12/21- Gale Force winds, Cold, Rainy, lets go fishin'!

Whewwwww........Today compared to last Monday when it was 30 degrees, and windy.... was a cake walk. The forecast switched from not good to absolutely pitiful, late last night. But what do you do when you've had a trip planned for over a month. You go and make the best of it.


GALE FORCE WINDS, RAIN, AND COLD is what it was when we left the dock, and being that it was a full moon rising, the falling tide current being pushed along by a heinous gale force wind sucked the water out of the river down to dead low tide, really fast.

Didn't want to get too close while taking this picture and make the poor sap feel too bad, but look hard and you'll see that Flats boats need water too. Understanding the tides, especially when there's a full moon, a 30 kt west wind, and taking a 26' deep V-boat up in creeks myself, has me on my toes so that kind of 4 hour wait doesn't happen.


Had Kirk and daughter Caitlin on board today from the Atlanta area. The last time we went it was 95 degrees, and Jack Crevalle was the big fish of the day. I told Kirk, "man, ya ought to fish in the fall or winter, it's soooo good then" . Well, it is! Except for today. But they were glad to just be out on a boat and doing some fishing.

We ended up leaving way later than initially planned, because of the weather. It was just so iffy this morning.

Of course, I wanted to fish the jetties. I wanted limits of those Speckled trout that chewed like it was their last meal yesterday instinctively knowing a meal in the next day of two would be hard to come by, obviously.

Caitlin was the first to hook up on something other that a creek Pinfish. And she caught a decent Trout. Net worthy and I was glad too because this guy was hangin on the hook by a thread.
Then Kirk caught a small trout we quickly let go.




As the current dropped and the boat swung on anchor sitting the bow up on the muddy creek bank, Caitlin hooked up something a bit scrappier, a small 7-striped Jetty Snapper, aka: Sheepshead. Then after that had a Needlefish hooked up. I haven't even seen one of them since the river was 80 degrees!


But then again Monday in the freezing wind a customer had a Jack. So the 62 degree water isn't phasing many species. A friend went on way back in one of those famous southerly Snook creeks we have here now, and caught 7 small Snook on Tuesday.


So, don't tell me that these fish are not
acclimating themselves, over the years.


That was about the end of our fish catching.

As we worked our way out into the ICW and into the 2-3 foot chop that was a whipping, frothing storm of whitecaps.


I was about to say, "well, lets bag this", but Caitlin was cheery and still fired up. So I headed to the back side of Ft. George to get out of the wind, and we found that anchoring was almost impossible, and the current had completely died.


Giving it a try for a moment, we headed back out of there, and headed for the little jetties to try a spot on the first of the incoming tide. But without any luck because my anchor wouldn't hold anywhere I wanted to be. So we finally bagged it and headed in. I cleaned Caitlin's Trout and Sheepshead for her, and bid them farewell till hopefully spring time.



I've been doing R&D with this style of anchor. A BIG one!
And found out today that there is no way it will hold my boat
in a gale of wind, of course. So there I am, back to the ole Fluke style. I'll stick to a small grapnel over a jetty anchor for fishing the rocks on windy days. Because my jetty anchors just bend out way to easily, and I've been needing a jetty anchor with 1/2" tines at least. So I'll see if a carefully placed 12 pound folding Grapnel will work.

It was one heck of a day. And as I sit here and watch the weathermen on TV that can't even imagine, can they? They talk about the wind as if it was just a disturbance to their hair-do's today. I'd love to take them out there and give them a real dose of wind, while trying to have them catch some fish.

The forecast is looking worse and worse for tomorrow, than just earlier today. Especially if catching a lot of fish is the concern, and I was told it was. So I doubt the bite will be hot and heavy in the N.E. 15-20 knot winds tomorrow, so as of right now I doubt I'll be going.
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Update: Saturday morning. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NORTH 25-30 KNOTS BECOMING EAST 15-20 LATER IN THE DAY.
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Another NON-Christmas for Cappy Dave. I'm sort of getting used to this holiday having zero meaning. Because how can ya enjoy them when you can't fish, and make some dough?

But I'm sure glad when they are over and life returns to normal.

12/20 - If there ever was a day...

If there was ever a day to be out at the jetties 'wackin some fatties', it was today.
It was as perfect as the conditions in this photo.

This is an ole favorite photo of mine. Not because I'm an Ad for "ABT", but the position I'm in and where my float is behind the boat.
(can ya see that white speck?)

But of course, I was at the V.A. for a getting my "health care" enrolled from 7:30am till 12:30pm. It was something I could not miss, so I paid the price. Heard the Trout were off the chart, via my sources.

And of course here comes the weather...because I have the holiday rush.

Now the winds are supposed to pick up and as of this writing at 5pm Thursday they say its Small Craft Caution right now with 15-20 SE winds.

Here's the forecast I go by:
FRIDAY:
WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH 15 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.

SATURDAY:
NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

SUNDAY:
SOUTH WINDS 10 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

Sunday sure looks good, except that may not be 10 knots when I go, because we're not leaving till 10am. Need to fish just the falling tide because of that FULL MOON.

Not gonna make that mistake again of going on a Full or New Moon incoming or at high tide!

The JettyWolf howls at the moon, but only on a falling tide....Thank you.

12/19 - Changes and explosion

Made some slight changes to http://www.captdaves.com/

From my web site's home page this report blog can now be directly accessed, by clicking on the BLUE button.....FISHING REPORT.

Believe it or not! I have people who couldn't find the Fishing report, the old way. Which was a report page with a link to the blog. (???)

