10/14 - what the heck?

I cannot believe October is about 1/2 way over all ready. I guess time fly's when your having fun!

And so far, October has been FUN.

Now, start thinking about November folks...The fishing is awesome!!

Here's a day from last year (Nov. 14) with my buddy Nick and I at the jetties. This is just what we kept and took home. We released a bunch of Reds, Trout and Drum...(two 72 qt. coolers full)

And some of you even received a notice about my 1-3 passenger Monday-Tuesday-Weds. charters where I provide lunch, in October. And ya' never took me up on the offer!! I suppose the drop in Monday thru Weds. charters is that everyone is afraid to loose their J-O-B if they get caught taking off a day. A sure sign of the times, I guess.

Don M. reminded me of this on yesterday's charter (he did not receive such a deal, because he already received a multi-day reserved price. He's been out with me twice a month for 2 months.)

Yep, it was for the folks in my "rates schedule" database. People who have signed up to receive deals. Not in conjunction with any other so called "deal" I have out there. Not offered for everyone, that's for sure.

The "I bring lunch" is for you folks who are signed up. And includes, Publixs subs and drinks. With advanced reservation deposit for a 1-3 person charter, in October only.

10/13 - Great windy day?

Don M. and myself were really sitting on the fence about today, reshedule or not? When we talked yesterday afternoon. All because of the forecast. But Don's friend Eric was coming along, and he works for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and was in Denver with the team. So we couldn't ask him. And Don was starting a new job this week, so we just agreed....."let's go fishing, who cares what the forecast is"

The forecast was for a sunny day, occasional showers, with winds building from the east up to 25 knots with the visit of gale force winds here and there. And believe it or not, the forecast was dead on!

This morning at 0730 hrs. we took off from the dock and things were pretty damn nice. The tide was high, and with the east breeze pushing the river even higher. The parking lot of the boat ramp was getting wet.

Okay, high water, east winds......"hmmm, were do I go?"

I stopped and anchored up on a spot near Chico-pit bay, where there's a long shallow shell bar.
And we float-rigged along it and over it. Catching Trout right away.
Problem was, many of them were small, with only 2 good keepers out of 8 or more.


Then came the Pinfish bites. It's as if they just found us. And my theory is; "if bait stealers are the only fish biting, then they are the only fish there." So we moved on.

We did a short "world tour" of the river down towards Mill Cove. But the wind was just too strong to be anywhere near open water. So I headed back to the Mayport Hub. (aka: boat ramp up to the little jetties area)

(commencing, sarcasm) We sure were weak on the 10 DOZEN LIVE SHRIMP I thought I bought. Strangely, I sure hope all these dead mutilated shrimp that were in my livewell, weren't part of the 10 dozen live I forked over $30 bucks for. Because I know these shrimp didn't get this way after a few hours in my livewell. (end of sarcasm)

We worked an area at the Little Jetties where the current was absolutely unbelievable. So strong I couldn't even anchor. I finally tied off to a piling, and we caught those dreaded 4" Mangrove Snapper bait stealing bastards, and one healthy Croaker before it was once again time to move on.

Low on bait, already...we moved looking for some action in the gale force gusts. So I went shallow, along another shell bar. One more keeper Trout, and then all of a sudden it was "pupper time". Small Reds, I think Don and Eric caught the whole school. They were 12" to 18".

Then my
"suppose to be"
10 dozen live
shrimp were
all gone.








Overall, a decent day for how hard the wind was blowing.



Ended up with a nice bag of fillets for the guys to eat. And I was glad to get the heck out of the wind and head home.















By the way: I'll be casting my VOTE, to get that damn Bill Nelson out of office the first chance I can. He wants a 5ooo person nuke aircraft carrier in Mayport, add in the city wanting (2) 2000 people cruise ships(?) in Mayport and again as like everything this city does, it does it with no infrustructure!! GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK!
He lives no where near Mayport. He needs to live near Mayport,thats for damn sure. So he can sit in the traffic, and hear the Navy dragsters go over the Wonderwood bridge, and sit in a mile long line of cars to get to the ferry or boat ramp. It's been easy getting to the boat ramp in the morning for the last year or so and now this big mouth bureaucrat is at it again.

10/11 - One spot, fishing.

Had John C. and his wife aboard. Nice calm folks, ready to learn. John's a bass fisherman, so this was all pretty knew to him. So I gathered.

We left the dock good and early. The rain was falling, the skies were overcast with dark clouds all over, and the river was dead calm...but that didn't last long! After the rain passed, here came the winds, NE winds.

