Thursday, March 15, 2007
3/15 - Not a great day for the Speck Hunter...but rather the 'spot' Hunter
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
3/13 - A New Face & Giant Shrimp Vs. T-routz
Sunday, March 11, 2007
3/11 - Early Rising...Blurry eyed and Fogged
Saturday, March 10, 2007
3/10 - Late day falling tide, BLITZ
Took Tom W. out today for a late day falling tide whammo. The breeze from the N.E. was still up, but nothing like yesterday. Although it was still chilly.
3/9 - Cold & Windy, and a follow-up story.
More like, "an airborne attack from the North East, at 20 knots Skipper, should we drive up the sails??"
I was out early. And should have just stayed home. Because my heart just wasn't into it. It was a waste of shrimp and fuel for me today, I just wasn't in the mood for fighting the weather once again. It seems that's all I do any more.
At high tide I went and caught a bunch of small Trout on a MirrOlure on a submerged Mud flat, and that was about it. And constantly wonder why this spot never holds a single Trout over 14 inches, no matter what. So I'm Xing it off of my Map.
But, to FOLLOW-UP on a previous story....
I was catching zero, and ready to go home, by the tide got low'ish. And Nick who fished with me last week to get some "pointers & tips", comes on by in his 17' SeaChaser the Red Drummer.
We talk as I sat on a rock hard spot, with two lines out with light lead looking to get a Sheepshead bite...(waiting on the falling tide) in which I received zero. So Nick took off and went float fishing in a creek, and later called and said he caught an 18" Flounder. But his float rig wouldn't stand up for some reason. Since my power of observation is very keen, I noticed his big ole Float was too big for his trout lead when he came by earlier. I said, "Your floats to big for your lead, that's why....come over here and get a lead off me."
I was wanting to pack it up and go home. So Nick pulled up minutes later and I gave him a few weights to try. Because when Float rigging, your float must stand up straight, on the drift. (It's a trial and error thing, because 99% of the floats out there do not tell ya what size lead to use. The only ones that do are Salmon Stalkers, by Premier Plastics found in Cabelas.)
So, as Nick and I shot the bull for a few more minutes, I pointed to an area that he ought to try. I said, "You need to go over there.....and anchor up along that bank in 8-9 foot of water because if you don't I might." Since EVERYTHING....EVERYTHING lately is about the low tide, there ought to be some Trout in there.
So Nick takes off, and I go home. I get a call a a few hours later, while slopping together some thing that resembles a supper for myself. It was Nick, and he said he caught Trout, some small, some good keepers. I said EMAIL A PIC TO ME. And I'll do a follow-up story.
PICTURED ABOVE...a 25 incher. That has to be a 5 pound Gator Trout?
Man, was I happy for him, and sad I didn't go over to that spot I sent him too, myself.
But the point is, a day or two of "Coaching" can go a long way....a very long way. Although there was still some coaching going on today too, the guidance he received on our two trips together was worth their weight in gold. I hope, Nick is on his way to being a Full Time Float Freak now. He's got good tackle, he bought a G. Loomis Popping rod, and a Abu Garcia Chrome rocket reel. He's got a good fishing boat, that drafts no water, but has BIG water capabilities too. And now he's got an idea pf what to follow to find his own good spots, and get his own groove going.
And best of all, when he buys two dozen shrimp for a 1/2 day trip after work, he'll come home with Fish, not with two dozen shrimp still in his live well.
This is what a Private one person weekday charter can do for you. If you want to improve on your skills......FAST!
I get a lot of e-mails, and people think it's a magic spot, a magic day. There's no such thing as Magic, you have to learn to make your own magic. And that's called local fishing knowledge.
Or you can do what one guy does to me, and others. He follows me around all the time. His name I think is Doug, and we call him "the shadow". He knows just enough to be dangerous and maybe someday he'll get his boat shot with a flare gun and sunk at the jetties, if he keeps pissing people off. THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT.
Nick's another happy angler on his way to "float-freakdom". Now maybe he can teach me to play the Bongo's or something. Since he is drummer (percussionist).
Thursday, March 8, 2007
3/8/07 The Weather Guessers
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
3/7/07 - Another beautiful day.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
3/6- Wonderful weather.....You Choose.
Out wackin them like the GUZZINO BOYS last March.....or walkin' the nasty streets of Blizzardville?
Have ya'll looked outside???
Wind Direction (WDIR):
NNW ( 330 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD):
6.0 kts
Wind Gust (GST):
9.9 kts
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES):
30.35 in
Air Temperature (ATMP):
58.3 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP):
59.2 °F
Wind Chill (CHILL):
55.0 °F
SUN-LEVEL (fish-ability, and makes ya feel really good inside)
100%
C'mon people.....this is it. Don't call in July and think the inshore fishing is gonna be as good as it is right now.
Monday, March 5, 2007
3/5 - Figure this.....
Sunday, March 4, 2007
3/4-Blowing so hard there was seas in the creek
Friday, March 2, 2007
3/2 - Reschedules, New's Page, and Your replies.