Lost was my dissertation, about how TIDES are important to you, even if you have not a clue about them. I'm not going to worry about it, no one ever read that anyways.

And so was the WEATHER LINK to the Mayport boat ramp area. But since I look at that myself daily, it's now on my INSHORE-COASTAL TRIP page.

---------------------------
And look at this weather today? Holy smokes, 3 knots of West Nor-west wind? Beautiful sunny day. And of course, no one can go today. I'll go tomarrow after a very early Dr.'s appointment I can't miss...report to follow. So stand by.

Conditions right now at 9:11am:

Wind Direction (WDIR):
WNW ( 300 deg true )

Wind Speed (WSPD):
2.9 kts

Atmospheric Pressure (PRES):
30.27 in

Air Temperature (ATMP):
52.5 °F

Wind Chill (CHILL):
52.2 °F


Still a tad chilly for my liking, but I got some maintenance I need to do here at the 'Rancho Deluxe', Fish Camp.

Plus, I need a heavier duty jetty/all pupose anchor. It's when the winds are 15 kts. or better. I'm gonna try and have been R&D'ing this anchor :


Next days up to bat will be:
21st, 22nd and maybe the 23rd, then the 26th, 28th, and 31st.
Finally....gettin busy!

-Will it be sunny, warm with no wind? What does history tell me? Because they've been planned for awhile. But I hope it will be.

Not a single call for a Gift Certificate this year, really shows me what kind of "economic times" we're having in this country right now. It's okay, I usually give them a discount, and then they hold the certificate for almost a year and wanna use it on July 4th, anyhow! So maybe that's a good thing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-non fishing related unless you were in a few of my "Trout drops" over there.....

Huge explosion today at 1:30pm over near the Jax Electrical Authority plant. Not sure as of yet was the cause but it shook windows and rattled houses along the north bank to even in my area, the south bank of the river miles away.

This photo was taken from atop the Wonderwood Bridge.

It'll be on the local news, I'm sure.

12/17 - Freeze...or Fish?

Had Steve and Ron N. with me today. Steve's a marathon runner and was here in J-ville for a race. And since his dad is the "fisherman" they thought it would be nice to take in some salty air.
Well that was way over a months ago when I first talked to Steve and he reserved his day.
But all looked good for race day. He said, "damn it was humid running those 26.2 miles." He really did good finishing in the top 20 out of over 1200 runners! So then, there was the phone call I made to him yesterday evening. "Steve, ya'll have any really warm clothes with ya?"
He replied...."Ahhh, yeah we'll wear everything we have." So, as I told him the weather's going from warm all week to really cold. I was thinking, "I hope he's prepared!"

Hey, this is the way it always seems to work out. Have a great guy reserve way in advance, arrive when it's like summer all the way from Connecticut and then his day of fishing is like no kind of coldness we've felt in a long long time. He and his dad only had today. They were catching a plane back home at 6pm. So this was it!

I arrived at the ramp early as usual, and it was me and a few Mullet chasers in the parking lot. That was it. Yeah, the mullet fisherman. Another fish crazy bunch. So I sat in my truck and waited for the sun to come up, for our 7:30am departure. I had on so many jackets and fleece pants with Grundens foul weather slickers I could hardly move. As I stepped out of the truck for a brief moment in the dark, I could feel the wind blowing and it didn't feel good.


Conditions according to the Mayport Bar Pilot weather station were at 6am:
Temp: 36.5 degrees
Wind chill: 29.1 degrees
Wind speed: 12 knots
Barometer: 30.21"

I knew the minute I rounded the corner to head to the jetties, we were gonna have our world "rocked"....(no pun) I mean, wind and cold.

As I waited and Steve pulled up, I glanced at the flag standing atop the pilot station building, and it was at full attention, flapping good and steady. I walked over to greet Steve & Ron and said, "I'm here to do a toughness check!" They chuckled, and said they would suit up and could take it. Hey, they were from Connecticut. So they jumped in the boat after I put it in the water, and we headed East. I usually have the boat in the water already. But just in case they said "NO WAY", I figured it was best to wait.

Impressed, as most are with my boat. We idled towards the Navy Basin before I go the balls to get up on plane, it was so bone chilling. The river had "fog" coming off of it. Ya don't see that very often. From the cold air laying, and the 65 degree water. (it's hard to see in the photo, but it was there)

We worked a good spot, but of course the very apparent 20knots of wind out here had the boat jerking the anchor out of the rocks, every 5 minutes. We never had a bite, either on the last few minutes of falling tide current. Aggravated as usual with keeping the anchor holding in this wind (I need a larger jetty anchor) I said, "hell with this fellas, I have a plan, lets get outa here!"

So we ran up river to a spot I call my safe spot, an area that I can always catch some fish on a really bad weather day. That's got a little protection from the wind.

After I got the guys all situated, and familiar with the how's and why's of the spot, Steve the "non-fisherman" hooks up on the first fish. A 19" Trout....skinny but still 19 inches.


Then, he catches another one. His dad and I are looking at him, because he just got done telling us that he doesn't fish.

If these pictures don't scream COLD IN J-VILLE
nothing does. Glad there's no photo's of me, because I couldn't bend over to pick a shrimp off the deck, I had so many layers on.

So....we found some Trout! I was feeling a lot better now. Better, not warmer!

Then, right after I said "ya'll ought to pick up a few rat Reds, Steve sets the hook again and starts
reeling in a small Redfish.
He does it again, and again.


Ron, his dad had to be thinking,
"what the hell's wrong with my shrimp?"


