasting about 30 seconds on the hook before becoming very dead. It's been that way since the switch to the Gulf Coast Shrimp, and the extreme cold.
















And I even had a tug on a jig and saltwater assassin chicken on a chain, plastic shad. That's pretty pitiful when ya get excited when a fish yanks on the tail of your plastic bait! We could easily see which way this day was going. And then, I had that feeling.......just like I don't like chasing a report. I was starting to get that feeling of second guessing myself.
Which I hate. We should have just hung at the jetties, or worked some of the same places we fished last time.
Because this bite was gone. Maybe jigging at the jetties would have been alot more exciting?
No sense worry about it now, huh?

We tried along the ICW one more time and didn't have any current except the wind howling and blowing the boat around so we headed back to the dock.

Next time I'm out I'm gonna stick to my usual areas. At least the ride isn't as long and cold. That's one word I can't wait to be out of my vocabulary. I can't bring myself to sit and fish a fiddler crab for a Sheepshead, either. But we saw 3 guys in a small boat doing just that on the channel marker poles in the ICW. Guess they were scouting up them pole dancers, for the El Cheapo Sheepshead tourney at the end of the month.