We had already rescheduled this trip from Sept. 20th. That day it was 25 knots from the east, and raining hard that morning, and when I made my way to the boat ramp to take a look. We would have been one of two boats out that morning. So rescheduling was a good idea.

But as luck would have it, today didn't seem that much better.

After the rain, the wind started blowing pretty damn good. And since I've been finding fish really close, we just stuck it out there all day.

We could have ran around trying spot after spot that was out of the wind, but why? This area was just as good as any of those, and better. Because I've been fishing here for two weeks.

I know the pattern. Only thing that's different is the advancement of the tide an hour each day and boat traffic .

H-A-R-D B-O-T-T-O-M = F-I-S-H, is an ole saying from my offshore bottom fishing days. And it still applies in the river too. Plus every morning the schools of bait come pouring through this area and with it comes flocks of birds. But right then, is when the current is the strongest. And I cannot even describe to you how hard it is to get anchored on this bottom, between the current, wind, and the concrete like river floor.

I must have anchored no less than 10-12 times! Add in all the inconsiderate weekend crowd, who come flying past you while hanging on your anchor by a thread. And there ya have it...getting waked, means having to re-anchor, once again. (Thanks, BELDAR)

On the high water it's always Ladyfish, a few Trout, Mangroves, and lost shrimp. But as the tide goes down I usually try out deep for some big Reds. We tried today. But between the wind and the wakes, my gut was telling me, "this is a waste of time." So back to the float-rig we went.

I can easily deal with the fishing and the hard bottom. But the wind and the weekend wakers, that's the challenge in this area.

But then all of a sudden, the other boats just went away. The anchor miraculously stuck good and we were into a bite of Yellowmouth Trout with a mix of Jacks and Specks, like last Thursday.

EVERY SINGLE DRIFT OF THE FLOAT-RIG WAS A BITE!
My crew was having a ball! And I just stood ready with the net.

I love this. It rivals the big bites I will be into of Yellowmouths & Specks come this winter at the Jetties.

Same exact thing. But add in Reds and
Sheepshead then. When the water's cooler.

We didn't and usually do not get into GATOR sized Trout here. But that's okay. There's hardly a throw-back fish. Just good keepers up to 18-19 inches.

My crew put their limit in the box in a matter of minutes (12) Yellowmouths and a few Specks. Played with some Jacks in the high speed current on the small hooks. And then we just played catch and release, till all the shrimp (10) dozen were gone.


Basically, any day that we go out and burn every single shrimp in the live well, and some dead ones, on Trout is a good day no matter what the weather's like.

I always bring a lot of bait!

And I'm glad I stuck with it.
I could have moved, done more bottom fishing for Reds, float-rigged
some different spots. But it just didn't make any sense to me. We might have just been wasting time.




Finally, this week I have some
weekday trips. But then of course
Monday's supposed to be heinous.
But if we can switch to another day, later in the week. I believe we'll be okay.

As long as the "weather" starts to
clear out by Tuesday. Because I'll be out again Weds. Thurs. Friday, and Saturday. Pour me in a Dixie Cup, by Sunday!


I'd really start thinking about November, folks.

It's probably #1 on the list of favorite months. Because it's all about JETTY-TIME! Get a calm day, with a 2 passenger trip for versatility, and man ya' never know what can happen.

John and his wife went home today with a big ole bag O' fillets...Fish Fry! I hope they enjoyed a rainy, windy, weekend day, enough to come on back on a non-rainy, windy....weekday, sometime in the near future. Because this is just the start of my favorite season, fishing, and species.

10/10 - like sands through the hour glass........

"Like sands through the hour glass these are the days of my life"....That's the theme to an old Soap Opera "Days of our lives".

And that statement goes through my head every time I bust some serious fish "azz" and then try the same thing the next day with customers.

Not that I expect them to be masters of their domain, such as I...."but I'd like to see a glimmer of the previous day's Trout slaughter happen."

So here I got Ron, Bob, and John out with me on the boat as we pulled away from the dock before the sun was up. I go to where Nick and I wore the trout out yesterday, not exactly during the same hour (we were earlier today) on the spot. We set up, get chewed like wolves knawling on raw meat by the gnats, go over the finer points of "the float" technique....and what do they catch?
Ladyfish......nasty lil' ones. That just went into the cooler for cut bait.

And not all that many, either. Oh, I see, this is a "ya should have been here yesterday", kinda deal momma nature wants to play on me.