He ended up with one pup Red, and a small Trout. But Steve "the rookie" was the one fish all the fish for the box.

The guys ended up with 4 Reds and 6 Trout, a Jack Crevalle... believe it not! Aren't these fish supposed to be down in Ft. Pierce by now?

Keeping the first two Trout and a 21" Red.

But what were they gonna do with the fish? So I suggested, cleaning them, and taking the fillets over to Singleton's Seafood Shack and having them cook them up for lunch.

A perfect way to end a frigid fishing trip, before heading to the airport to head back North.

The guys agreed and thought that was a great idea.

I tell many people who don't have the want or means to keep their fish to do that, because there's no better way to enjoy a fishing day then eats some of your catch, before catching a plane
home. I know that's what I'd like to do if I was
on a time line.

Steve and Ron were great sports. They told me that they really were impressed with my patience, instruction, and my boat. No matter how bad it was out there, at least they were comfortable and had some fish, laughs, fun and stories to tell back in Connecticut.

All I could think about as I talked to Steve was that he ran 26.2 miles yesterday, and was out fishing today in this cold weather. He said he was stiff and sore today, but was good enough to fish all day. What an athlete!

He told me, "that ain't nothing, back home I've run 100 mile races!"

Personally, I can't run around the boat ramp parking lot with being stiff the next day. But then again, there's no fish in the boat ramp parking lot!

I was supposed to take Kirk M. (from 12/14) tomorrow, but due to this cold weather we decided that because I'm a cold weather wussy, we'll try it again on the 23rd or 26th instead.

I'll sure be glad to see 80 degrees again!
After today, I'll take 65 and no wind.

Today wouldn't have been so brutal, if it wasn't for the wind.

12/14 - Catch'em on the FLY!

Had Kirk M. out today. We decided to go yesterday, because the weather has been so damn nice. And I told Kirk, "well, we have a high tide at noon, no sense going till then and just put with the high water, till the low tide late in the day." So we left at noon, one guy and me....."ah, a charter the way I always envisioned them". Instead of management fishing, it was so pleasant and relaxed to have Kirk a N. Dakota native on board. Who is also a Navy Officer, just back from Afghanistan. Which by the way said, "THIS BLOG KEPT HIM IN TOUCH AND SANE, WHILE OVER THERE!"

Can ya believe that? So he wanted to fish with the Float-Freak, ride on the metal monster, and catch himself some fish, with me! Which was well deserved!

Being from N. Dakota (C/O the USAF, I spent a decade there one year! hahahahahah.....) I learned his people are TUFF, and they are SPORTSMAN, too! So Kirk and I were already on the same page. But of course, I had plans laid out in my mind, and Kirks plan was just to "hang-out and kick back". Well, I can kick back.....as long as we're wackin' some fatties!

So we started by pitchin' some jigs-n-shrimp along the rocks. My first cast after showing him the finer points, connected me with our targeted species, a nice Black Drum.

In the box that Drum went, and we were on location maybe 4 minutes??

So now it was Kirks turn. He pitched his jig and

shrimp out, and there happened to be a Ocean Vulture - aka: Pelican, sitting between us and the jetties. I saw it all in slow-mo as it went down....

Kirks line passed over the bird, and it spooked and flew away. But not familiar with such obstacles, Kirk let his spool go and as the bird went airborne he caught the bird as it circles around us. "Nice going Kirk! Great Catch!!"

To make a long story short, (hell they taste like chicken not fish) he reeled the bird in and I un-hooked the Pelican and it took off, no worse the wear. We plan a day, he's been to "BFE" and back, we get out to the jetties, and on his first cast he hooks a Pelican!

WHO'D EVER GUESS?

I told him, "man this is gonna make great Blog material! Everyone's gonna read about this.....let me grab my camera, and capture your first cast catch!"

Notice he's looking UP in the photo?

That's where birds fly.

His second cast, thank goodness was something that had fins and scales. And was a fat Ring-tailed Porgie! Not the easiest fish to hook with their tiny mouths, and up tight inside the rocks. But it proved to me that at least he can feel a bite, and this man can cast a bait caster! My kinda guy.....except for the bird fishing incident! So we continued on. But caught not much else except a tiny bluefish or two. The tide was officially high. And whatever current we had was over.

So I pulled anchor, and we went to power drifting the north jetty. Our drifting was just from the slight breeze we had, but their ought to be at least some better action over here, I thought. YEP, more blues. But as we worked the area, here came the first wave of current and darker river water......perfect! And we scored 2- Reds, one 26" and another 28 incher and another Black Drum, and a few yellowmouth trout and blues drifting the area while pitching up to the rocks.

Easily done with the fuel efficiency of a HONDA outboard and the non-aggravating and silent PURRR of the engine. I told Kirk, "it's my 225 horse power trolling motor." And from the trolling motors that I've beat the hell outa, a whole lot more dependable, too.

Since this was just the prelude to what we were really going to do, it wasn't all that bad starting at the high tide with no current.

Our real plan was to do some Float-rig fishing at the jetties. Kirk said all he read about was how much I loved watching my float go down, so he was anxious to see how it was all done. And especially after Wednesday's Massacre (12/12) I had while fishing solo, Kirk would ask questions about float fishing as we were jig fishing. I said, "don't worry, you'll see because even though we'll be early for it, were gonna go do it in a little while".

I say, early for it because the tide works forward about 50 minutes each day, and the same exact tide I was on Wednesday at 3:30-4:00pm will be a 5:30pm-6:00pm today.

So "pushing it" we went to do some Float fishing.

