8/17 - Fishing, before back to school.

Had Joe Eulberg and daughter Rachel aboard today. As soon as I turned away from the boat ramp, I had a good feeling......The wind was "crisp" from the south direction. Then as I made my way to the jetties. My suspicions were confirmed. YES... FINALLY SOME GOOD WIND!

I do not like my jetty spots when the water's slick calm. That's one thing about fishing the jetties, it's always better when being stirred up......"stirred, not shaken, please." It gets the fish out hunting, rather than what ever they do when the water's calm, dull, and boring.

So I got Joe and Rachel going on the big Floats. The 2 ouncer's, with a 2 oz. lead on heavier rods. Because "ya never know this time of year what ya may hook-up with", so I don't want anyone caught with their pants down, and not enough tackle. Plus in the slopppy conditions in which we were anchored, it's best to go with a heavier lead, a larger float, so you get a more perfect vertical presentation with your float-rig. Versus my usual set-up which is a smaller float rigged to a 1 ounce lead.

First fish was Joe's, a keeper Mangrove Snapper about 13" inches. Then he hooked a perfect Redbass at 24", then as the tide slowed and started to turn on the bottom, he set the hook on the TARGETED SPECIES! Flounder. A nice 2 pounder. Then we had a double header with Rachel on two identical Jacks. Then afterwards, his float disappeared and he set and lifted a 6 pound Flounder off the bottom and into the waiting net.

I was happy. Targeted species now in the fish box...."LET'S GET SOME MORE!"

But the seas were kickin' and we slid back on the anchor out of where he caught the flatties. Rachel just 10 years old called them Pan Cake's. I re-anchored but the only thing we mustered was a lot more Mangrove Snapper bites.....the ultimate bait stealer.

So I tried one more spot along the rocks. "The pocket". And wow, my anchor held! A spot where no one in his right mind, other than someone like me would have put their boat, in this sea. But I had to give it a try. And my anchor stuck good, as we made a few drifts to see if there was a flat fish up in there. Even though there's peices of a boat (thin plastic) that got crushed up in the rocks a few weeks ago, right there. I have a little more confidence. The one that hit the rocks a , looked to be made out of a Clorox bottle or something, because you can see the thin fiberglass laying up in the rocks. Hmmmm...

After anchoring absolutely perfect in the sloppy 3 foot seas into the "pocket", we didn't get any more Flounder, so I moved into the river.

I pulled up to an area that's either a Redfish or a good sized Jack spot. And instantly Joe got slammed and handed some azz, on his first drift into the submerged rocky point. He pulled hard, let the fish run out of the shallow rocks and got himself a good sized Jack about 5-6 pounds.

A tad different pull from an "El Toro" fish than Joe's past Walleyes he's fished for up in Minnesota. I'd bet, NO fish can pull as hard as a Jack, pound for pound. And the sweet-water folks would have a heart attack if we could catch those 2o-30 pounders in the river on light tackle. Man. I'd love that!! The 5-6 pounders are tough enough, when making drag burning runs in shallow water around rocks.

We only picked up that one Jack, so I just moved 100 yards and tried an area down tide that had a lot of fish busting the surface. Rachel reeled in some Ladyfish and small Jacks. And as she was taking a break in the big deck chair up on the bow of the boat, I used her rig and sent out a new shrimp. The float was set shallow and my shrimp came to the surface, and right before the float went down, Joe and I saw a small Tarpon roll up on my float and eat my shrimp! But when the float went down, I came tight and there was no fish there.....and I was missing the shrimp.

Tarpon in the river in Mayport, there has been a few sightings lately. And this was my first "sort of" hook-up in the river in Mayport.

Overall a good day with some quality fish. Thanks to a good wind from a good direction.

Joe and Rachel were my last pre-booked day with any kids on the boat. I hear school starts on Monday. So I guess the rush will be over. But that doesn't mean you can't reserve a quality charter for yourself or some buddies, for Sept and October. Do it in advance. Tides are gonna be really important come Sept and Oct. We start working our way into to some of the highest high tides and lowest low's in the fall.

My favorite time of year is getting closer and closer.

8/15 - Jr. Anglers Day

Had Gene Bednarek his son Jackson and his buddy Avery. The two boys were each about 8 years old, and at 6:30am promptly jumped on the Captdaves.com boat and we headed north to the "sound". It was a nice ride. I went to where the beach along Big Talbot island runs straight into the sound. The same place where on the 8th we hooked up a Tarpon while Whiting fishing.

First hook-up: A Ray, that Avery and I battled to the boat. (My assistance was needed)

The second fish was a decent Whiting, a keeper Pompano and a few Ladyfish hook-ups. But I was disappointed already with the action, wondering where were the bites? So we moved around, as you must do in the Sound.

We picked a fish here and there. Catching some

small Pompano and a nice sized Bonnethead
Shark. But man, where was the Nassau Sound

I know and love?

Ohhhhhhh.....I forgot, it's the summer doldrums!

Where 87 degree water is the rule. So all I could do was keeping making some moves.
I wanted "beach" Whiting for the boys in big

numbers, those larger

"silvers" if I could. Not those 5" "boat" Whiting, that I call "lil' Brownies.

So I'll give myself an 'A' for trying and trying!

I moved around and kept searching.

We eventually ended up at the tip of Amelia Island. My "beach Trout spot", and pitched out our cut pieces of shrimp and caught some Spadefish, but just one big one. The rest were small, the size of a bluegill. And the bait stealing from whatever was relentless!

Avery was our "green" fisherman, only

participating in maybe 1/2 the day.

The rest of the time he was either slumped

over a cooler or sleeping.

So that meant Jackson got to catch the

fish, which was probably okay with him.

He's truly a good Jr. Angler and will get even

better as he gets older and more patient.

He has some experience and can handle a

rod & reel, good.

Everyone was hot and bothered...I was just frustrated. So we ended the day pulling up to the beach at Big Talbot and Gene and the boys swam around to cool off in the bath water, before the ride back to the boat ramp.

They went home with a meal or two.

The big Spadefish provided two nice fillets,

along with a few larger Whiting and one

12" Pompano.

I was hoping the "sound" would produce

some serious action, because on Friday I have another 10 year old. Guess, I'll stay in the river.

Action, that's all I want lots of when I have the Jr. Anglers aboard. It keeps them busy, interested and accomplishing something. But at the same time I'd like to keep it where they learn and feel challenged a little bit.......that's my only goal when taking the kids. And having that happen keeps me and dad's happy too.

8/13 - 10 doz. shrimp - 3 fish in the box

Had Bill Massey and his Nephew Micheal aboard today. Nice Monday, that's for sure. Hot, yes. And there certainly isn't anything I can do about that. The water temp in the river sure is Hot too. I fished from 83 to 86 degree water on the surface. But of course it isn't as HOT down below.
It's that time again in the river.....where everywhere you practically fish is over run with Mangrove Snappers. I wouldn't mind if they were 2 pounds a piece. But the majority are 4-10 inches, and specialize in stealing your bait. Kind of like the mini Bluefish in the spring time, except the blues just bite off your hook. (there's always some undesirable out there)

I worked really hard today to keep the action flowing. Incoming tide till almost noon where I was fishing. My first spot really let me down. A spot where I've been challenging my crew with some serious drag burners, either Reds or good size Jacks. We lost a few baits, and caught a small Jack. But not what I had planned. So off we went to the land of Mangrove Snappers, but wanting a Speckled Trout or two. In between the "mango" bites Micheal got the only Speck, off the spot. As the "snappers" wreaked havoc on our live well population of very spunky shrimp. (meaning eating a lot with just a few hook-ups, and the ones caught were small)

Uncle Bill is the experienced fisherman, Micheal is "self admittedly" not. And when it came to the Trout, good sized Jacks, and big Redfish. Mike was what I called by days end. "The Blind Squirrel." Because even a Blind Squirrel finds an acorn every so often. And with as much coaching as I could muster, by days end I think he had a great appreciation for what it takes to intentionally catch good fish.

So we ended up with a 17" Speck, lots of Jacks up to 7 pounds, many juvenile Mangrove Snappers, juvenile Gag Groupers, an 18" Redfish and a 27" Redfish.

It was sort of a tough day for me, because this time of year not many quality fish come super easy. The more skills you have the easier it is to catch them in the summer doldrums. And the more challenged you will be, as a beginner fisherman. It's just the way it is.

But with my help Micheal our "blind squirrel" of the day, put fish in the fish box.

Next up: Wednesday 2- kids and two adults. I think Nassau Sound and some Whiting, Jacks and Ladyfish and more, will be in order. I'm a bit frazzled, and frustrated with August's river fishing. So this maybe the salvation I and the kids need.

