Saturday, July 16, 2016

7/16 - Summer = S.E. Seabreeze, Bathtub water temp.

Had a call for a Saturday, but wanted to depart at noon or 1:00pm.

NOT A GREAT IDEA

Where am I supposed to park on a weekend at the time?  On a Saturday?

Then, it'll be windy. Not to mention maybe "stormy", and so dang H-O-T!

Common sense says DEPART as early as possible.

I do 7am depart, back by 1:00pm

And many people can't handle that.

Last few trips: 

Run & Gun fishing behind the Shrimp boats has been super "I.G" - instantaneous gratification!!!!!!!
Problem I have is all the Sharks have been small the last few trips. No 100 pounder type Blacktips.
You're supposed to be joining the 100 pounder club, when doing this.

The sharks have been on the small side, and I even "dropped down" the size of the tackle used, because of it.  Yeah people have a great time battling these 3-4 footers. But the real excitement comes with a high flying Blacktip or Spinner Shark that's a 6 foot plus and weighs in at a hefty 100 or more pounds.






















































I have plenty of video of the larger sharks. But not many this summer as summer's past.



THE MAYPORT JETTIES:

It really depends on the T-I-D-E you get according to the day Y-O-U pick.  You can always "consult" me about best dates........"But really, who's actually gonna ask me?"  NO ONE!!!

I prefer a rising tide while we're out there. Bringing in cooler cleaner green Ocean water, versus hot dark brown water. But heck, that's just me. Your fishing guide!























Species lately, on all kinds of tides:
-Redfish
-Black Drum
-Jacks
-Ladyfish
-Seabass
-Croakers
-Whiting
........more Sharks and Rays.

















Yep, just the other day we had 4 Black Drum, 2 were decent fillet'ables. And this was with some guys who really weren't "avid anglers" by no means. We picked thru the Junkfish, but persistence can get you some decent pup Black Drum. Not super whoppers. But then again, super Whoppers aren't as good eaters.

The Whiting size has dropped off significantly. Back in April & May they were huge.  Croakers of all sizes are out there, except the giants.  We actually caught many Croakers that were the perfect GATOR Trout sized baits.  But it took hours to do so, if you were to get enough to then try them for any Trout.

WORKING HARD TO KEEP LIVE SHRIMP IN THE SUMMER HEAT:

This took planning and strategizing, and many hours rigging up in my HOT garage with the fan blowing on me at maximum warp speed.




















This is a 26 Qt. FROSTBITE cooler from Icey-Tek, with a hole drilled in it, in a strategic spot, mounted my 12V Double Bubble aerator to the side of the cooler with my Weld-bond epoxy & fasteners, lengthened the wires, and covered them with shrink wrap. And the Orange ammo box houses two 12V emergency exit light batteries (one as a spare) found on Ebay or Amazon for $16-$18.00. And now I have a "highly" insulated live bait tank to house those precious, expensive, LIVE Shrimp.   I plan to add a divider in the middle of the cooler, along with a thermometer, also. It's small and light, so I can change out the water easily.  With HIGH hopes that even tucked under my leaning post will help keep the water cooler, in the shade.

On certain trips I'll be re-introducing FLOAT RIG FISHING, along with using my new Spinning reels for Jig-N-Shrimp fishing. And of course I'll carry the trusty bottom fishing tackle.

 I pretty much just gave up on Float-rigging, because of the lack of any serious Trout at the Jetties. But I don't care. I will try other places, along with trying around the rocks.

JUST FOR ACTION!!

I remember years when it was JULY, and we float-rigged the Jetties and had 12 Flounder from 3-7 pounds!!!   On live Shrimp.  That hasn't happened since. But ya never know. And I don't mind trying with a 2 person charter.  

One July, fishing the Float-rigs in the rain we even got into these shiny "hub caps".















Of course, these are always the #1 fish when Float-rigging with Live Shrimp!!
We had (4) beauties like this "just off the beach" around Nassau Sound many moons ago. The same day we had the (12) Flounder at the jetties in JULY.  Guess that was back before "Global Warming"

W-O-W, have things changed.