I got on the spot, gave Kirk the finer points, and he pitched his float-rig behind the boat. Thinking it would take awhile to get bit, he looked away over at a passing boat and of course that's when his float went down! "DAMN....that fish almost yanked the rod outa my hand!" Not realizing this is I.G. style fishing, Kirk was shocked that his shrimp lasted 20 seconds out there, before reeling in his first Trout, a very spunky Yellowmouth.

The rally was ON! He and I caught, boxed or released full of "spit and vinegar" Specks and Yellowmouths for a few hours and never moved the boat. Never lost a rig, and caught one fish after another on the float rig. "This is what I wanted to see", Kirk said. I told him, "this is classic winter action. Don't think it's like this in July, it all about time of year and water temp. and it's full bore action at its finest!"

We ended up catching fish till we were out of Live Shrimp, the cooler was full and the sun set. So we headed back to the boat ramp. Where we planned on doing it all over again on Tuesday.

The weather guessers say all of this 80 degree

warmth is gonna stop this weekend as the

"front" that has slammed the rest of the

country heads south, and it's supposed to get cold and windy.

Kirk won't mind, he's up for the challenge! I hope my Monday trip is too, if indeed the weather does change. I have a Marathon Runner coming from New England to fish on Monday.

Kirk and I talked back at the boat ramp, and he said he'd never thought the action would be that good. And he's never caught so many fish.

I get call after call from people wanting to do a trip, who never even look at all the info I provide for them on my web site. It's all here! The good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly. Doing research pays HUGE dividends in the charter world!!!

This is what I live for all year!

Not the steamy, hot, miserable weeks around July 4th, that's for sure! It's just too bad that these Holidays also coincide with great fishing here in N.E. Florida. Because people's focus right now is not on how good the fishing is in J-ville, Florida. But it should be!

Ya' know if I had my druthers, I'd be here from Nov. 1 till June 1, and then move my whole operation to Maine, fish for Stripers and Bluefish in Maine with NY city vacationers all summer, and then come back to Florida for the winter/spring season. Ahhhh, would that be the ticket. I'd be one happy Float Freak....wonder if I could catch a Striper on a Float-rig in Maine??

12/12 - ROCK RIOT!

If you read Monday's report (12/10/07) things looked rather dim at the jetties for a float rig freak like me. Yeah, I was all upset, and could tell I was kinda pissy. But as an update to that report, I'd like to add...."I really think the moon had a lot to do with the bite." And since I'm up at 5am-6am, and usually start my fishing days early. I may have not given Monday a full chance. And got disgusted and went home too early.....actually started too early, and gave up too early, is what it was.

I live and breath the tides. Which in turn is also the current. As a float-rig fisherman. Tossing a jig or lure can have its good and bad tides. But basically, you can cast a jig or lure any ole time on any ole tide. But as a float man, I pay close attention to the details of the tide, like current speed, tide height: how low is the low tide, how high is the high? Because I'm kinda locked in to the current flow, even when jetty fishing.

So now that today was 3 days after the New moon, "I saw the tiny sliver of white on the moon tonight". It only made sense to me that when I went out early this morning, that I'd be cussing and moaning till low tide, that seemed to take forever to come. And I caught damn near zero all day n the incoming, and only got into fish, as the tide got really low.....just like I always do on a full moon too.

So I didn't even pay attention to my "own" Full & New Moon rule, these last few days!!
-Only fish the last 4 hours or so of the low tide!!
Why do I forget my own rules? I'll tell ya why.....I go too early, because I like being out there in my boat, but end up kicking myself in the pants, because at the jetties it's all about that low tide on the New & Full moons. And today the tide got really low!

So, I arrived to find a buddy sitting along the rocks after I went and jigged a spot with not a single bite, except Bluefish. I couldn't believe it. But he said he was getting some Yellowmouth trout, so I'll try that too. It was pretty much "I.G." - (Instantaneous Gratification) as I tossed my shrimp up to the jetty rocks. "Okay, things are looking up!" Then came the Speckled Trout.
And this one, too. That had not a spot on its body, just on its fins.

As the tide got lower and lower, I started catching either a Speck or a Yellowmouth on every single pitch up to the rocks!

So I tried, looking for bigger fish. And casting out deeper. BINGO.....bigger Specks out deeper.
And Yellowmouths up tight to the rocks!

By now, I had my limit of yellowmouths 15-18"and 4 Specks from 15-18". And was waiting for a bigger Speck.....and my float went down! The drag peeled, and this fish was what I was hunting for, and it came from out deeper. BIG SPECK....I could see it, so I grabbed the net. Looks to be a 5 pounder at least! BAM...it pulled off the hook right as I was reaching down to dip it up in the net! So, my largest Trout ended up being this exact 20 incher.

Okay....the Trout fishing is on fire. I have my limit. So what do I do now? Go in? NOT!

After Monday's disgusting trip. I'm catching me a lot of fish. So I continued to catch some Trout behind the boat. But things were looking kinda sweet in front of where I was anchored, now.

The rocks were all exposed, and I was learning something very valuable about the Jetty rocks where I was parked, in relation to where the fish were. I could find a distinct edge! Up in too tight, no bites, just outside a bit, a lot of bites, out deeper yet, bigger Trout. Now let's see if the proven area in front of my boat has the same thing going on??

