Of course, I would have liked to see at least a hint of breeze to keep the heat down a little. But that would have been a luxury. Rick wanted "keeper" fish. But unfortunately, this isn't the time of year for keeper Reds.
The last few small ones I have caught was weeks ago at the Jetties and barely were over 18 inches.
I didn't find any Pogies, and didn't want to waste time searching high and low for them. I carried bait in my cooler, just in case we had to use it. Because I'm on a real time line. Ignore the tide and it just ticks away while you're out screwing around.
So we headed into the river and caught some large Reds. After using dead shrimp to catch some small Croakers and Spots. The small Croakers are better than a live Pogie is, in my book. Evidence was when the tide turned and started coming in, and the boat swung. We put away the light rods, grabbed the heavier tackle. I pinned on a small live Croaker, pitched it out and it sat on the bottom maybe 2 minutes and the rod bent over and the line ripped off the spool.
Big Reds are like looking a gift horse in the mouth, in my book. They provide great action. And n the fall, during the spawn season, I get people from all over the country come to catch these fish. But when it comes to "keepers"....take all complaints up with the Florida Conservation Commission. (http://www.myfwc.com/)
There was a lull in the action after boating a few, loosing a few, and having lots of rod bobbing. Because the tide was ripping and I was up to an 8 ounce sinker already. So I picked up and headed back to the jetties to see if we could find some smaller Reds. But that was a waste of very valuable tide. Because there wasn't any current out there at all, and nothing but small Seabass were caught.
A-C-T-I-O-N....is the name of the game on a 100 degree day. So I left and went back to the same area of the river and anchored up where there was actual "current". And no sooner did I get out 4 lines, and we had a "Double header".
In the dog days of summer, I believe this is some seriously good action. Just wish we could have done more of it, instead of wasting time looking for "keepers" at the jetties. It's Capt Dave's "Sport Fishing" for a reason. Now, in the cooler months, it's all about fish in the box. And believe me, I can't wait for summer to be over myself. I've had enough of the heat. And have day dreams of a cool late November day float-rig fishing along the jetty rocks, for big fat Specks.