8/11 - 3 boat Bachelor Party charter

Yep, after a night of debauchery....( I don't think it was that bad) I had 9 guys, 3 each on 3 boats.

Hung-over, maybe? At the ripe time of 0630 hrs. It was a gathering of friends of Jeff Handa's, a past customer of mine. So we all got on our perspective boats and headed out for a big day of fishing.

I stayed in the river. So did another boat. And the 3rd boat went to Nassau Sound, to do the Whiting fishing up there.

I had a special spot up my sleeve that I wanted to try on the last hour or two of the incoming tide. A spot that has been full of "ass-hander specials".......big Jacks and Redfish.

So we anchor up, I show the guys the ways of the float-rig, and we're off. John makes the first hook set. His float rippppps across the water from about 2 feet deep, straight up into a slight cove on the bank. But this cove is shallow and has boulders all over the bottom. And almost every single hooked up fish ends up running for the shallows and up in almost, no water. Most of the time it's an instant snap of the leader as the fish goes around the rocks. And this Jack Crevalle, does the same. John's pulling hard, and as the fish goes up into inches of water, a huge wake from the local party boat comes rolling into the bank, and I see an "out" for John to take. And that was enough water to... PULL THE FISH THROUGH! I'm yelling, "REEEEEEL!!!!!!" As the fish swims into the wake and now into a bit deeper water, while John continues to pulls the fish out of the rocky structure. "if it wasn't for the huge wake of the Party boat, that fish would have just swam right around the boulders...." Ya just had to have seen this miracle of luck, to believe it. As the Jack gave John one hell of a battle. GIVE'EM NO QUARTER! That's the only way of getting any good sized fish out of this spot.

So we continued and got ripped a few more times by good fish in the structure. Then, we saw what we came for. REDS. Redfish busting on top of the structure and on the bank, feeding right there in front of us, and we couldn't get one to the boat. It was pretty exciting!

So we moved on. Next spot was an old dock where a Ladyfish handed Casey his butt, breaking him off while jumping out and on the other side of the dock, we were fishing. Then Jeff caught a Trout, and a baby Gag Grouper. John had a few slammers and a Ladyfish. Then the action slowed, so I tried another portion of the dock, with just a bite or two from bait stealers.

ACTION....is what I wanted, no matter what. So I went back into a creek'ish area. Which turned out to be fishing the Nursery Grounds. It was a Redfish, Trout, Ladyfish Festival. One after another. The guys pulled small Reds and Trout to the boat. None were "keepers" but it was fast and furious. John and Jeff would stand on either side of Casey, and have their floats go down with fish on....while Casey was wondering what's going on! A dozen or more Trout and Reds and Ladyfish later. Casey finally got his Trout.

We burned at almost 9 dozen shrimp, fast. It was a tad cooler than it has been. And a beautiful day. Even though it was a Saturday. The other boat in the river had some of the same, and the boat that went to Nassau Sound caught 36 Whiting.

The heat was still really bad as we said our goodbye's back at the boat ramp parking lot. It can really suck the energy out of you. And it has me, I'm taking it easy tomorrow. Because I have a Monday morning charter.

----------------------------------

If you have the need for some good clean fun with a large group. I can always reserve multiple boats for you, and we can fish the inshore waters. From 8-18 people, it doesn't matter.

3 passengers per boat, is perfect.

8/10 - World Tour

Had Paul Heck and his son Alex aboard today. The perfect charter, two passengers. Where if need be I can run from here and there, without any problems and try this or try that without doing a seminar.


So I had big plans of trying Amelia island for some Trout. But as we headed there via Lake Atlantic......Lake Atlantic sure did have a swell coming from the south east, being pushed back from the NW breeze.....and yes it was a decent breeze too! The whole thing didn't "FEEL" as good as the last trip two days ago I made up here. Got on my first spot and Alex gets a royal butt kicking from a.....5 pound Jack. Remember now, not everyone is as salty as us local fisherman, so the Jack is teaching Alex a thing or two about fish fighting on Light Tackle.


But RIGHT NOW, is when I expected to start seeing a trout get hooked up. Instead, I think the guys catch another Jack or two. So we moved on. The tide was low about 8am, so we went to spot #2. And there is where we picked-up a Trout or two. Not the big ones that usually roam the area, but keepers. Loosing a few more, and catching a Jack and Ladyfish. We moved on again.


I went looking for that Tarpon spot where we hooked one a few days before and anchored up. Jacks, and a few bit off leaders probably from small sharks. Never saw the first Tarpon roll.


Back to the jetties we headed. Tried there, and never lost a bait....Damn it's dead low tide, 105 degrees, yes it's summer doldrums....FULL BORE!! Just think, in 3 months from now it'll be a whole notha' story!

Went to another spot and there sat Larry "the fishman" Finch. Guess I ain't going there, so we moved up to another spot. Gave it a few drift without a bite and moved on again.


DO YA GET THE TITLE OF THIS REPORT YET. YES, WE'RE DOING THE WORLD TOUR......and I was trying big time just to get a bite or two at this time.


So off to the shipyard. "Let's try fishing some shady spot." "And by that I mean shady for the fish...not us." Getting our float, up and under the pier there. Where they are chillin' out.

So minutes later Paul and Alex are into the Jacks again. It wasn't easy to get up and under that pier of the shipyard. But do-able. So after awhile we decided to call it a day.


But before we did that I wanted to try a a drift. I pitched back to the docks pilings covered in barnacles, with ropes and pipes and all kinds of crap in the water. I let it rip.....and get up under the dock way into the shade. The fish hide under there, and they stage up behind the pilings.

Bamm....I feel the bite rather than watching my float go down, and I rip a 20" Speck from under the dock. I try again, and rip another Trout from under the dock, an 18 incher. I bet I could have caught my 5 fish Speckled Trout limit right here. But decided to leave it be.


Paul and Alex saw how it was done, but I didn't and don't expect everyone to be able to fish a spot like this like I can. The difficulty level is up there.....about a 7 or 8 on a 1-10 scale.


Either way they had enough for supper. And planned on taking their catch to Singletons Seafood to be cooked for them. Cold Beers, and fresh fried Trout, and a big day fishing in some brutal heat, spells relaxation time.

Tomorrow......3 boat charter. A group of guys in for a past customers wedding.

8/8 - Let's experiment...7-species within a square mile

Had Jeff Heath, and two friends aboard today. The two friends were some of our local Navy boys out of Mayprt.

Since the last few trips in the river has been for crap, I headed north to Amelia Island. Float-rig rods, and my medium weight bottom rods matched with my lil' power houses, Accurate Boss-197's with twin drags. I was ready for about anything.
ACCURATE TWIN DRAG B-197 - the ultimate light tackle powerhouse!

If ya don't know by now, there's BIG Specks in the surf this time of year. And as I always say, I'll go anywhere to catch them (I usually do). And I've been picking off some surf Specks here and there. And when ya do, they ain't small ones. Last trip to Amelia we boxed 4 from 19-23". It's not a quantity kind of thing, but rather a quality thing.

And last Saturday when I had that Scout boat about run me over, I was experimenting in a slew. A sand bar just off the beach with good water in between. So I headed right to that spot today......but on a falling tide. When I usually catch these fish it's on an incoming tide, instead though.

But experimenting we will go.......So I anchored just off the beach in 4 feet of water, we had monster current doing the FLUSHING , so no worries about water movement. Bait was all over, and when I see bait, meaning finger mullet, I know TROUT....BIG Speckled Trout should be in the area.

So I get the 3 guys going on the float-rig and they take to it like water. I see no problems here. They ought to do good. Jeff, their host has his float go BYE, BYE, first. And he comes tight with a real big fish.....and it's a trout. Taking drag, on the light tackle and small hook. And here's our first Speckled Trout. An absolutely beautiful 4 pound 23 incher. They're so gorgeous coming out of clean green ocean water. I felt soooooo good being able to target these trout, even on the least of all productive tides. But that's my goal. I want to know and be able to do all. When it comes to these fish that NO ONE else can claim much if any knowledge of. Surf Trout? I might as well be speaking french to the average "who-yaw" around here. They haven't a clue, how to get them in the wide open ocean.

So, one isn't proving much. But it meant the world to me. So my boys keep on fishing. Loosing baits to un-knows, hooking un-knows, loosing the un-knows........but that's okay. If it's what I'm looking for, they take the float down. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. Because Trout don't mess around, especially big Trout.Jeff's up again, (the man from Indiana) this time it's a real ass-hander. The drags ripping, and he fights it to the boat, then around the motor, then up on the surface. This fish would have been lost if I let that happen! But folks on vacation from Indiana, get 2nd chances. It's a nice Redfish....exactly 27 inches (max keeper size) I'm really excited now.

