Wednesday, December 29, 2010

12/29 - F-U-N with Shawn & Joe

Well, it was my first day back on the river since the heinous winds and burning cold of last Thursday. Quite a un-wanted vacation over Christmas. I'd just as soon be fishin'.

But today made up for it. Yes, it was down right "nippy" as we departed the dock this morning at 7am. Had Shawn from J-ville and his poppa-in-law Joe for Pa. aboard today. We bottom fished the Jetties (inlet), doing the ole winter time "KISS" fishing. Get anchored up on a good spot and drop down some plain ole dead jumbo dead shrimp. Of course the goal was some Black Drum. But a Sheepshead or Redbass would be nice too. And we caught neither. Just Drum, and a few Seabastards...I mean small seabass.

Hmmmmmm...where is the variety? Just a few weeks ago it was all the variety you could stand. To include MONSTER MAULER sized Reds. That's 3 trips now, with no variety along the rocks.

So as we were anchored, the bite was slow. And a Coast Guard Cutter's wake knocked us off anchor, as we sat perfectly where I wanted to be. Which comes with the territory, I guess. Then, afterwards I played hell trying to re-anchor with my cider block. The tide started to scream, hard.

It was a 4.7 foot falling tide. So it had the right to run hard today.

But we prevailed. "It's not how ya start it's how ya finish". is what a long time customer Dave Cohen taught me, last time he was aboard my boat in early December, after catching that 45 pound Redbass!. So as we had some good laughs, we waited out the fish.
 




















Look at Joe. Does he look as if he's ready to kick this Drums ass one more time?

Didn't notice that look of his until I was sizing the photos.  That may just be the look of Joe having a good time....."we hope so."

He had his "Salt Life" sweatshirt and fishing hat on. So I knew, he was ready.

It was BEAUTIFUL out there today. Light and Variable winds, sunny skies. Slick calm water.

We just needed a faster and more furious bite.
But beggers can't be choosers. Heck, since last week it's been 25 degrees and winds up to 40 MPH. So I was'nt wanting to complain to loudly.





















Shawn, now he looks like a Florida fisherman.
Big Jacket and yeah, he even looks cold.

Smiles? I gotta remember to ask for them. I think I gotta remember to have people, say...."CHEESE".

Good eating size Drum, for sure. I love to blacken these on a white hot, iron skillet. But that's to be done only outside. And by the time I get home and ready for the next day, the last thing I wanna do is go back outside on my porch, and cook up fish.

After fishing dinners for me, are fast and very simple. Hell, I have reports to do, right?




















I'll be honest with ya'. The first three Drum the guys caught were barely 12 inches. Yeah, for some reason the litl' babies were the first responders to our pieces of jumbo juicy shrimp on the bottom. They count, but at the same time, they didn't count. Ya know what I mean...

















Yep, Joe's holding a grudge against this drum. Maybe we should have re-hooked him and let Joe kick his butt again!  But this sure is a nice photo, isn't it? Good looking fish, granite jetty boulders, against a pretty blue sky. Finally, my crappy camera is taking decent photos. Maybe it knows it's going to be replaced tomarrow when the UPS man shows up.





















On Light Tackle these fish are a blast. People ask about Sharks, Tarpon, and those super glory fish. But many times they need to watch out for what they wish for. Especially if their largest fish is a 2 pound Bass. This is the kind of fishing, I like and I like to show my customers. I have all summer to play chase for some monster Glory Fish, in the 100 degree heat.

The correct tackle for the species leaning towards the light side makes all fish, relative. A nice Black Drum or large Redbass on light tackle, 45 feet down on the bottom is a fun catch. Just like a 5-6 pound Speckled Trout is on my light, Float-rig tackle.

It's all relative......  















The tide stated to change. So we went float-rig fishing for Trout. So to mix it up alittle.

We got on  a good spot with clean, clear green water and good flooding current. And caught about 6 Trout. And everyone was either 14 or 14-1/2 inches long. Termites in my book. They have to be 15 inches to be keepers.

But at least Shawn and Joe got to do two kinds of fishing today. And the longer we tried, the trout got no longer. So with a fish box full of Black Drum 22-26", we headed in, "to make the donuts", as I say.

I had a great time with Shawn and Joe. Hope to have them back again, someday. Shawn's wifes Christmas cookies with the Hershey Kiss on top, were GREAT. I ate the whole bag!


Next up:  Thursday and Friday.

Then don't forget, B&M bait and tackles - New Years Day Party & fish fry. I'll see ya there.