Well Ron really came to catch a Redfish. So we pull out of the bug chew zone. And set up for some bottom fishing for a big Red. We get two right off the git-go. And one has 66 spots. Caught by Bob.

















Then it was Ron's turn, and he gets one a tad smaller.
















After a few kitty kat fish bites, we were out there.
And I've noticed the croakers have kinda moved on to happier hunting grounds too.

Off to the jetties...

Man, that place was a dead zone. Big swells outside the inlet and huge rollers inside, and never saw anyone hook up, and neither did we. So I pulled anchor and ran to the beach, because maybe we could catch some POGIES, I thought.

And it was all the slimy lil' bastards you'd ever want. And by the way, these were the first pogies I have cast my net over in the year of 2008...it only took 10 months for me to find a pogie with out spending gallons of fuel to find them.

I remember years ago when it was like this. Pogies everywhere, and giant Reds all around them.
So I pitched out some Pog's and we drifted around the flipping schools.
NO REDS. But there was no lack of small Blacktip sharks that would scarf up a Pog on the bottom. All this free food and no Reds? Seems really stupid, huh?

Ron also wanted to catch a shark.......okay that was easy, his two requests finished by 10am. Only problem is the sharks were babies. 2-1/2 feet long each one. I'd guess Ron really wants a "man-sized" Shark. Too bad, I was all over them in June & July. Easy to catch, any one of those 100 pounders then, would put a notch in his belt.

Okay, time to move on again.

Up into the river. A great spot. Always catch a 20 plus pound Red here......

And what did we get? A 23-25 pounder. Then, it was one trash can lid after another! Rays, I call these kind butterflies. They have the shape of a butterfly, and their top side has a marbley look. I've never caught these in the river before this year. I usually caught these up in the Nassau River. But either way, they are a shit fish in my book. So after John pulled in three of these damn things, and then a kittykat fish...."I done had enough."

In the back of my mind I really wanted to go pitch a few floats for Trout again, but instead we tried bottom fishing one more spot. Nothing there, so we pulled out the floats one mo' time.

And caught a few Trout and a Croaker to end the day, as the tide went slack.

The big bite of Reds is many times an evening thing, and a buddy of mine was into them pretty good about this time as the tide changed where he was. But I was up at 0500 hrs loading the boat, so it was a long day, by now. I had reports to write, dinner to eat, phone calls to make, and had to get some fuel into the boat. All before 9pm....my serious bewitching hour.

It's now 8:45pm and I'm ready to hit the sack. Need all my fortitude for yet another Saturday on the St. Johns River tomorrow. Man, I love weekends.........NOT!

I wanna get back on those Trout again. Maybe tomorrow. I only have a husband and wife aboard.

Can't stop thinking about what a screwed up year it was for those pogies. And just now I get them in October, near the jetties. Because I'm not running to Ponte Vedre or Amelia Island for bait, that's for sure. Close or no cigar.....I have Shrimp 100% of the time.

10/9 - IN FULL SWING..."their here"

Their Here.....

What the hell do I mean by that?

Well, if you're like me you look forward to this time of year because it's not only cooler, and the Big Reds are chewin'. But there's so much more than that. It'sa great time for my favorite style of fishing. And that's drifting a float-rigged live shrimp behind the boat, and now I don't have to travel far to it, with good success.

I'll admit it, I love turning RIGHT, out of the boat ramp dock. Which heads me EAST.

Today, Nick W. and myself had such a great day that if I told you where we caught our fish, I'd be shooting myself in the foot.

I did have two photos to post, but in the process of fooling with my camera trying to take some short video, I screwed everything up and lost the photos I took.

But for some reason these two photos some how got hidden in my camera's memory. And they were the only two on the memory chip. They're dated 6/22/08...I remember that day! We went and caught some Blacktip Sharks and then made a quick run offshore and pulled Drone spoons for these two exotic species...


Cuda's and Kings, the two fish that will inhale
a Drone Spoon without thinking about it.

Okay, enough about them HOT summer, non-river fishing days, which are are now behind us.

Today, Nick and I caught no less that 40 Speckled Trout. (this is what I mean!!!)

It was ever single drift of the float rig that hooked a beautiful Trout. In about an hour we had our limit of 10 in the box, up to 19".