We may have only two fish in the cooler, but let me tell ya', these two fish, where we are fishing, takes INSIGHT with EXPERIMENTATION, and I'm the only one I see who does this. Plus there's always more than one way to skin a cat. As the tide slows towards dead low, I don't see that the other two fella's having the appreciation for what Jeff just happened into, so we move on and go catch some Whiting up in Nassau Sound. It's a waylay!!!! All the 10-12" Whiting you could ever want. I couldn't keep up with re-baiting lines and casting out for the guys. But the fish were really small. So we kept some frier's, and threw back the rest, along with Jacks and Ladyfish.

Off to spot #3. Now is when things get really interesting.I find a 10' hole out amongst and area that's averaging 6 foot. So I drop anchor. And tell the guys "let's continue with the bottom rods, and shrimp for bait....dead or alive."So the first bait casted out was of course the fishes go to bait. Steve feels the fish move off...now remember we were just Whiting fishing.

He has a 3 oz. sinker on a Nylon slider above a swivel attached to a 15 pound test leader, and a Eagle Claw 2/0 L197 circle hook. And as the fish moves off he let's it pull down on the rod as I taught him. AIRBORNE.......go's a 30-50 pound class Tarpon!

HERE'S A SIMILAR
NASSUA TARPON

Caught on a rig meant for a one pound fish, and a piece of dead shrimp! Steve does great. The fish stays close to the boat, as it leaps 4 times completely out of the water. He keeps the fish on. Around and around the boat the fish swims. Getting closer to the gaff in my hand the whole time. If I could have just touched the leader, or if he could have just put the swivel of the rig at the rod tip, I would have considered it a catch. But the fish remained 10 feet away at least at all times.I stayed anchored up and Steve had the fish swim by the anchor 2-3 times already. No more following a Tarpon for Cappy Dave......that's BS. Cause every time I do that the fish rests as we drive around a lot, with the Tarpon in control of the battle. A "No-No" in my book. So we stayed anchored up in the current.

Under the boat the fish went in the 10 feet of water, around some more, and as Steve's T-shirt became soaked with sweat, the fish went for the bow, and it went around the anchor before Steve could blink. I pulled the anchor and we still had the fish on....but as I looked and saw multiple wraps around the anchor line the fish parted with us.As we quickly found out, the fish broke the Eagle Claw tiny 2/0 circle hook in half! And on Steve's line was swinging a perfectly good 15 pound Ande 24" leader, a 3 oz. bank sinker and a hook shank and eye.

We saw more Tarpon busting all around us as Steve fought his fish, so I upped the hook size to a 5/0 and leader to 30 pound and we tried for another, with no more Tarpon hook-up's afterwards. I know why! The falling tide was over by then and we sat on a slack anchor line, and had no water movement. And then saw no more Tarpon.

The guys caught some bigger Whiting that could eat a 5/0 circle hook, and a few small sharks. So we moved on.I re-anchored up by the beach. And we used the float-rig rods and were assholes to elbows in a full fledged Ladyfish RIOT. And after 10 of them, we packed it up, because Steve had to get to work and make some noise around Mayport in one of those Helicopters that circle the area constantly.

So it was a great day full of surprises, and a guy from Indiana who was the lucky on the float-rig in the morning.I love when some experimenting comes together. Give me an incoming tide and I'll find more of those jumbo Speckled Trout.....(just not a Saturday please)

I HAVE A NEW DIGITAL CAMERA NOW.....got it when I came home. So I'll be back taking daily report and recent catch photos of the day. It's a SEALIFE under water and on land waterproof digital camera. It's really nice. And as the old saying goes, "nothing stays dry on a center console boat, that is the reason I went with a dive camera....rated to be used down to 75 feet!

8/6 - When bad gets a bit better?

Had Larry F. and his son Adam aboard today. Larry's new to J-ville and his son came down to visit from Detroit. It was a beautiful day, if HOT with a HOT west wind is your bag.

So I headed to the jetties, and figured if the wind wasn't all that bad we'd float-rig and see if we could catch a weekday Flounder, Jack, Red, or Ladyfish. Adam caught 1 Ladyfish.
Not from a lack of trying, that's for sure. Larry and Adam got no other bites except for bait stealers. They literally could not give away a live shrimp to a decent fish.

I usually see Tarpon rolling outside of where I was anchored at the last of the falling tide, but the only interesting thing I saw was a small school of mullet, pass by the boat. No glass minnows, no other bait, no nothing!

Holy Crap......not another day of this again, I thought. I just went through this BS on Saturday. Is it summer doldrums? Has things gotten so hot and miserable that the inshore Mayport fishing finally broke down? Because I can't figure out why last week was a fish fest and now this week is a zero fest!

And that's the way the whole falling tide was.....spot after spot. Absolutely zero bites, except for the ever so often tiny Mangrove snapper , 2" Seabass, or rock blenny.

Every year I get to a point where I really cannot wait for cooler weather, a change, a transition into winter. I had a better day last week in the NOR'EASTER, when it blew 15-20 knots!!

And then this past Saturday's nightmare of a fishing day......looked like I was in for the same thing, today. And that's what we ended up having. Hours worth of fishing hard, without a single decent fish. What are ya supposed to do? I had 3 hrs. left of this, should I pull anchor and drive to a "distant land" where something might be going on? Not at this time of day, and not at these gas prices. The only thing to do is stick it out and keep trying close areas, I thought....but more like wait for the tide to change. And hopefully change the fishing along with it.

The tide turned. So I mimicked the same thing I did on Saturday. And hit a spot I call "Pipe Point". The incoming current was fighting the hard west wind on this spot, but it was my last ditch effort. The shrimp were dieing, I had to change the water in the well one more time, pick out all the dead ones, chummed with them and try to get something going. So I took over, and pitched Larry and Adam's float-rig into the spot where I had my ass handed to me on Saturday. Showing them, EXACTLY what they needed to do to fish this HIGH level of difficulty spot. A very shallow rock pile, that on the first of the incoming tide gets frequented by the Reds, as they travel down the bank.

Adams float goes down and he hooks a 4 pound Jack. Next drift, it goes down again and the fish breaks him off. Then it's Dad's turn. Larry's float disappears and OH MY GOD...does he get his butt handed to him. This fish smokes off like a rocket. Up into shallow water, then out deeper, then back into the shallows. It's a serious battle. His rod is bowed and he's pulling hard to keep the fish in deeper water. And since the bank is strewn with nasty boulders, keeping the fish in deeper water is a good idea. I was coaching Larry and he was doing really good. I said, "this is a really big fish to have in those rocks!!", as Larry worked the fish gaining some line, just to have it take off more. I'm thinking 10 pound Jack the way it was pulling. But as it got closer, I saw RED..."it's a big Red Larry...It's a real nice fish!", I yelled as I reached out with the net.

We went F-I-S-H-L-E-S-S for hours, and I finally found something. And it's all about the incoming tide! GOOO figure??? The wonderful thing (SARCASM) about Jacksonville in the summer is nothing is ever the same from day to day or week to week. Three day's out of one week it'll be all about the falling tide, then the next week everything will be all about the incoming tide.

Adam take's a few photos of Larry's trophy fish and then the measurements, dead on 31 inches. I said to Larry, "I guess I should have the rest of my charters this week meet me at the boat ramp around 1:00-2:00pm, and we can fish the incoming tide during the heat of the day, instead of fishing the morning huh???"

Larry and Adam at least had a sense of humor, joining me in making fun of how crappy today's fishing was. And how idiotic this all seemed, catching fish at the last spot after all we been through so far. (so much BS that I cannot even explain it all here.....which included having words with a asshole Navy Squid at Atlantic ship yard.)

So we continue to beat the hell out of this area, as the tide rolls in. And Adam pulls in a 19" and a 21" Redfish. Then, all bites completely cease. Because the Reds have moved on.....to where is the question?? This is the only spot I've found them on lately. But I will continue the search at a later date. Adam had a really nice digital camera on board today and he took some photos. I hope to add them into this report when he e-mails me them. I should have my new camera here on Tuesday.

I have trips on Weds, Friday and a 3-boat group charter on Saturday.

I guess I'll be heading to Nassau Sound, and see if we can't get into some kind of trouble up there on the falling tide that I'll have. Because I certainly cannot take another day like today, again.