So I jumped up on my bow deck, and made a long bomb cast, right on that same edge. SLAM DUNK!!!!!!! Wheww, my float went down instantly and I just had my name engraved on a silver platter! "That was a BIG fish!"....And it broke me off in the rocks. So I tied on another hook, and made a pitch right to the same spot with a fresh shrimp. Again....INSTANT HOOK-UP! And I'm not using my bigger fish float-rig rod and reel. A long battle gave up a nice big 31" Redbass! Then another, then another, then another.....Can ya see where I'm going with this?

I had Reds, back to back, taking a breather about every two Reds, to catch a Trout off the stern of the boat, till I had caught (15) Reds from 27" to 33". IT WAS A LIGHT-TACKLE FISH RIOT!

And a classic Full or New moon kind of bite. I've been here before and had the same thing happen. ( I had so many I tried holding up the number of fingers of how many fish, I caught)












These weren't lil pup reds either, they were all brusiers, with one that measured 27" exactly., That went in the fish box. And it never entered my mind that I had a heavier rod and reel sitting in my rod rack, that I bought just for these big mean jetty Reds.

I was using a set-up that is really addictive for Float-rig fishing. Its a G. Loomis 8'2" Greenwater rod, matched up with a Shimano Curado DSV 300, a "low profile reel" that has a 6.3:1 gear ratio but holds well over 190 yards of 50# super braid line, if the diameter is that of 14# mono. No other light weight, low profile reel holds that much line. And let me tell ya, this ain't no wimpy Bass reel. It man handles these big Reds as well or better than a Abu Garcia 6500. If I can some day afford more, there will be 4 more in my reel arsenal. I'm that impressed!











I first heard of this high line capacity saltwater/freshwater low profile Shimano reel on my favorite fishing show, Larry Dalhberg's 'Hunt For Big Fish' Where Larry and a Shimano guy where using them for Golden Dorado below a damn in Venezuela. And these fish are a combination of as Redfish, Snook, and Tarpon all rolled into one, and weigh 50-7o pounds! Of course, I fell for the shows "objective", when I had to get me no less than two of them, ASAP. And I'm glad I did. I've fished them now for 6 months without doing a damn thing to either of them....just a wipe with a clean wet rag.

The lightness of my entire Float-rig setup is so nice to fish with all day long. Now, I wish Shimano would come out with a BIG game version, of this reel, just a tad larger, larger counter-balanced handle, and even more line capacity.

As I continued catching these Reds, taking out revenge for having such a crappy day on Monday
it started to take it's toll. I was getting tired!

Can ya believe that. But really the rod was a little light for all this pulling and tugging. But the "burn" did feel good, I'll admit.

As you can see, just holding the fish up like I did in the first few photos wasn't working out as planned. And I was hurrying. But, I wanted some good Reports Blog material, for ya'll.

People ask me all the time, "If your alone, how do you get those pictures?" Never buy a Camera that doesn't come with a timer, if your a fisherman, I tell them. I set the timer and jump in front of the camera. I learned this trick off an ole friend, who always fished alone and always had plenty of self portraits.



I tried to give a "sign" after I took a picture of number 5 because there was no way to hold up 6 or 7 fingers and the fish at the same time.

I certainly hope that potential clients find all this hard work, informative (yeah, it's work doing these reports after fishing all day.) Because I certainly do not see anything nearly as thorough on any other fishing guides web sites. I've tried it all. Doing magazine articles (Jax Fisherman Magazine for 6 years), my own fishing videos (which can be found at the local Gander Mountain and on my tackle shop web page) and Saturday morning radio shows (WNNR AM 970 & WNZS/ESPN SPORTS 1460 AM) I have to say, this daily reports blog is cheapest to do, by far.



I had about a 1/2 dozen shrimp left and could have kept on going.....but after (30-40) Trout, and the (15) big Reds , I felt that enough revenge was sought, so I pitched the shrimp over the side, packed everything up, and headed back to the boat ramp. Feeling like, I never come out here without learning something new, or at least reminded of how I sometimes don't even take my own advise. Which is; "fish the right tides and save yourself a lot of frustration and time" But it was another beautiful day out there. Makes me feel good to be able to appreciate it, even though things are slow now right before Christmas.

Hey, treat yourself! Give me a call and we'll go try and get you into a fish riot of your own.

12/10 - After weekend whoa's

Holy, blank fish finders Batman! What a crappy day I had today. And I was so looking forward to a Monday, when the river isn't like I-95 before Thanksgiving.
All ya had to do is go to B&M bait and tackle and observe the traffic going through there to realize, EVERYONE WHO OWNED A BOAT WAS GOING, this weekend. Due to the flat calm conditions.

So I laid back, held on and waited my turn....till Monday, after the crazy weekend blitz of people. I had such "high hopes", because the tide was in my favor on a favorite spot(s), where in the winter I wackz them good and hard 99.95% of the time. Last day I caught the tide perfectly on this same spot(s) was November 14th and here was the outcome:



Not too shabby, huh?





Yeah it was a calm cool day, a Wednesday. No one around, just me and Nick out filling two 72 qt coolers, plus releasing just as many!


Well, today I never had a bite at the same places on the exact same kind of tide. Except from Bluefish and a few other assorted bait snatchers.

There's the ole saying, "sometimes you eat the Alligator, and sometimes the Alligator eats YOU!

Or when I have a charter, they always say; "that's why they call it fishing, huh?" And of course I know, they just picked a really lousy day, out of 365!!