(Capt Dave & Long Time client Ken Simpson pictured)
_____________
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
2/28 - Trout re-opens tomarrow! With a windy start.....
Monday, February 26, 2007
2/26/07 - A really fun day with Nick
That's why I waited till Monday to go fishing.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
2/22/07 - Making Trails, then big time rod bending
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
2/20/07 - Media General Corp. group charter
But, I had a 4 boat 13-16 passenger trip that headed out Tuesday. It was in the planning since back in October before I even got my new boat.
BIG problems though, as usual. NO LIVE SHRIMP were to be had. Except on my boat, because I run a shrimp farm in my live well most of the time.
With the weekends cold cold weather no shrimp could be caught, so a few of the boats had to just "wing-it". And go with mud Minnows or dead shrimp.
I know I had plenty so a few of the big-wigs jumped on my boat, for a 1/2 day of float rigging.
They told me, "Dave, we have a big pot going for largest fish...so put us on them."
Just what ya wanna on a February charter huh? So I was under the gun.
On the first spot, and only spot I had that would produce "I.G." - instantaneous Gratification", we were on Trout the first drift of the float!
Then came a few more. For I think it was (3) 17-19 inchers.
Then a few pup reds, and then a 29", 8.5 pound Redbass.
I said, "Here's your winning fish!" As one of the guys took 15 minutes to get it to the boat.
(the fella who hooked into it wasn't by now means a Roland Martin type fisherman)
And then I think we picked up another small pup red again...and that was it. This spot was OVER and DONE with.
But what did we have yesterday?? The lowest tide of damn near all of 2006 and 2007.
The ICW was 10' deep in the middle, the creeks went dry, and by the time we left out of where we were, the tide was so low I couldn't go anywhere else in a creek, or if I went in the river the current was so strong we couldn't fish.
So we spent our nickle on that one spot.
One other boat did really well tossing jigs and Gulp and Mud Minnows, and caught Reds, Trout, and a nice fat Flounder while using the trolling motor up inside Hannah Mills area.
Now we still have no shrimp at the bait shop, No fiddler crabs, just clams....and here comes the JOSFC Sheepshead tournament this Saturday. I'm a sponsor and may or may not fish it.
But I will trade my entry for 20 dozen live shrimp...anyone??
Monday, February 19, 2007
2/19/07 - After the big Blow
Gale force gusts, in conjunction with some nice strong tides made for 'NO' water as I went over the ICW-Wonderwood Bridge and looked over the side as I always do while going and coming from B&M bait and tackle. The "ditch" was dry! A heavy duty west wind and a very low tide, made for some big time exposed shoreline.
I had to hurry up and get to B&M because I no sooner get home and had to pro-cure bait for a Monday charter, that I booked while walking the Miami Beach Convention Center halls, with Sam Kennedy who called and wanted to go fishing with 3 of his buddies.
The rush to B&M bait and tackle was because when there's seriously cold (hard Freeze type weather) You can bet there was NO live shrimp delivery in days. The shrimp just bury up, and no one catch's any. So I hoofed it quickly over there to get some for Today's charter and Tuesdays charter. I have keeping them warm, comfortable and alive for days down pat, thru obvious trial and error of many years. My secret "a heating pad"....yep, the same thing you may use on a bum knee, with a good slathering of BenGay.
And ya'll think, us fishing guides just go get bait, because it's always plentiful and just show up to go fishing in the morning huh? Naw....it's far from that many days in the "deep" winter. Babying bait, rushing to get bait before it's all gone, having a really tight relationship with the manager of the bait shop, and getting up at 3am to check on them is all things I have to do. And I did a lot of it last spring when no one was catching many shrimp. And then there's those holiday weekends and live shrimp are scarce, and people call and have no idea what hoops I have toi jump thru to make sure we have bait to use. But all that is another story.
Today, after yesterdays huge blow. And not fishing since last Thursday. I couldn't believe how fast the tide moved out today. I picked up Sam and three of his buddies at 11:30am to fish the falling tide all day.
And we float rig fished to start. And one spot produced...even though the tide was great. Low tide in the late part of the afternoon, perfect timing for a chilly day.
We caught a bunch of what you see in the picture. Small "pup" reds. And them had a double header of a pupper and a 23 incher. Our only keeper fish of the day.
I tried some clams at the jetties and just plain bottom fished. Good ole Bait-N-Wait fishing.
B-O-R-I-N-G...as hell. And the 4 guys aboard would agree. We had a few "pecks" but no Sheepshead which was the target species. So we stayed at the jetties and went back to Float Rig fishing and caught way too many small bluefish. (We never got any brown water)
It wasn't the festival I was wanting, of course. But on a short notice trip, and me not knowing what the deal would be, we did okay and caught a few fish, most were just very small.
Now, tomarrow it's a company group charter, 4 boats.
Man was it a beautiful day today though, it remained cool, but the wind went away, and the sun was nice and bright.....the waters still very cold though.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
2/16-2/18 - MIAMI'S SOUTH BEACH
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW - If you've never been there, and you like "water-sports" you just don't know what you are missing. The largest boat show on Earth....and held in maybe the 2nd CRAZIEST place on Earth. Miami's South Beach. (First CRAZIEST place I'm assuming is New York City.)