I think fishing the Pier today wouldn't have been all that bad. If you're not catching at least the scenery could keep your imagination working.
huba, huba....sun goddess'

8/4 - I MUST BE NUTS. (weekends and why I hate them)

Yeah, I went out fishing by myself on a Saturday. ( had a bunch of calls for today from people who thought I was a cattle boat) Man, how the hell does one stand it. You work all week, itching to go fishing, and then there's so many people, noise, boat wakes, and inconsiderate assholes on the water it makes the whole experience, less enjoyable by the hour. Or maybe you don't know the difference. And that's okay too.

I hit the water for the sole purpose of trying out a new reel. I was at the boat ramp at 6am. Heading to the jetties in the dark (that's how I get a parking spot at the boat ramp). I fished and fished, and hardly a bite. I sat on the south jetty, counting boat after boat heading around the tip in search of the rare and ambiguous "Pogie". Wake after wake was doing nothing but giving me "river rage". If I wanted to fish in a washing machine, then this was the spot. Saturday morning summer weekend Pogie chasers.......I couldn't take it anymore. No fish on my new reel, no bites, incessant boat traffic. What am I, a glutton for punishment? I guess so. And that's what made me leave.

I headed north, towards Nassau Sound passing one boat after another coming south doing 50 MPH with billboards on the sides of them....."OH, there must be another PRO (LOL) Kingfish tournament somewhere and they are all heading south."

So I finally got up to the sound, and looked around a little. Of course there was boats everywhere, Kayakers, pontoon boats (the bass pond is over there Mister.) I kept thinking how Nassau Sound USED TO BE a little bit of paradise, a hide away, a place to get away from people, before they built that boat ramp in Sawpit creek (a crappy boat ramp too). Now the sound is a Walmart parking lot. Thank goodness 3/4 of the people are anchored, sitting out in the middle of no where. And if they really knew their way around up in the sound, they'd know the fish are up in between the sand bars.....not out in 38 feet of water. (if quality Whiting, Pompano, Trout, Redfish, Drum, Flounder, Sheepshead and Tarpon is your quarry) But if Stingrays & Skates are your bag.....by all means stay out there.

So......I looked around, and the tides just starting to come in. I work my way between a beach and a long sandbar. I anchor in 3 feet of water. It's not a thorough-fare. I'm where no one else should go unless they are like me, looking for fish up in this slew of water. SO I THOUGHT.
I no sooner start making a few drifts with my float-rig and here comes some asshole in a flats boat and he flys by me going full bore right down the side of my boat and rides right over my float-rig!!!! I'm minding my own business......and there's literally millions of square feet of navigable water elsewhere he could have taken. Scout Flats boat....maybe 20', poling plate form with a huge hand rail on it, Mercury outboard...I'M COMING FOR YOU. If I ever see this guy again, pay backs are gonna be pure hell on him. Believe me! I'll do donuts are him, just for the fun of it.

Yep, Saturdays suck and so does the boating public, ya cannot convince me other wise. I was gonna pull anchor and chase him down. But I'll let him forget what he did, so he's good and pissed when I rock his world next time I see him.

I move around up there in the sound and hook but loose two Flounder. That's the only bites I had and I was up there for hours it seemed, amazed how the place has gone to hell. So I head back to the jetties since the tide was way up now. I search for Flounder...I hook a small one and it comes off at the side of the boat. I keep looking at my hook, because I swear they're not teflon hooks. The current at the jetties is outrageous, the incoming is super strong. Which was half my problem here and at Nassau Sound too.

So I give up. I start to head in for the day. And as I do, I pass an area that peeks my curiosity because I've had some fast and furious action there before during other seasons, so I stop to see what's going on in the 84 degree water and boat wake after boat wake.

I pitch my float & live shrimp out, and instantly catch a 5 pound Jack. FIRST CATCH, AND IT'S OFFICIALLY 12:54 PM. Remember, I've been out since 6:00am!!!!!!
Wow, my new reel actually can reel in a fish.....imagine that? Then, I pitch out again, and before the float drifts 2 feet I get slamm dunked, the fish runs up into shallow water, I see it. It's a giant Redbass, and before I could say "Please STOP", the fish breaks me off in the structure. It doesn't take much to break a 15 pound leader, by the way. Next drift, I actually catch a Flounder. A small 13 incher, I released it. Then, the next few drift I do are in deeper water, and I catch two Baby Gag Grouper. I switch back to the shallows and pitch my float up into the structure and I get my ass handed to me, again. Before I could engage my reel by turning the handle, the float went down, I rear back with my 8'2" rod and get my thumb burnt by brand new STREN super braid line as the fish pulls and breaks me off.

REDS. Yep, that's why I stopped here in the first place. Last fall I was fishing here with two customers and the same thing happened, at this same tide. They'd hook up big reds, have them on and loose them to the massive structure that draws them here in the first place.

I'm the kind of fisherman, that's an observer. Because I anchor. I sit on a spot, and will sit and sit as long as there's some action. Observe and learn. I watch the way the water moves, where the bites come from, the way the baitfish hide and travel the bank. And at this spot I observed a Flounder up in 6 inches of water chasing bait, and jumping clear out of the water. If your a trolling motor-head......try stopping and anchoring once in awhile. The reason I say that is I watch the trolling motor-heads and watch them pass right on by fish, bait, structure, and me, as I'm anchored watching and learning a spot. Hey, Been there done that. I've had as many of 5-6 boats with trolling motors on them.

As I continued observing and fishing my float-rig The sun was nice and bright. I decided to continue to fish that shallow spot where those viscous strikes came from. Then, I see a Redbass come up to the surface and is chasing my live shrimp. My shrimps snapping and dancing around on the surface of the water eluding the red. When all of a sudden he really goes for it, and at the same exact time a seagull comes down and as I'm staring at this Redfish, I see this bird swoop down and grab my live shrimp just as the Red's about to eat the shrimp! The shrimp and Redfish is in about a foot of water....I can see it all, and when the bird comes down and takes my shrimp I freak-out. I cannot believe this is happening!!! The bird got in my line actually and as it fly's away with my float-rig, angered I snatch my float & bait from it's beak and I still have the shrimp on the hook. In slow motion form reminiscent of the TV show, "Kung Fu", I can now see myself snatch the bait from the bird and buzz the float-rig back to the boat and all in one motion make a cast back to where the Redfish was and when the bait hits the water the Red boils up on the surface and eats the shrimp!!! AMAZING, is all I can say!

The whole thing happened so fast. But now I have a Red hooked up right where two have already broke me off. I put the muscle to the fish, and truly get to test out my new Shimano Curado 300 DSV - high capacity low profile reel. The Red peels drag, and I have to high stick it so to keep it out of the snaggy structure. I'm elated, as I whip the fish to the boat. A nice 26" Redfish. Whewwww.

If it didn't happen to me, I'd have a hard time believing such a tall tale. But in my best literary form, that's exactly how it all went down.

I'd have to say this single fish was close to, if not the most rewarding fish I have caught in the year 2007. Probably because I watched the whole thing go down, in clean incoming tide water, about a foot deep atop some seriously snaggy structure.

And that damn bird didn't help......OR DID IT?

Summer weekends are the absolute pits for an inshore fisherman, that's for sure. If you don't realize how nice it is on a Monday morning at 7am, that's okay. Then you don't know what your missing so it'll never hurt ya. "keep America rolling....go to work".
------------------
New digital camera on the way. This time a divers camera so it better be water proof! Can't wait to actually have some photos to post.

8/1 - August Nor'easter already????

Yep, if the temp was lower, if I had on my Grundens fisherman's fleece, and the shrimp were bigger......I'd almost swear it was February, or March at the inlet today.

Nasty, slop choppy seas, high North East winds and a fun swell. Ahhhhh, my kinda day matey's.

I was almost not gonna go, but what the hell I thought, "go try your luck...I mean, "skills".

So after getting maybe 12 usable size shrimp in my 6 dozen I hit the river and headed straight towards the jetties. Yeah, I got 6 dozen and maybe 12 were of usable size. The rest were either 2 inches long or dead already. Bait frustration again.

I wanted to see if I could bend the "whoop-ass rod" on something badly. I've been out on days like this in the middle of the summer before, when we get a rouge Noreaster. And have hooked as many as 5 tarpon in that kind of sea. So don't cancel out any big fish when it's nasty. A full moon incoming tide, white caps and froth gets things all stirred up.

But anchoring where the "stirring" is happening, can be the trick O' the day. I pitched my anchor and it held for 5 minutes. Just long enough for me to catch a 31" Redbass that weighed in at 10 pounds plus. Then the anchor would get snatched free of the jetty rocks and I'd get a case of haul-ass and drift away.......