Well, I don't believe in such theories, really. Those un-scientific ones, like an ole "saying". I work triple hard and stick it out to the very end and do all I can to make it turn around till I'm totally beat, and mentally FRIED! And this is what I did today, and eventually caught one 19" Trout, some Bluefish, a puffer on a MirrOlure, and of course the Mangos are still out in force on ever single rock in the river. (our now resident Mango's)


I truly believe and from my experience, which I have no technical data to back up except for a lot of days in pursuit of Trout alone, that when we have a seriously wacky Barometer, the fish that swim up in the water column, turn off FIRST. Unlike the bottom dwellers, IE: Flounder, Reds, Drum, etc. But I couldn't catch any of those either!! I tried.


The first thing I did notice is my live shrimp. Usually they are in up the bucket swimming around when I get them from the bait shop and are putting them in my live well. Today they weren't. They, all 6 dozen of them were laying in a pile on the bottom of the bucket not moving. I had to stick my hand in there and move them around to check if they were alive!

Then in my live well, they are usually up and swimming around, again......laying on the bottom. Hmmmmmm.....things that make ya think a bit.


Another thing I noticed is that I saw no "fuzz" on my screen anywhere I went. Fuzz is defined as "bio-mass" aka: "Life on the bottom". I fished my spots hard and tried everything, while looking at a blank "12 inch screen" with a single red line as the bottom, on my color sounder. No schools of bait, no fuzz, no piles of Croakers, no glass minnows.......nothing.


But the funny thing is that the bait-stealers are still out in force, although they could have been worse. Nothing turns them off. As I made casts with a jig-n-shrimp up to the jetty rocks, and had zero bites I'd end up sticking the rod in the holder and letting it sit on the bottom, eventually they'd find it and tiny lil snatchers would eat the shrimp off the hook. If I was a beer drinker still, it would have been a good day to sit back, watch the rod jiggle while the snatchers got a free meal and ate a bag of Ruffles potato chips!


















Here's a chart of the Barometer from 12/7-12/11 on the bottom and the pressure along the side. Look at the barometer between 12/10 at 00 hrs and 12/10 1200 hrs ....."up and down up and down".

So if the "general rule" is :

*Rising Barometer: Fishing is Best
*Rapidly Fluctuating: Indication of good fishing (regardless of fluctuating up or down).
*Static Barometer: Fishing is poor
*Falling Barometer: First part of fall is good fishing. After the fall continues for several hours, the more the it goes down the poorer fishing will be.
*Unusually Low Barometer: Don't bother as there is no fishing.


Where the heck does today fit into this scenario?

Was it that today was the day after the new moon?


Certainly the last few days would be refered to as "bluebird" days. Blue skies, no winds, sunny, and oh so calm, and 75 degrees in December. Just the kinda day that makes you run out with a big bucket of shrimp, wack some fatties, have a ball and go home oh so satisfied, that your a fisherman in Florida and not in Michigan, right?


Well, since I can't figure any of it out. I'll just go with the saying "sometimes you eat the Alligator, and sometimes the Alligator eats you", because after 6 hrs and a lot of running around and hard work on my part catching nothing.....and couldn't give away a live shrimp to a GAME FISH, I'll just wait till it starts blowing and gets cold, the jetties are rough as a cob again, because that's when I do my best most of the time.

I wasn't alone either. One of the better Trout fisherman I know was struggling hard, also and had several friends out there not having as much fun as they had planned, too.


C'C'mon wind and big swells.....looks like you're my best "Jetty" friend.
(see the White Water behind me??)

12/09 - Killer Rides!

Ya know I love aluminum "plate alloy" boats to be exact. Because of their toughness.
And since Christmas has everything around here at a dead stand still. I found the perfect Christmas Present I'd love to give myself and Dad....(don't know if mom would be up to it).

All we have to do is get on an air plane, fly to New Zealand, find where these guys are, and go for the ride of a lifetime, and then come back to J-ville. (I may never come back, though!)

I'm facinated with rocks, white water, and water jet propulsion on boats.
So this takes care of all my "wonders".
I just won't forget my 'Depends' undergarment!

12/7 - Test, this was only a Test!

Went with Cappy Bryan today. He just got his boat back from the Mako factory where some warranty issues were being addressed. So it's been 70...something days since he's been in his boat, (he was Jones'n) and what did we do. Head out to test it, on an offshore trip! Close in, but offshore none the less. We headed out the jetties, and it was a "soup sandwich". So Bryan says, "forget this lets turn around, any wind direction with a "N" or an "E" in the beginning, FORGET IT!"

Hell, I was all ready! I was Grundens slickers from head to toe, had my Crocs duck shoes on, I was ready to get wet and tossed around. So instead, Bryan heads back in and up river to a good ole Trout spot. "Thank goodness we brought 4 dozen shrimp along for the ride. "

The Trout bite was hot. But most of the fish were smaller 14-1/2 inchers, and Bryan caught most of them too.

Out of nearly 20, 5 were keepers up to 20 inches, on this one and only spot we fished. Not a good ratio. I also pitched a jig-n-shrimp combo meal, besides a float-rig.

The weather was not at all what it sounded to be last night. It was overcast, cold and windy. "Didn't I read SE winds 5-10 kts.??" Well, it was North, Northeast, 15 knots! And the sky "looked like winter" . But I'm a boy scout, I came prepared and was very comfortable in my foul weather gear.

And the funny thing is, all I caught on the jig-n-shrimp was a small Lane Snapper.

So before ya knew it the 4 dozen shrimp were almost gone. And Bryan says, "can ya get rid of that last shrimp in the well?" It was a tiny little shrimp too, almost too small to fish with. I said, "sure can, I'll make one last cast with it", So I pin it on my jig, while Bryan pulls the anchor. And I get hit, I set the hook and the fish pulls a little drag. Then, the fish gets stuck in something on the bottom. I yell, "pull up, pull up ahead, the fish ran me into something!" I end up getting the fish out of the structure, and it's a really pretty Gag Grouper, 18 inches. I got "rocked-up" by a river Grouper!!