Toss in some big mean Yellowmouth Trout, and talk about just plain F-U-N. Then, add in some 2-3 pound Jacks, mutant sized Pinfish, a few Ladyfish, and a handful of those pesky 4" Mangrove Snappers, and you get what Nick said "You mean we just went through 100 live shrimp??" "Yes, my drum beating friend, that's a sign of one great day," I replied. (Nick's the drummer for the local Celtic Rock Band, "RATHKELTAIR")

And the great thing about the whole day is we never burned a gallon of fuel, I'd bet on that.
We just burned shrimp like cord wood, and they turned into a cooler of Trout. Then we went back to the ramp and cleaned our 10 Trout and a half dozen big Yellowmouths.

I'll admit it. We went today to actually get some footage for a future Float-rig fishing video tape, I want to do. But the actual tape in the camera got messed up somehow and that idea was scrapped. So then I got out the snap shot digital camera and found out that I really didn't know how to use the video feature. So, that whole idea was tossed out the window. And we just kept pulling in the Trout.

So, the poop is. These fish are stacked up. For how long in this location, it's any ones guess. But I know I sure like it. And so does my fuel budget/wallet.

I also noticed. My Raymarine C-120's "calibrated" temperature gauge read, 76 DEGREES!

Does this mean no more 80 degree water? I hope so, because as the water temp falls, here comes more heaven...

Friday, Saturday & Monday I'll be out making more reports. But Monday's looking iffy. 20 knot EAST winds on a falling tide...OUCH!

That's not good for anyone.

10/7 - Gotta love our system

In case you missed it.......




and I bet he doesn't even F-I-S-H for fun, let alone a good meal.
hahahahahah

10/4 - A Tougher Saturday.....but nice and sunny.

Had Katrina and her friend Damon on the boat Saturday, for a bit of R&R. The wind was up compared to Friday. But it still was a beautiful morning.

BUT.... "Things were a bit off, compared top Friday."

Since my success was so great the day before I sort of followed the same "path".

First off, was catching some bait, Lil Croakers. So after going through all the details with Katrina and Damon, I anchored up on a hard bottom spot in the river. They dropped shrimp down and immediately caught some Croak's. I took those Croak's and cut them into pieces and pitched them out the stern, and waited for Brutus T. Redbass.

"Remember, back in the days when there were Pogies all over the beach? Back then, I'd run out the inlet, searching for them, while scanning the skies for diving birds, and usually catch way more than I needed. In today's world, it's not worth the fuel spent looking, because they just are not there. I can't even say I've caught a Pogie in all of 2008, that I can remember. I'm real sensitive to spending hours and miles looking for them......it's been a snipe hunt, each time I've tried. So, with the abundance of lil' Croakers, even though not nearly as good a bait as a stinky Pogie, and cheaper and more durable than a cut crab, I go with them. They're usually right where I'm fishing anyhow, that means no wasting time."

Damon and Katrina were in "Full Croaker Mode" when one of the stern cut bait rods doubled over. It was Brutas T! Katrina fought the fish, but at the last second, next to the boat it came off the hook.

So we kept trying. And unlike the day before the Croakers were smaller, and there were only a few small Yellowmouth Trout mixed in them. So as the tide faded, it was time to hit the inlet and fish outside the jetty rocks.

The wind was stronger then Friday and the water was a bit sloppier. The current was going one way, and the boat laid another, just like Friday. We caught more Croakers, and one medium sized Nurse shark. And that was it. So we headed back into the river.

By now the crowds were thick! Flats boats buzzing all over the place, and for some reason ever single flats boat that was on the river came by to fish the same locale I was at......"except in the shallows", while I was deeper. There had to be one of those Mosquito Fleet tournaments going on, with Flounder as a fish species. And if each line of flats boats only knew how beat up that area had been since yesterday, and all morning long today they might take the time to find new Flounder spots????

That's the problem with weekends!!! There's hardly anywhere around the Mayport "hub" that you can fish, that someone has not been on before you or after you.

I know I get so damn tired of it, myself.

So as we fished and had one boat after another run directly over the top of my lines to my stern, or over my anchor off my bow. It's a "here's yer sign", that the fishing will suffer. And hell if you want to catch big Trout. Boat traffic is my #1 enemy, when it comes to them.

But since we did so great on Friday, I stuck with my plan.

We ended up a handful of keeper Croakers, a large Seabass, 4 - pup Drum, and another Redbass....28 inches. I so badly wanted Damon to catch either giant, or a keeper. And we get an in between size, instead.



But we ended up with some decent "stringer" fish, in the box for Katrina to cook up.