So I re-anchored again. This time I caught a 19" Flounder. Then the anchor would get snatched free of the jetty rocks and I'd get a case of haul-ass and drift away....

I re-anchored again........I know what your saying! Get a better anchor, or put out more scope, right? NAW...I couldn't put out more scope and my customized JettyWolf anchors are okay. It was windy, lots of current, lots of swell and the water was breaking over the jetty rocks, (SEE PHOTO) as I tried my best to get the boat to stay in a 50 foot circle of space along the rocks. This has happened before, it'll happen again....I thought as I repeated out load SERENITY NOW.....SERENITY NOW, attempting to not get mad.

So I re-anchored again, this time paying as much attention to technique and strategic placement of the anchor as I could. It held! Long enough for me to work the area again a few times. Making perfect drifts with my big float-rig and usable size shrimp.

Float goes down behind a swell and never comes up. I reel and come back with all 9 foot of the whoop-ass rod and drag peels. The fish goes from 28' of water straight to the jetty. I could see my float being dragged across the surface fast. I put this 9 foot rod where it needs to be...In the shape of a horse shoe, cranking fast and pulling hard. And I can see it's a good size Jack Cravalle. Against the "BIG" rod it wears out quickly. And into the net it goes. A solid 10 pounder.

Then guess what happens???? The anchor gets snatched free from the jetty rocks, and I'd get a case of haul ass and drift away....one mo' time. Just for fun!

I anchored no less that 12 times along the jetty rocks today. Pulling in that 12-14 pound anchor and 8 foot of heavy chain, another 8-10 pounds. Reeled in a 10 pound Redfish, and a 10 pound Jack, and I wasn't out there but maybe 2 hours, so far.

WHAT'S YOUR DESCRIPTION OF A GOOD DAY??

Yeah, this wasn't what I'd describe as a great day either.

I was down to maybe 2 usable size shrimp by now, so I moved down to the south jam where it was much calmer, and tried 4-6 feet of water. Nothing was happening. So I pulled the anchor loose myself and headed up river.

I went into a creek no one ever goes in any more (except for me) I've been fishing this creek for what seems as long as I've lived in J-ville. I used to live in this creek when I had my 14' Aluma-craft boat. And man, has it changed since then.

The NE wind was absolutely howling by now and the tide was just starting to ebb in the river as I entered my oldest of "stomping grounds".

I picked and poked around, having the wind give me a serious fit, but managed (2) 14-3/4 inch Trout, and (2) small Mangrove snappers up in there.....on shrimp that were so small they made my "TINY" #8 hook look tooooooooo big.

I about had it at that point, most of the shrimp were dead and I had my fun at the jetties doing the, re-anchor, catch a fish, re-anchor, catch a fish, re-anchor, catch a fish.

So there ya have it.

SOOOOOO glad I didn't have a charter today, not because of the weather really, but because I know how people burn baits. And if I had a 6 hr. trip, the bait would have lasted 2 hours maybe. I made what I had last 5 hours.....that's the difference.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be due EAST, then come around to the south for Friday. (so they say)

7/30 - EXPECTATIONS......EXCEEDED!

I Had James and Robin Cutts on board today. (a good advanced reservation) James did his homework. And ya'll know, "I LIKES THAT!"

So I had a real game plan in mind. Head to Amelia Island first off. With a nice incoming tide till about 10am. We'd hunt up some Speckley Sea Trouts. It's been a few days since I got into to some so I was excited about it too.

We headed out at 6:30am, straight through the ocean up to Amelia Island. The first "HOT" spot was colder than a N. Dakota winter. All because of those damned Needlefish. Ya couldn't drift a bait on the float-rig two feet without those bastards grabbing your shrimp and killing it. They're a summer time plague. Just like tiny bluefish in the spring time......BUT WORSE!

So we moved off to spot #2. I made a cast with Robin's float-rig for her and there we were instantly hooked up to a big Speck. And we proceeded to catch (4) 19-23" Trout off this spot before the tide went slack on us and the south west wind took over boat control. The wind was a bit stiffer than I was wanting. But at least not a menace. Kind of a long way to go for (4) Trout, but they were big, so I didn't mind. I'll go to hell and back to catch some Trout this nice in the middle of the summer!

Then back to the St. Johns River we went, but first stopped by the jetties and caught some Jacks and Ladyfish. Then, on to where I've been catching Flounder limits. BUT...by now the tide was falling, and I haven't been catching any Flounder on the falling tide here, just the incoming tide. But it was well worth a look. And the look, which I anticipated would be maybe a "Flounder or two" maximum, turned into EXPECTATIONS....EXCEEDED, catching 11 total, keeping 10 from 2-6 pounds with one small one we tossed back. And then all the live shrimp were gone.

(It's a real shame that in this summer heat I'm having at least a 20% die off of all my live shrimp. So I buy 10 dozen, and maybe have 8 dozen usable live ones if I'm lucky. Usually I'm busy as hell with customers lines, leaders and hooks, plus technique coaching that I can't give the live well as much attention as it needs. Like water changes, and adding a frozen bottle of water every once in awhile to keep the water cooled off. Heck, it's the nature of the beast in the summer.....like Needlefish attacking the baits at certain spots. Not much I can do about it, really.)

So we headed back to the boat ramp and I cleaned fish for quite awhile. All I can say is if they were Sheepshead....someone else would be cleaning them. So thank goodness they were Flounder and Trout, huh?

Needless to say, that's 40 Flounder Fillets since I get 4 pieces per flattie, and 8 great big Speck fillets.

James and Robin had a great time, and so did I. I believed these two fresh water fisher-folks from Missouri, got a education on what it takes to catch really great fish, especially in the heat of the summer. I think they'll be back to try again. The perfect charter really is 2 people, and one of them a woman. They always do really good.

Photo's are care of James. My camera is still broke.

But I certainly learned that the hotter the water gets the more those pesky Needlefish really put the end to fishing one of my really great spots.


There's a whole bunch of today's photos on my "Recent Catch pages" on page #8. http://www.captdaves.com/Catch8.htm

I hope James was kidding when we were heading back to the river from Amelia Island, when he said..."What kinda boat is this with only two cup holders?" Of course I responded..."It ain't no sissy-ass boat, this is a fishing boat!" And yes, I do have two cup holders up on my dash shelf. One is for MY morning Coffee, and the other holds a container of hooks for EZ access.

Here's me doing the fish cleaning process. On the boat of course, because Jacksonville is so lame that we don't even get a fish cleaning table at the boat ramp!

It's soon to be August....call to get YOUR prime tidal dates

reserved early.

7/28 - When Mother Nature fights back.

The funny thing about fishing is that not a single day can be like another.
Today was about as different as yesterday as it could be. It wasn't like the weather was all that dramatically different. Just the entire "flavor" of the day......and that's when it feels like Mother Nature is fighting back.

Had Kirk J and his 17 yr. old daughter on the boat today. And thank goodness it wasn't more people! Because 2 was enough when things aren't working out as planned.

My plans?

Flounder, just like yesterday. These fish are big, bad and thick! And sometimes easy to catch, and sometimes not.
Today was a NOT! Never caught a one. Had about every problem under the sun fishing where I've been for them, due to a hard west wind whipping the boat all over the place. West wind against an incoming tide. Just enough wind to mess up the delicate precision of dabbing the area with the float-rig for the Flounder.

I tryed and tryed till frustration took over. And we left for a boat ride to another area far away, so to get away from all the willy weekender boat traffic.

Caught some fish at the next spot but they were all small except for the TEASE fish, a 18" Speck, and a pup drum. Small Croakers, Yellow mouth Trout and small Specks, one after another. And the live shrimp in the well was disappearing FAST. So we left.
It was HOT. The coastal wind didn't reach this far up river. There was zero breeze, not much current and it was smoldering!

When all else fails, I like to go look for some line pullers........JACKS. About gave up on any decent size Trout, or Flounder at this point. So, I went to an area that usually has them. But all we did was get waked and there was so much boat traffic. Like I-95 it was horrific!!!!
Damn weekends SUCK! (as if that's a mystery)
I guess I'll have to go back to getting completely away from the St. Johns River area again. No matter what. Boat traffic and fishing does not go hand in hand.

So we left for Jack spot#2. No boats were around, and they were there. All ya wanted, decent size ones and small ones. But at least my two anglers were getting action and Caitlin was having fun having her float go down immediately with some pulling type fish. The Jacks ran from small 1/2 pounders to 5 pounders.

