Thursday, May 28, 2015

5/28 - Nick & Ted's BIG adventure!






















After catching Whiting for "cut bait".



























Heck we even had fun catching bait, but these would be better, I bet.






















First few 22-30 pounders....









































Action wasn't steady at first....this is a "patience game".









































DOUBLE HEADER, THEN ONE GOT OFF.....





















40 PLUS POUNDER

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

5/27 - Unboxing "Daiichiseiko DS" Fishing Line Recycler with Capt Dave




I said I was getting one in a earlier post......I don't mess around!

Sunday, May 24, 2015

5/24 - NEW #5 OPEN EYE SWIVELS are here!

less terminal tackle is more terminal tackle.....is what I always say.

connect this swivel to your spoons, spinners, hooks or rigs and
NO MORE STUPID SPLIT RINGS!!!
















#5 - 30 pound swivel
                                      each comes in 20 paks!
#7- 60 pound swivel

number 7 is a 1/4 larger and better for larger lures.

No more split rings needed to get a swivel on a lure, hook, spoon or rig.

CHECK THEM OUT ON MY EBAY PAGE......GET FREE SHIPPING ACROSS THE USA.




MY EBAY PAGE LINK

SOME RIGS I MAKE FOR "DEEP JIG FISHING" WITH MY SLAB SPOONS IN THE ST. JOHNS RIVER FOR REDFISH, TROUT, JACKS, ETC.






































USING A 60# OPEN EYE SWIVEL AS A TIE POINT, AND ANOTHER IN CONJUNCTION WITH A OPEN EYE SIWASH HOOK, I MAKE MY OWN VERSION OF A "INSHORE" BUTTERFLY JIG, WITH A TOP MOUNTED HOOK THAT SWINGS, SO I CAN ADD EITHER FISHBITES OR A POWERBAIT TAIL TO THE HOOK FOR ADDED  SCENT AND ATTRACTION. THE FISHBITES MELTS AND FLUTTERS 
















AS DOES THE POWER-BAIT, WHEN I JIG THIS ALONG THE JETTY ROCKS OR ANY STRUCTURE IN THE ST. JOHNS RIVER........PLUS IT SNAGS "LESS".

FLUTTERING, DURING THE JIGGING MOTION, PLUS SCENT, PLUS MORE ATTRACTION. IF NO ONE HITS THIS, IT'S BECAUSE THERE'S NO AGGRESSIVE FISH WHERE I'M FISHING!


GET THEM ON EBAY

Friday, May 22, 2015

5/22 - Most interesting day with Pat from Kentucky

Well, everything started off normal.....we beat feet down river to my Redbass ledge, and set up with cut Mullet out the back of the boat in what was the absolute last minutes of the falling tide.

We stood there on the back deck just a chattin away when from behind me one of the rods just doubled over wit the line screaming off my Fin-Nor 30 Sportfisher reels.

It was game on......BIG "R.B." - aka: Redbass, Redfish, Red Drum





















at least a 35 pounder. Pegged the 30 pound Bog-Grip scale.


























Okay, the tide now is about dead, time to head to the jetty rocks at the inlet and do some "JIGGIN".
With these kinda jigs. Not lead headed jigs. But short fat "vertical jigs" with a swinging hook that I fashioned myself. I've been slab spooning for a while. Well why not vertical "butterfly style" jigging at the jetties?  Why not?


























I believe these ar a ounce and a half, are chrome hammered style Butterfish jigs that normally would have a hook on the bottom end. But I made the single swinging hook. Add a bit of FISHBITES on the hook part as flavor and offshore it's a "mini" deadly, Micro Jig!

So we pulled up to the inside of the north jetty as the clean ocean water poured around the rocks. Had a perfect anchor and a perfect current. We grabbed the heavy action Tiger-lite Ugly Stiks, matched up with high speed 6:1 Daiwa Saltist 20 HC levelwind reels. Dropped over the jigs and for Pat it was an instant hook up on a Ladyfish. Then another....."good, I needed to re-stock my cut bait for the rest of the weekend."

Then, Pat starts vertical jigging just off the bottom again.....Monster hook-up!  And then we see it a 3 foot across MANTA RAY is leaping thru the air. Puts up a hell of a battle. But is it actually "mouth hooked"??? Or just snagged.

NOPE, it was mouth hooked and ate the jig.


































































This picture was after I took the hook out of it's upper lip. Very unhappy, it swam away just a little "worse" for the wear.

Next, I had a Redbass hook up on the jig. And got a royal ass handing! Breaking off my jig in the rocks. I only knew it was a redbass, because it fought just like this one. Which ate the vertical jig, gave a great fight, and was exactly 27 inches.....so it ended up in the cooler.















  


























It was Pat's turn again....this time he set the hook the rod bowed over like a horse shoe and didn't budge,,,,,"at first". And then started to move away and guess what he hooked this time, squarely in the corner of it's mouth?

Yep, a Loggerhead Sea Turtle ATE his jig as he vertically jigged it off the bottom at the base of the jetty rocks.  If you look real close you can see the jig in it's mouth.















































I hand-lined the Turtle over to the side of the boat and it let me reach down and snatch the hook out of it's beak, without much fuss.