You can read more about it on my web sites NEWS PAGE. Just click on the home page link here on the BLOG page and then go to NEWS.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
2/13 - Something was goofy....
Sunday, February 11, 2007
2/11 - Early bird gets a lot of FISH!
Ya gotta get up pretty damn early to beat this "4 minute kid" to the bait shop! 4 minute kid, because that's how long it takes me to get some live shrimp at the bait shop from my drive way, and then another 4 minutes to get to the boat ramp.
(Rest of the pics on my recent catch photo pages on my web site)
Sunday, February 4, 2007
2/4- SUPER FISH SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
2/3 - some tackle history...FYI
(I'd actually love to take a vacation and go to Woodland, Washington to the factory. And while there fish for Steelhead or Salmon on the local rivers. Ya' know they "float-fish" up there for those species! Plus hit Marysville, Washington where my 26' BlackLab Marine boat boat was built.)
I first became a Pro staff or Guide Program member for G. Loomis Rods about 5-6 years ago.
I remember always wanting a set of Loomis rods, when I was much younger. Because, G. Loomis for me was always thought of as an innovative company making high quality rods for specific anglers need. For specific fish, in specific places, for a demending angler.
Well, G. Loomis is celebrating it's 25th anniversary.
Here's a bit of history by Bruce Holt, who's been with the company since the beginning.
Gary Loomis has always been and will always be an avid outdoorsman. He is a unique individual. He is passionate, driven, opinionated and strong-willed. He is one of those individuals that hits the floor running and never slows down.Several years ago, he had a dream. He wanted to make the best ultra-light steelhead rod that money could buy and nobody in the world made anything close. As time went by, he refined his techniques and his rods and the next thing you know he started building blanks. Within a year or so, he started a blank company (Loomis Composites, Inc.) and a few years later, following a short hiatus from the fishing industry, he started making rod blanks under his own label...G.Loomis, Inc. That was January of 1982 and today, G.Loomis is recognized as one of the leaders in the fishing rod business, making very technical, high performance graphite rods for bass, walleye, trout, salmon, steelhead, bonefish, tarpon, redfish...well, you get the picture. In May of 1997, Shimano American Corporation purchased the company from Gary and today, it's bigger and better than ever. Gary still has an office here at the factory where he not-so-quietly takes on salmon fisheries issues © Copyright 2007 G Loomis, All Rights Reserved
Friday, February 2, 2007
2/2 - Bored to tears...large enough to surf. Cyber surf that is.
Had a charter call yesterday, for today.....(gotta love the late notice crowd) Yeah there was loads of planning going into that trip, huh?
It was blowing 25 knots yesterday and I looked at the weather that morning and today it was supposed to blow hard too. So I said to the guy, "I think the winds gonna be way to strong", but now of course it isn't.
So I was sitting surfing the web. And checked out Yahoo, to see my listing. Then, found where I come up in the search listings. Then saw a tab for "more information" so I clicked on it.
Soooooo, this is where people get all that old stuff from. I recieve calls all the time where people tell me they are looking at my web site and telling me that they see _____. When that stuff hasn't been on my web site in 8 years!!!
I'm not all that search engine savvy, but now I get it. And either is half the callers I get.
They click on anything that moves, obviously.
Well, I found VERY old archived pages of my web site. Now remember, I've had a web site before there was Google and Yahoo. My dad (35 years in the computer field) started me a one page web site, the minute the Internet was public. When was that....over 10 years ago??
Now look at the world wide web, huh?
I always say, "I had a web page back when web pages weren't cool!"
So of course I have many, many generations of web pages out there floating in cyber space.
That explains the "what are you looking at.....?" reaction you'll get from me when I hear your looking at a page from 10 years ago. Which today is ANCIENT history.
You may or may not notice I change things on my web site almost weekly. "I had a good teacher". I go in and tweek pages all the time.
But I found these from surfing around on Yahoo:
http://www.captdaves.com/Article.htm
You may find this a bunch or crappola, or interesting educational reading, as many did back in the day. But yes, I did have a complete articles page for a while. Because I did 6 years worth of monthly columns for the Jacksonville Fisherman Magazine. That's a lot of fishing stories.
That seems like a life time ago, now. When even the charter biz in Jacksonville seemed different. And I had such a "following readership" also. I guess the Internet kind of sterilized that kind of relationship between readers and writers. Now, there's too much out there. But still, here I am!
Cooking along, as a survivor.
Rusty, owner of B&M bait and tackle keeps asking me when I'm going to do a Newspaper article again, like in the Beaches Leader Newspaper. I tell him no one bothers to ask, and like the military it's all political, I'm sure. Plus, since my literary mentor is Tred Barta (back page of Sport Fishing Magazine, and author of The best and worst of Tred Barta, and host of his own TV show)
I may not always tell it the way people want to hear it either.....like Tred.
I'm an opinionated SOB, just like him.