Dark clouds started to loom overhead, so we headed back. And I cleaned two 12" Mangrove Snappers and a 18" Trout for them. A far cray from just 24 hrs before. But Kirk and Caitlin had a good time going on the adventure. And learned a lot. I was glad to pull it out in the end.

I'm glad we finished up when we did. Those clouds turned into a LIGHTNING STORM from hell and back, and rain........man did it rain hard. All this happened as I was backing the boat into it's garage, just minutes after leaving the boat ramp.

At least I avoided that possible disaster! Perfect timing.
Here's Kirk's take on things...he sent me this article he wrote:
http://www.saillanier.com/articles/captdave.html
Next up: Monday 2 passengers at 0630 hrs. My favorite time on my favorite of all fishing days.
The whole place to myself...and no wakes.

To tell ya the truth, I'm tired of Summer already. And am looking forward to when it's cooler. The change in season is what I love.

Summer maybe when the kids are out of school, and everyone is on vacations, frolicking in the surf and hot sand. But I just got done looking at the "ARCHIVES" of reports I have here, and some of the great days I had, when it wasn't tourist or vacation season. Pretty Sweet....Dang, it's HOT outside, ain't it? Yep, that's why I can't wait for November....ahhhhh.

7/27 - A flat & brown morning...yellow & red afternoon

Had a great day today with some kids (11 & 14 year old). And their dad Ralph, too.
Damn, I wish I had a way of taking a few quick pics today, because we had some BEAUTIFUL
Flounder.

Met Ralph, Walton & Matt at the ramp at 0630 hrs. And headed to where I've been flattie hunting to catch the very last minutes of the incoming tide.

Weren't there 15 minutes when we had the first one hooked up.......But "lost" at the boat.
Another try and a second lost at the boat. And then me and Matt double teamed the third hook up (I helped a little) and a big fat 4 pound Flounder was in the net.

Minutes ticked by and the incoming tide was about over. And when I say I only catch them on my Float-rigs on an incoming tide. I ain't kidding. They devour a giant live shrimp dangling from the float! But as soon as that tide turns or slows down, it's all done. Which I'm finding amazing!

My crew put three, 3-5 pounders in the cooler.

So as the tide started to turn we tryed and tryed, but no more Flounder. So we kept or lines wet in the same area for a little while hoping for a different hook-up of some kind. Besides the piggy Perch, and little Seabass that we caught while working the area.

Since the Flounder fishing isn't a big time YANK or PULL kinda fishing. I told the kids I had something in store. And about 25 Jacks from a 1/2 pound to 3 or 4 pounds, a 21" Redfish, a Trout, a few Ladyfish later, they were ready to call it a day.

A day full of challenges and fish. Plus they went away with one hell of a bag of gorgeous fillets.

Ralph asked me, if I need any of the Flounder to eat. I said, "No, I want you to have it all, I caught 8 of them 2 days ago myself".

I had them last night lightly fried to perfection in (EVOO) Extra Virgin Olive Oil, with a mix of Zaterains fish fry mix. And some thick sliced tomatoes on the side with several cold glasses of Herbal Green Iced Tea......Light and tasty. And such a treat after a long day on the water.

Tomorrow: A dad & his daughter, and we'll have an extra hour of incoming tide!

These reports sure are bland with no photos aren't they? Can't wait to have a digital camera again. There's several things I can't live without. A digital camera of course, a float-rigged rod & reel, a cell phone and a propane fish cooker. I already have the perfect boat, some of the greatest tackle, and a great job.

FLOUNDER...It's whats for dinner!

7/25 - A perfect weather day....missed by U.

WHEWWWWW.....thank goodness those easterly winds are gone and we're back into HEAT,HEAT,HEAT. Even though they bring nice temps they suck for fishing, and I don't care what month it is. I'll trade the intense heat for East winds any day!

So since I had, I don't know 10 calls for the middle of this week?

And no one wanted to go ..........Hook some Tarpon, Yellow submarines (Jack Crevalles to 15 pounds) or Flounder????
I went by me lonesome. And even though it was slow going at first. I had some serious fun.
And serious fun for me is EDUCATING MYSELF.
I learned that the same spot where I got the most perfect 3 inch finger Mullet the other day produces one mo' time. And it's all about "Timing".
I pull up to the spot, and I see a guy in a boat, and a guy wading with a net. They look as if they've been throwing a cast net for awhile. NOT ME. I'm into what????? I.G. - Instantaneous Gratification! I pull up down from them. Grab my net, step out onto a dock and toss the net on the same mullet they are wading in the mud for. GO FIGURE?

The only problem I had was that the loop on the cast net drag line flew off my hand and now my net is sinking away. Thanks to floating drag lines, I grab it as it drifts back to me, pull up the net and have 200 3" perfect Mullet snacks. Step back into the boat and drive off. I look back and those two are still wading around tossing the net.

The fishing was deathly slow for awhile till the last hour or so of the falling tide. But when that time came, it was fun.

I sat at the jetties drifting my float-rig back to a really good spot. Using my BIG 9 foot rod and larger reel. Because when I use the light stuff is when I'll get hammered by some monster that I'll loose or take too long fighting.

I jumped (2) really nice sized Tarpon on big live shrimp and my float-rig. I may have had a chance at getting some longer battle out of them, but I was fishing my bait at 25 feet deep. And they both hit the bait, and my float disappeared but by the time I went to set the hook on them they were already airborne flying through the air doing somersaults. And of course since there was no real hook set, they threw the hook.

A buddy said, "you mean those Tarpon ate a shrimp?" I relied, "Yeah and those Tarpon in the keys eat a little Fly..." Shrimp are the bait of choice in Miami when drift fishing at night. I've seen it. And I believe everything will eat a shrimp. It's the night crawler of Saltwater fishing......(the photo is of a Jetty caught 15 pound Tarpon caught on a live shrimp)
Of course I had numerous Ladyfish while looking for those Tarpon bites. The Tarpon were rolling all around 50 feet behind my boat. So I had a feeling a hook-up was emanate. The perfect Tarpon is like the one in the photo, taken 2 years ago. Small, easy to handle, fun to catch....but one that size is A LOT rarer to catch than a large one in N.E. Florida.

Then came the schools of good sized Jacks. Not jumbo's, but great pullers. 8-15 Pounds worth of yeller submarines. I caught 4 back to back.

Then as the incoming tide started, I caught 8 Flounder up to 5 pounds on the boga-grip scale.


NICE! Just what I had planned!

JUST WISH I HAD MY DIGITAL CAMERA. BUT IT'S STILL BEING FIXED. IT'S ALMOST 'NOT AS FUN' WITHOUT, PROOF IN THE PHOTOS.

A good day, and I learned a lot about current and wind direction and where those flatfish like to be when things are not the same as they were a few days ago.

I tryed like hell to get my limit of Flounder (10), but the S.E. sea breeze really started to kick up the seas later in the day. And made staying anchored on the right spot tough.


But since I don't have a photo of today, here's a 5 pounder from a day in April...
Caught by Scott from
Gainesville, Florida
on a float-rig, of course.

7/23 - When Sly met Jack and........

Had to pick up my Amelia Island customers at that Carlucci boat ramp. That place needs some bigger docks or something. There's so much 'room' unused, you'd think the facility could be much larger.
My "dad and 6 yr. old" trip quickly turned into a 2-adult, a 14 yr. old and of course Sly the 6 year old, over night. And yes at times it was pure mayhem!!!
A fish riot! A rally, what ever ya want to call it. They caught A LOT OF FISH.
Of course I have no photos to post since my camera is at the manufacture getting fixed. So until I have it back, my reports will feel and look, kinda naked.

We started out up in some shallows as the tide was still kind of high'ish when we started. But ebbing. The morning sky as the sun rose was "rose" colored. Commonly refered too as; Red sky in the morning sailor's take warning. Because the wind's gonna blow....and it did.
From the east, again. Damn an east wind really sucks. But that's why I fish inshore, because I can. 12 months a year, nearly 7 days a week, if I could.

As the tide started to fall even more and more the bites started to pick up. With some small Redfish, and Trout. Plus 2 - nice keeper Flounder. And a few LadyFish and Jacks.
But I had a BIG time in mind. A rally, a fish fest, a Brewhaha!

So we pulled up to spot #2, and the waylay commenced.

Jacks, one after another. Double hook-ups.....since I had 4 passengers but I will only let 2 floats out at a time, especially with kids. And I want the youngest to not be bored. We had just one serious "ass-hander" that Evan the 14 yr. old hooked up. But it trashed him into a set of pilings as the drag burned the spool.