So a Lane snapper and a Gag Grouper....(almost like the offshore fishing trip, for me.)

With a few Trout added in....that's funny.

Two days ago a 18-1/2" Red Snapper at the jetties that a client caught....

(Ut Oh, Commentary brewing....)

And the State is thinking of sucking water out of the St. Johns River so Orlando residents have fresh water to drink?

Screw them, then the state shouldn't let developers go hawg wild! Greedy damn tax sucking governments!

What's next if they do that, "King Mackerel down town?"

12/5 - Cold, Crisp, Clear, Calm, I love days like this!

Had Don and Joe on board, and had plans to go down in the river for the day, but at the boat ramp changed my mind and went east, again. The lure of the big rocks, the multiple species and the big water. It calls me all winter, and I can't shake it. And that was a good thing, because we caught some nice "multiple species" today. From pup Reds, and Reds too big, Drum perfect sized eaters, big Yellowmouth Trout, Speckled Trout, add in a few Croaka's, Seabass, and Bluefish round out the bait stealer crowd, and one Genuine Red Snapper.........(18 1/2 inches)

AT THE JETTY ROCKS!

I've fished out there for a long time, and have done it all. Jigged, bottom fished, float rigged, lure fished, and caught some uncommon species, like Bonita while casting a spoon, Almaco Jacks on jigs and a pogie, Cobia on jigs and shrimp, Dog Snappers on jigs and shrimp and even Barracuda on top water plugs. Ballyhoo in my cast net, but today was the first time I've ever had anyone catch a Red Snapper at the jetty rocks, on a jig and shrimp.

I heard they are in really close, but man this is close! I thought we had another Drum, but Joe said it was fighting different. And when I went for the net, and looked back into the water, I was shocked when this "chicken" Snapper popped up to the surface.

We had a better tide for jigging than float-rigging, so I set the anchor and the guys had a 28" Redfish and two 22" Black Drum and a 20" Yellowmouth, and a 2 pound Jack Crevalle in the first 20 minutes of being on the spot. Not bad!

I don't get why a Jack is still here, the water temp was a cool 65 degrees.....ain't it time for them to head to Ft. Pierce??

It's my favorite time of year! I could easily give up June, July, August, and September, and go live some where else, and then come back to J-ville for this kind of fishing. On a Cold, Crisp, Clear, Calm winter Day! We fished the spot till the bluefish showed up and drove us outa there. And we lost a few big fish to the rocks, also.

I was very lucky....or more like the fella's were that they knew how to cast a bait casting reel, cause I don't use spinners....I hate them things!

They quickly picked up the jigging technique that isn't all that easy to do, if you've never taken a 3/8th's ounce jighead and bounced it down a set of 10 ton granite boulders covered in all kinds of tackle and marine growth. Feel the "tick, tick" of a bite and then pull a big fish out of there on the literal "fairy wand" GL3 Loomis popping rods I had them using.

We caught Trout after the jetty bite quit on the float-rig, but most were small, and we kinda jig fished right through most of the best part of the falling tide. So we tried a few other spots, but ended up back jigging the rocks, and picked up another over sized Red. Dang...no slots??

Then, the blues showed up again so we went and did some heavier rod, deeper water, swifter current float-rig fishing. Where Don caught a slot Red, exactly 27". And a few more Specks, with one 18 incher for the cooler.

We worked this spot till it just didn't work any longer. And by now, is when the weather forecast

came true. The 15 knots from the west.

The tide was coming in on the bottom and the boat was all over the place, and when I went to move my anchor was caught on another anchor line someone cut off. Ya' know when you really understand the jetties?? It's when you pull up to a spot and tell the folks on board, that there's anchor lines down there, and then what happens.....ya get stuck on one. Hmmmmm... I wonder how I know that?

Been there, done that a few times? Yeah, that's for sure. Just like I have names for certain rocks out there too. There's the Bull Rock, the Prudential Rock, the Flat Rock, and Round Rock, and the Poop Rock.

I just realized, I never took a picture of the Specks that were caught....how could I?

They're "my" fish, and I didn't include them?

How could I!

Overall, it was a good day. It had its trials and tribulations.....some days have none. But that's usually only when I'm alone. But Don and Joe learned a lot, even though Don was a float-rigger from way back. I was pleased when an ole Float-rigger learns a new trick or two. It's one thing I can teach very well, since that's where my passion lies.

Looks like the rest of this week is gonna be okay:

FRIDAY SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. INLAND WATERS SMOOTH. AREAS OF EARLY MORNING DENSE FOG WITH VISIBILITY 1NM OR LESS.

SATURDAY EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. INLAND WATERS MOSTLY SMOOTH. AREAS OF EARLY MORNING DENSE FOG WITH VISIBILITY 1NM OR LESS.

SATURDAY NIGHT EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. INLAND WATERS SMOOTH. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

SUNDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO3 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

MONDAY NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS MOSTLY SMOOTH. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

Come on, "Lets Go Fishin". A 'private charter' with Capt Dave, makes for a really nice Christmas present for a son, daughter, or the wife. Quality time spent together, in the sea air, is good for the soul, and a fine way to spend time with a family member.

12/2 - It was S-W-E-L-L

Headed out again solo after some getting a few calls, that of course they never panned out. I just don't get it, why call me if you don't want to go out and have a lot of FUN.

So I did without them.