The tide was rushing in and I had a few more spots to hit, so after awhile we picked up and moved.
Which in hind-sight we shouldn't have, because the next two spots we real duds.  And we laughed about it later that if we stayed at that spot, maybe Pat could have hooked up a Manatee, or a Dolphin, next with his jigging technique.

And in all reality, we should have stayed right there and seen if we could pick off a few more Redbass.

I was just so happy that my jigs worked, and that they don't even snag up in the jetties all that bad when the hook is free swinging.  This won't be the last time I take those Micro-jigs with my home made "butterfly style " swinging hook out to the rocks for more combat.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

5/18 - New Moon, what a bitch!





ALL DAY.......just Sharks!  And one 1/2 dead Redbass.

LIVE BAIT equals Unbelievable Shark bites in the river.

Best bait so far for big Reds, on the Jettywolf?
CUT 1/4 pound chunks of Ladyfish.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

5/16 - REDFISH EATER to REDFISH battles (7)

                                       5/16 - JETTYWOLF REPORT
Super great day on Saturday. Left the stiff Eastward breezes to the offshore crowds, while we went up in the river and caught Ladyfish and Blues in the morning at high tide. Then went "whackin the Bulls".......and "got worked over by a Bull?"
7- Reds from 45 lbs. plus (scale finally broke)
1-7 foot Redfish eating shark (up in the river!) pics don't do this man=eater any justice! took a hour and a 1/2 to get boat side.
Even caught a Redfish that had survived a Shark attack.
a "who let those dawgs out!!" kind of day. What FUN.
MANY...."Double-headers", which was GREAT.
Today, "size did matter!"





































Friday, May 15, 2015

Jacksonville Fishing with Capt Dave



FOR LOCAL PICK-UP, CALL OR EMAIL ME AT:

Charter@captdaves.com
(904) 642-9546

Even larger sizes coming soon!

5/14 - JACKSONVILLE REDFISH HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, May 14, 2015

5/14 - CHECK IT OUT!

"ON EBAY"

#7 "Open Eye", rolling swivels - No more split rings!
















JUST PINCH CLOSED, ADD TO JIG, LURE, OR SMALL HOOK
number 7 open eye rolling swivels, 20 bulk paks!!

NO MORE STUPID SPLIT RINGS ON YOUR SMALL LIGHT TACKLE LURES, SPOONS OR RIGS.

I ADD THESE TO MY "SLAB SPOONS" WHEN JIGGING WITH EXCELLENT RESULTS.

MANDATORY WHEN USING "SPINNING TACKLE".  STOP THE SPIN, AND NO SPLIT RINGS ADDING BULK AND MORE "BS" TO YOUR LIGHT TACKLE PRESENTATIONS!!!!!!!!
















Small 30 pound test open eye swivels, just pinch closed on your rig, lure or hook and go fishin'. Want extra security? Add a drop of super glue where the pinch comes together. But not absolutely needed. I don't bother doing that.
















Here's where I add them to the front of my "slab spoons" when jigging the river or jetties. Especially, if I have someone using a "spinning reel".

NO ADDITIONAL RIGGING....usually there would be the need for a split ring for attachment of a swivel.

NOT ANY MORE!

















CHECK THESE OUT ON EBAY, OR JUST ASK ME ABOUT THEM
CHARTER@CAPTDAVES.COM IS WHERE YOU CAN EMAIL ME.
PAYPAL ACCEPTED

20 PAKS

$8.00

THE RULE OF THUMB IS; "THE LESS TERMINAL TACKLE THE BETTER"










5/11 & 12 - River Channel, deep fishing & Jetty Slab Spoonin















Sunrise at boat ramp























Caught a nice "flattie at the dock waiting on customer, with a 1/2 oz Crippled Herring Jig.















42 pound Redfish for Richard, first thing. Then, the Sharks found us!




















Richard caught this weird fish in the river. It's large! And after some research it's a Oceanic Puffer fish. Never seen on in the river ever before.















After many a bite, lost tackle, bit leaders, lost fish in the river we went to the inlet and he caught this 28 inch Redfish along the rocks.  Not huge amounts of fish to the boat. But loads of action.  The Sharks have really shown up on the Bull Redfish spot. That was 1/2 the reason. Then the wind blew really bad by 11am, which made everything difficult.

The next day, alot less winds, much nicer and out of at least 8 hook-ups in the river between Bull Redfish and Sharks we got ZERO to the boat, and even had a broken levelwind on a reel. The hook-up's were so intense that I brought the intermediate Sharkin' gear, added 400# mono leaders, and would you believe then nothing would bite those baits?????  What the hell....and the bites that we did get on the big gear, the "whatever" wouldn't really commit, 100%. They'd pick the baits up and then drop them.

Bait of choice was large chunks of Ladyfish. And we even tried jumbo dead shrimp.

We gave up......and went to the jetties and jigged the rocks with a Slab spoons and Nick caught this 33" Redfish and it kicked his butt, really bad.






















Getting after targeting these BIG fish isn't always so easy.

As I said about the Bull Redfish, the longer the spring / Summer presses on the harder it can get. Soon enough we'll be dealing with huge stingrays on the bottom, let alone Sharks eating our Bull Redfish.

""VIDEO COMING SOON""























So......I believe I'll concentrate on lighter tackle fishing, and give that Heavy Duty deep river channel fishing a break for awhile.