Then as the tide got even lower, TROUT one after another, up to 19".
And the cooler started to look really good. And not soon after the current on this spot "timed out" and we had no more shrimp left. It was time to go clean fish, at the boat ramp dock.

John, Roger, Evan, and lil' Sly caught at least 15 Trout, inwhich half went in the fish box, along with the two Flounder.
We threw back 2- small Reds. And went through no less than 6-7 dozen live shrimp. So I figured they caught at least 40 fish.
And lil' Sly seemed really happy. He helped me clean-up by feeding the birds all the fish scraps, as I filleted the catch. A kid favorite.

It was elbow to elbow action. Just what I want when taking a small kid fishing.

Have had one late notice call after another for the remained of this week.
And had one funny call that was looking for a charter for 3 passengers, all for a 1970's price.....at the last moment! And that's what made it so funny. "Take us now, but take us for nearly nothing....." I'd take them for $200, but it wouldn't include bait, rods, reels, ice, and fish cleaning or fuel!!!!!!!
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By the way....
Here's a little diddy about fishing the jetties...of course "yours truely" was there.
http://saltfishing.about.com/b/a/256544.htm

7/22 - extreme short day

Got up at 4am. Was at the bait shop at 4:45am. Arrived at boat ramp at 5:45am.

Realized that the wind was HOWLING straight out of the east at 20 knots 5:46am!!

Sat at boat ramp talking to a friend who was heading north, but decided to try that another day.

Saw many a boat come rambling into the boat ramp "looking" as if they had big-time offshore plans......I certainly hope they didn't.

I wanted to turn east at the boat ramp also, but I knew it would make no sense to do so.

Instead, I turned west. And it was a good thing.

I anchored up on a spot not far away, pitched out a float-rig and had instant Jacks. One after another. And then for some reason my float made it thru them and up under a dock. And as soon as I got under there, the float went down.

Wow, what a good battle pulling the fish out of some serious structure. And after a few minutes of give and take on that tiny #8 hook and 15# leader up pops a nice Redfish.

A perfect 27 inches and 7 pounds. (no photo....remember my water proof camera got wet and died on me?) So I quickly released the fish. Since I'm not a huge "Redfish on the barbie" fan.

So off I went in pursuit of a Trout or Flounder real close. Hit spot #2 and caught more Jacks. The reason I was there, Flounder!

I said to myself....."self, that spot right there sure looks good. And with all the Mullet flipping around in there, I bet there's a big Flounder just laying in wait for a easy meal." And I was DEAD RIGHT!

Except the BIG Flounder that I caught was, 8 inches!!!!!!

Hey, at least I knew there was one there.

Kept trying and trying.....just more Jacks and mini Mangroves.

And then the Northern sky looked bad...REALLY BAD. (this photo is from another storm at the jetties last year...but it looked very much like this, but worse because it had more lightning today.)

Either way, I wasn't all that happy with today's weather so I burned water heading back to the boat ramp. I was gettin' outa Dodge!

It was just 9:15 when I pulled into my driveway, but felt much later. I don't know if the storm ever hit the river or not, but since I live really close to the river/intra-coastal intersection I could hear the booming, but never recieved an ass handing at my house from any storm.

I did learn where I'm taking my 6 year old and his dad tomorrow morning. Where I've taken many kids before. WHERE THE NON-STOP-ACTION-IS.

The boys name I'm taking Monday morning is "Sly"...and I'm gonna introduce him to "Jack!"

7/18 - OPPS, I DID IT AGAIN....

I ran out of bait and ice. Just like the Saturday (7/14) when the Hooch & I destroyed them.

I GUESS YA COULD SAY,

"THEY'RE CHEWIN!"

Oh well. All I can say is, the last two trips I've made were made in Fishing Heaven for this Float Freak! Ya don't get days like this in the middle of the summer all the time. And what I've done is completely change fishing attitudes. And the only reason I could do that is because of the weather.

Don't think for one second that if it wasn't perfectly calm with light S. Westerly breezes. The fish boxes would fill to the rim so easily. And all while I was doing this today, I had some dude call for a 4 passenger shark fishing trip. SHARK....??? Ain't gonna eat like these flatties from the float-rig!!!

I basically limited out on Black Drum, Specks (sea trout) and Flounder today. Not keeping them all, since they were biting so well. I certainly kept enough. 8- Flounder, 3- Specks, and 4- Drum.

Of course I was Trout fishing. But my Float-rigged live-n-snappy, native river crickets kept catching other fish too. I'll admit, I did catch a few of these on a jig-n-shrimp happy meal. The dead shrimp in the livewell always make for great jig pinned shrimp, especially for Drum. They're not a fancy fish. Not until they hit the well seasoned cast iron skillet, where they'll be blackened. That's when they get all "fancy".

So far this has been a great Drum year for me. I like these pup Drum better than Redfish, anyhow. Not as glamorous, but provide a better fillet I think.

This may be the last "digital" photo for awhile. This photo was taken by my dad who came down to the dock to see me when I got back today. The storm me and Hooch sat thru while cleaning fish at the dock on Saturday seemed to have caused a casualty, my water resistant digital camera. Now it doesn't want to work.

A blog with out photo's? That's just plain insane.

I think I'll buy a back up. Like trolling motors, ya can't just have one!

7/17 - yeah...and when TUNA fly

No reports today.....but I WILL RETURN tomorrow with a report because I'm going Fishin' by me lonesome, on Wednesday!!!!!!! It's been way too long. Ya' know, R&D??



And I expect to return with a cooler full of T-rout (my nickname for T-Rex sized Specks) Wednesday is a break in the local "Karnivale le King Mackeralus" that's been going on this week . Then on the 19th, I have a check-up appointment with Dr. Schnipper. To check the ole eye balls one more time before my Lasik surgery on August 27th.



Saw this pic and thought to myself...what's that old saying, "yeah sure, when pigs fly". Well this ain't no farmers blog!!

It's all about F-I-S-H here!



So it's, "yeah sure, when Tuna's fly"



And that sure looks like a Flying Fish in the lower ones mouth. I'm no Viking, but I've seen Tuna Fly one time just like that back in my offshore fishing days, many moons ago.

7/14 - A perfect day, with a summer time flair

Had Chris "the Hooch" out with me today. Chris and I have known eachother for at least 10 years. He's fished with me many times, but is also a boat owner himself and an avid fisherman. But has been out of the fishing scene for awhile, is feeling kinda rusty and needed ME to help him get his groove on, again. And he DID!

So what else could he do, than call ole Cappy Dave, and have a great excuse to go fishing in my new boat. He could.... drag his boat out, plug around, maybe or maybe not catch something. And since being out of the loop, go on old recycled information, and do it all in the middle of July, by himself. Not a appealing idea, really. "The Hooch" is a lot smarter than that. This is the man who WON the first ever Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing clubs EL CHEAPO Sheepshead Tournament.

So I started thinking and thinking hard about where and what I wanted to do with Chris. Running up river and fish an incoming tide again was out of the question! And since it was going to be just him on the boat, no crowds, no friends, no co-workers. Just him and I. I wanted to do something special, and come up with something really good.

It's been awhile since we fished together. And I really enjoy the Hooch's company, every time he calls me to go fishing. So I called him the night before, leaving a message at his home. And then I started to get a bit worried. Six O'clock passed, then 7 O'clock, and then just before 8pm he called me back. He just got home from work! I was almost passed-out in my Lazy-boy when the phone rang. I told him "if you're tired now, you'll be even more tired when he has to be at the boat ramp at 6:30am", because we were going to head to a spot I haven't fished since April 4th. And it's a bit of a run. I don't know if it'll be the same as in the spring-time. But that last time I was there with just a 2 man charter, in two hours we filled the cooler with Drum, Sheepshead, Trout, Flounder and Redfish. But again........I haven't fished the area since April, so I asked Chris, "ARE YOU IN?" He said, "I'M IN".

So upon arriving at the spot. "UHHHH.....there's someone else already there!!" There's enough room for both of us, I guess. So we begin fishing, and right away Chris nails a Speck. Then a small BlackDrum. So then I get in the mix and we really find the Trout. And in a matter of just a few minutes put 10 beautiful Trout to 19" (no need to measure a single one) in the fish box! It was just what I was hoping would happen and "The Hooch" is feeling good.