And the current? It was a lot stronger so it seemed compared to yesterday. Probably because of the N.E. wind strength. We took off back to the dock, just as the current faded enough. Because of course a boat that came in and "Beldar Conehead'ed" us caught two over sized Reds in a bit deeper water.

















In the last two days, here some weird things I've seen:

Friday, my customer Don pointed out a 18" Flounder swimming on the surface toward the boat out off the end of the jetties as we were anchored up. It was 40 feet deep, and the Flounder was just 2 inches under the surface, swimming right at us. I tried to get the net out and scoop it up, but the net was secured and I couldn't get it out fast enough.

Damon's 28" Redfish we caught today, was trailing about 10 feet of green Berkley solar line, and had swallowed what looked like a circle hook. Damon also caught a small Yellowmouth Trout, that had no tail at all. It was either bit off clean, or amputated by some idiot.

10/3 - Perfect Day....Perfect Fish

There's an ole saying that most happy go lucky married men, usually in their 60's live by and don't even know it.....or do they.

Happy Wife = Happy Life.

Well, the same goes for FISHING.

A Perfect Day=Perfect Fish. (and in the charter biz, a good crew on board is also a big plus)

So I don't have to tell ya' much, about today. Other than, along the side bar of this report blog, I updated my "philosophy" section last week, and part of it goes like this..."There's no perfect day fishing. But if there is, I'll be sure to tell ya about it right here on this report blog."

So here it is. A perfect day, with the Brandt family that have been fishing for me for years and years. Which is another reason the day was so perfect. The Brandt's are fun folks.
























We even had Bill in a neck brace from neck surgery, if ya can believe that!

He's the one that caught the largest Redbass, because he's addicted!

So I had to oblige.

Lots of I.G. "you know what that means", Instantaneous Gratification!

A stringer of Croakers, Yellowmouth Trout, and only one Redbass small enough to keep, but we had them up to 18 pounds, and all in between.

Shrimp to catch Croakers, and then Croaker to catch Redbass....a 14 inch Seabass, and the largest of the yellowmouth.

A big part of what made today so good is that it was cool, sunny, light breezes, and no boat traffic around us.

10/2- For Curious Onlookers......

Mine is a 26 footer.

LET'S GO FISHIN'

9/30 - GOOD BYE......September!

Finally, it's over. One more month closer to cooler weather.














(five minutes from the dock......in "winter".)

WHY? Doesn't anyone reserve a weekday anymore? Is it the sign of the times? Because as far as I'm concerned "the times" have been "not good" for a long while.

Here's why: (check this weekends winds which includes Fridays too...versus the week days! My notes are "Highlighted")

REST OF TODAY VARIABLE WINDS....this means GOOD! 10 KNOTS OR LESS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET IN A NORTHEAST SWELL. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

WEDNESDAY SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 KNOTS, also really good. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT NORTH WINDS 10 KNOTS, "the switch". SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS. Jetty fishing??? NOT???

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

Remember the Abu Garcia 6500 Chrome Rocket reels I had here for sale for next to nothing?

Well, as usual Jacksonville let's me down.

Here's where they sit now on Ebay......

Current bid:
US $400.00

Your maximum bid:
US $ ___________
Place Bid >
(Enter US $405.00 or more)

End time:
4 hours 36 mins (Sep-30-08 10:24:18 PDT)

Shipping costs:
US $18.00 UPS Ground Service to United States

Ships to:
United States

Item location:
Jacksonville, FL, United States

History:
10 bids

Starting bid:
$200.00

As you can plainly see, Ebay sure works better than.......here, Florida Sportsman MarketPlace, and all other web sites.
Who ever gets these reels sure is getting a deal.

UPDATE: on reels......

SOLD $438.35 with UPS Ground shipping!!!
-------------------
I have gone all "Low-Pro" ...aka: Low Profile bait casting.

I strive for YOU my customers to be using only the best and what I have tweeked for you.
Low-Pro reels are lighter, have higher speed retieves, and many time cast better.

My reels of choice are:

Either the Shimano
Curado 300DSV
or the near similar
Shimano Citica 200DSV





Fast and strong, and perfect
for all river species.

Soon to be matched up with 8' Fiberglass Rods
I have designed as my "Speck Specials."

Fiberglass for overall durability, and for a parabolic action, when hooked up to large head shaking Speckled Trout on a float-rig using the smallest of hooks. I wanted a rod that also sported EVA foam grips, that are more durable than cork. Go ahead....try and find a one piece glass rod thats 8 feet, with a HD trigger reel seat in a catalog or store. There is no such animal...until now. And it's my "Speck Special."