There was a monster swell at the jetties today. Why I couldn't figure. The tide wasn't strong at all. We didn't even have a 4 foot tide. But around the jetties the water movement was huge.


Especially noticeable at the tips of the jetty rocks. Swells 6 foot and maybe larger crashed on the rocks. Especially on the incoming tide. It was "kawagunga dude" where I fished. I certainly wouldn't have been where I was if I had people on board I'm sure. I sat in an area today that was for the well seasoned jetty fisherman. But it had clear water. And of course there was plenty of fish there if you could stay on two feet while fishing. I had some come around the rocks, but didn't have anyone anchor up near me. So being the fishing snob I am, I was glad they didn't have the "sand" to join me.

On my second cast of a jig-n-shrimp up to the rocks I had this pretty multi-spotted 28" Redfish.
Yes, I threw jigs most of the day. I was hoping to do some float-rig fishing on the incoming, but the crowds were out in force, this morning, so I stayed on the jig most of the morning.


I also got to try out a new anchor, and it was a good day for it. I usually use my own Jettywolf Anchor's. Just a jetty style anchor with tines, but my designs are so much better than those bait shop rebar ones. But in the rough water, when I need to anchor in sand, the ole JettyWolf anchor just won't hold well. So I bought one of those collapsible "reef"anchors. It looks like one of those anchors a kayaker would use. The difference is theirs is light weight, and mine weighs in at 12 pounds. Add 8 foot of chain that comes in at 12 pounds too. And I have a nice anchor to hold in the soft bottom, that I can carry and won't take up a bunch of room in my boat.


I fished where I did, starting at low tide, because there's been some Drum in the area. And I didn't want to bottom fish (bait-n-wait) so jigging on light tackle (L.T.) was what I had in mind for the Drum. The swell surely had to be tough on the fishing, since after the first Redfish on my 2nd cast it took quite a while to score a drum, but I did. I caught 4 of them. Two were worth boxing, and two were too small to be worth it.


I know the photo of the seas certainly don't do it justice, but it was tough fishing, standing, and jigging where I was. But it was a whole lot better since I was alone and I wasn't being waked every two minutes. The sets of swells would almost come in on a predictable pattern. If I could have had customers out there, they would had to be experienced and had some serious sea-legs on.


I sound like a broke record, I'm sure. But I have the boat to be able to do what I do. I was safe, comfortable and dry as a bone as I sat in the back wash of the huge walls of water crashing on the jetty rocks. You know your in love with your boat when on every trip, your re-confirmed that it was a great decision to have it built.

I continued catching Reds rather than more Black Drum. I've done this before, wishing each Redfish was a Drum. After the first Red, I really have no use for them. I wanted fish for the box.


I caught a few big fat Yellowmouth Trout, on a jig with a spinner on the bottom. It sinks slower, and I really jig it after I cast up to the rocks so the spinner blade flutters, and with a live shrimp pinned to the hook, it's a definite a Trout catcher. But I caught Reds on it, too.


As the tide changed I did move on to explore the rest of the rocks. So I hit the south Jetty, and of course it had people all over it. But I shmoozed on in to a decent spot. The water was really sandy, and there wasn't any decent current. But I did make 6 casts with the float-rig and came up with 2- Speckled Trout, and a small pup Redfish.


Then, disgusted with dirty water and no current I moved on. It's really funny how some people camp out on a spot. I guess it's in hope that something will come their way. Personally, I have found especially on the float-rig, if there's active fish in the area, they'll make their presence know right quick. I have a saying when I have customers on-board, and they're fishing the float. If they each make 5 drifts on a spot, that's 10-15 drifts through an area. If we don't get bit by then, there's no fish on this spot. And hell, if I'm waiting around for the bite to magically turn on. Many times, if there's a big trout on the spot, we'll catch them on the 1st drift. It's like clock work, and happens every time. It's the nature of the presentation. It gets their attention, quickly.

I caught a few small trout up along the navy base and was waked by boaters that can't even give ya' a 100 yard berth. I'm anchored 20 feet from the bank and had people zooming by 50 feet from me, when they have the whole river. And are supposed to utilize the CHANNEL. Yes, the channel......If ya don't believe me, just ask the USCG. I don't always agree with that either, but when underway from one place to another in navigable waters, your supposed to be in the marked channel. But we all know there's nit-wits out there on weekends that haven't a clue of the "rules of the road", or common courtesy.


So I went back to the only spot where I had some peace and quiet......alone with the giant swells that now rolled in with the incoming tide.

And continued to catch more Reds.
I ended up with 12 Reds, one was a slot size, and I put it in the fish box. two were small, and the rest were too big, up to 31 inches.
I had the 4 Black Drum, kept two. and had 4 Specks, two I kept, and a few Yellowmouths.

I took 6 dozen live shrimp and still had some left in the live well, when I packed it in and headed for home.

Overall it was a decent day. I could stand a Monday like this a whole lot easier, but heck ya have to soak up the 80 degree December days when ya get them, huh?

I certainly am not gonna feel bad when I have someone booked for a trip if they are local, and it's 40 degrees all day long. Because they certainly had their chance at fishing in the warmth lately.

Overall, you cannot not miss if you go to the big rocks, right now. Tis' the season, for the jetties. But I miss the river, too. Since ever day I've been to the inlet lately, it's been rough. Today was kinda tough on the body. As I sit here now, I still feel the ocean moving.

Next up for me is a Wednesday trip, with one guy. It's guaranteed to be cold and maybe windy. Because he missed a dead calm weekday "window", last Thursday.