But we both kept and eye on the other boat. He was in the drum hole. Hooking pup Black Drum one after another on what looked like Jigs-N-Shrimp. So we pull up anchor and go to SCHMOOZE on over there. The guy in the other boat says, "Ya'll limited out?".....I relied, "Yep, that didn't take long." Then he said to us. "Heck, we're done here, so lets just swap spots." "Now that sounds like a great idea to me". So he pulls off and moves to where we where, and I drop anchor right where he was. And he starts catching Trout, and we start catching Drum! Wow, ....what a decent guy, you don't meet that kind of person very often, anymore. Everyone was happy!

We also caught a 19" Redfish, hooked an unstoppable sized Jack that warped the line around a piling and broke off, and 6 perfect size Drum, with one throwback and a few small Jacks. IT WAS GREAT!

So far, it was the perfect charter on a perfect day. And the Hooch reminded me, "see...and you were sceptical, if it would be worth coming here."

So as the action slowed we packed it up and headed to the south Jetty, with a dozen or so shrimp left in the livewell. We switched over to the whoop-ass twins. My big bad 9 foot, Loomis Pelagic series rods matched up with Shimano Tek-500 reels and a 2 ounce Trout lead and bigger float.

I told the Hooch, that I want to use the bigger tackle here, just incase. In case of a inadvertent Tarpon, Shark or giant Jack hook-up. It's summer, deep summer...and at the big Jetties I take all precautions. (so not to be like many other fisherman that say, "damn I was just fishing along, and hooked a ______ and it schooled me, I wasn't prepared!") Rigged and ready for any takers we pinned on big jumbo local live shrimp, and began drifting a good spot to get your ass handed to ya. But as we fished, I was thinking to myself, "there ought to be some Flounder in here." And I was right.

Chris hooks a decent flattie. And as we continued fishing, I see one of those "PERFECT" Tarpon roll right where we were fishing. About a 20-30 pounder. The hardest of all Tarpon to catch around here. The small ones are finicky. And that's the size I want, of course. They aren't an all day affair to catch. But we get no hook-ups. I picked up the last shrimp in the livewell, pitch it out along the jetty rocks. And my float goes under. It's a nicer size Flounder. We are now officially out of 10+ dozen live shrimp. I look west and there's some seriously dark skies. So we beat it to the boat ramp. There's boats everywhere. But I get up to the dock, I have A LOT of fish to clean!!

The wind builds up, and here comes the torrential rain. Then comes the lightning. Fire in the sky is cracking all around the Mayport area, it was scary.......But Chris and I stand there cleaning all our fish in this weather like a couple nuts as hundreds of boats rush to get out of the water.

Water Spouts off the north Jetty were reported. A boat supposedly didn't make it to the inlet, either. They flipped over (??) and we saw the Coasties rushing towards the inlet, doing what we want them to do.........RESCUES! Instead of hassling fisherman.

Lightning popped all around us, as boaters rushed in from offshore. I heard the ride in was pretty heinous. But, our perfect day wasn't all that affected. So we got a little wet, and I learned I could clean...10-Trout, 6-Drum, 1-Redfish, and 2 Flounder in 30 minutes!! As you can see here, Ole Cappy Dave got his end of day photo for this BLOG and RECENT CATCH PHOTO PAGES before all the shit hit the fan. The Hooch and I had to work fast! Because 2 minutes after this photo was taken. ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!

Go to this quick link to see the rest of the pics: http://www.captdaves.com/Catch3.htm

Thanks, HOOCH!

7/13 - Was it the "Friday the 13th"...superstition?

Yeah, Friday the 13th didn't start out all that bad. I had 3 guys Billy, Jason, and John that have fished with me a few times before. And they've probably never did the float-rig thang in the past. But that's what I had planned. And I came prepared after my prior trip on the 11th.

I had 12 dozen live shrimp in the well! I was ready for all bait stealers, Jacks, and Ladyfish.

So I met the guys at the boat ramp at 0630 hrs. And we made the 15 mile run up river (actual heading SW). I pulled up and dropped anchor on spot #1 and proceeded to give these Three Amigos the float-rig low down. And as it happens....I did an I.G. - (Instantaneous Gratification). I was talking along, and they said, "Dave your floats down". I looked back and yes it was. So I set the hook on a real nice 19" Speck (Trout). "Okay, that's how ya'll need to do it", I said as I readied the rest of the rods & reels.

And it didn't take long for the first hook-up. A 14" Speck (keepers are 15") Then came another, at 13", then another at 12". Then another at 14-1/2". Then a Jack or two.....WOW, I thought we might have been in the M-E-A-T. But nothing materialized!

And that's how the whole day went. Small fish or none at all. Of course every spot I went too, I'd show them where and how I wanted them to float their rig, and I'd get either bit, or catch some kind of fish. Then hand it all over to the Amigos, and nothing would happen.

We did have a nice eater-size 20" type pup Black Drum hooked up, but it was lost at the side of the boat.

Everything but the tide was in our favor. It wasn't too hot, there wasn't much wind. But we did fish a incoming tide till about 10am, and that was the problem.

Then one of the guys had a stomach problem and needed to call it quits about noon, which had us running back toward "any" boat ramp with a "facility".

They did get one 14" Yellowmouth to the boat. Some Ladyfish, Jacks and the small Specks. But the day was sort of un-eventful.

Hill's & Valley's....Hill's & Valley's.
Or was it the Friday the 13th, superstition??

7/11 - Why charters are a good idea......

Had two really nice folks on board today. Charles Taylor and his girlfriend Noreen.
Patient, conversational, and willing to learn, which made having them out a pleasure.

I very much appreciated their patience.

Because I had a wheel bearing "POP" today. All new bearings/emergency service......$381.00
C/O Wilson Trailer Repair, Mayport road. Who were just a phone call away and came and got my trailer, and fixed all 4 bearings while I was out with my charter.

Yesterday, I had a new Trailer hitch put on my truck. The old one from 1995 was completely rusted out and I was on borrowed time. New 1200 pound class hitch/installation/ removal of old one..........$360.00. C/O Cannons Welding, very fast service!!

A day of inshore fishing.......Priceless!

And unless YOU TOO want to go broke, this is why charters are a great idea. Versus buying, maintaining, insuring, storing, outfitting, and feeding a boat.

Enough said?

So once I got the trailer all taken care of and off to the trailer shop, we headed out for a day of fun in the hot sun, and 86 degree water temps, with a stiff SW breeze.

It was high tide, and for me zero has been happening till low tide. So we went hours with a cooler full of just ice, as I taught Charles & Noreen the finer points of float rig fishing the St. Johns river. Catching Ladyfish and Jacks in the Mayport area.

So after many frustrating spots, I boogied south about 15 miles. The only area I have confidence in, but proved to be a hard road to catch anything there too till low'ish tide. We couldn't even get Jacks.
But ended up with:
2-Flounder
10-Trout (4-5 keepers)
1 - yellowmouth Trout
1 - Croaker
1 - giant Whiting...go figure.
2-Black Drum
Frustrating day from the git-go, and I forgot all about taking any pics.

No big fish........unless you want to count the serious ass-handing Charles received by what seemed like a huge Redbass, as soon as we pulled up on the first spot after our long run. But as it happened in "Newbie-dom", the hook straightened out from possible excessive pulling instead of letting the big fish just run on that small hook, I use. I've caught 20 pound plus Reds and 15 pound Tarpon, and 20 pound sharks on that same hook. But it's always tough to get these fresh water fisherman to "go lightly". That's why what I do is called Light tackle fishing, really....that's what it is.
The reason I figure is that Sweetwater species like bass and others don't really pull like a big saltwater fish. But we use even smaller hooks and lighter leaders than the sweetwater guys. So the sweetwater fisherman still pulls too hard, despite the built in handicap.

You know it's Deep Summer when those Mangrove Snappers consume 6 out of the 10 dozen shrimp you still have alive in your livewell, after the heat kills the first 2 dozen!

Next up: Friday - 3 guys I've had out several times. High tide about 10am...really looking forward to that!
Then Saturday: An ole client Chris C. by himself as a solo fisherman, and is a fisherman. Just heading out to do have some fun, and get him back in the fishing saddle once again.

I heard something about east winds this weekend, but that looks as if the weather forecasters made a mistake and now the winds supposed to be from the south.

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It's about that time of year to go look back at other posts/reports I've made during the year.
The reason being is that everyone has Jacksonville inshore fishing all wrong. I know I'm busy now, and I'm telling everyone I wish I could take some of these trips and spread them out over the course of the year.
DID YOU KNOW THAT THE FISHING IS REALLY GOOD DURING ""OTHER"" MONTHS IN JACKSONVILLE?
Take a look at this report from March and read what the last line of it says.......
http://captdaves.blogspot.com/2007/03/36-wonderful-weatheryou-choose.html