Designed from the blank up, The blanks are even made by hand, for Float-rig fishing! After testing the proto-type, I will have these availible to you if you'd like one or more.

9/26 - 27 Superior Weather.....and no one missed it!

9/26 - Headed out with my buddy Nick in his lil 17' Seachaser boat at high tide.

Never liked dead high tide, other than in the dead of winter. But since his boat goes quite shallow we headed up into a creek off the intra-coastal water way. The tide was really high, so high that I could have easily fished the same creek in my boat.

I threw a rattling cork and live shrimp around, as Nick float-rigged off behind the boat.

I caught a nice 18" Speck, saw 2 Reds.....that was I thought. But after Nick caught a Skate now that I think about it the Redfishes backs are about the same color of a Skates back when sticking out of the water. Plus, how many Redfish do you see totally miss a live shrimp scared out of the grass, while chasing it? Not many. I watched the little shrimp, escape.....across the surface when flushed.

So after not catching but one Trout and one Skate in the flooded grass and not seeing any other fish movement. We moved on. It was deadly BORING!

As you can see I was wearing the fleece vest I've had in my truck since last winter! It was cool out there and boy did it feel good! We gave this "dead ended creek" a good shot, and instead of it's real name, I'll just refer to it as dead-end creek, now. There was no baitfish, and obviously not many fish in there, either.

The falling tide current has been a real pain lately. Way too strong. Then as the morning grew warmer here came the wind. We picked and poked around for what seemed like hours, and then as the tide was rumbling out we made a long run to a spot covered up with people. Boats stacked up in one spot (a good spot) as if it was a holiday........Friday's are just extensions of a weekend anymore. So we had to sit and wait our turn. I absolutely hate this situation, waiting for someone to leave, move, get out of the way...whatever. So we can go in and catch some fish.

While waiting I caught a small Yellowmouth Trout and a Jack on my float-rig. Then all of a sudden, one boat taking up a 100 foot area with lines, left. We motored on in and began float-rigging with DEAD SHRIMP....no need for live bait. And waylayed huge Yellowmouth Trout on after another. Each fish was 18-21 inches, and finally we had some fun. Nick and I easily put our whopping limit of (8) in the cooler and moved on.....We only had maybe 6-8 live shrimp in the well. They all died on us.

(note: when purchasing live shrimp, especially this time of year, after huge salinity swings in the river. Do not recycle the water in your live well. I DON'T. Just get a good amount of water from the bait shop and go with it...keep the bait oxygenated. But do not change the water out of the well as you change locations.)

We headed back to the boat ramp and before doing so we hit a Speckled Trout spot with the few live shrimp we had left. It was tough fishing, but I pulled one 19" Speck out of there and the shrimp were gone.

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

9/27 - Saturday with the Bidwell family....at 7am the boat ramp was quiet. No huge amounts of traffic. Which was surprising. Maybe everyone stayed up late to watch Obama drop kick McCain in the debate the night before. I know I was a bit sleepy-headed myself at 5:00 am.

It was Bob, Tammy, Bobby, and Payton...the boys were 10 and 14 years old. It was of course a high tide again....so I just went to the jetties for a bit of float-rig fishing down the rocks.

I went through all the in's and out's of the technique and everyone gave it a try. The water was soup, pea-soup. Calm, with a small swell. But the water clarity told me about all I needed to know. Bobby, had the only fish on and coming to the boat, but of course remained a mystery fish as it fell off the hook below the surface of the soupy water.

Finally the tide started to move so we went looking around. I wanted ACTION!!!!

I needed ACTION, for the boys.

As I pulled up on a spot, I told Bob "the one thing about Saturday's is that no matter where you want to go, someones already there....." Because, as I came off plane there was a boat exactly anchored up on the spot that's marked on my GPS map plotter. Of course, not one place in this river is sacred. That's why I constantly remind people that given the chance......BOOK A MONDAY, TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY!!!!

So I anchored up right next to the other boat. The current wasn't all that bad........YET!

The boys were yanking in the Croakers and small yellowmouth trout with Mom's help in the bow. And Bob and I were watching the stern lines baited up with cut Croaker pieces.

All hands on deck! Things got real busy. Now we're talking FUN! The boys were smiling, and I knew something would happen soon. The boat next to us caught an over sized Redfish. And it wasn't 15 minutes later Bob reeled in a big Yellowmouth Trout. Then, the cut bait rods doubled over and Bob was working a bigger fish to the boat as the second rod doubled over, and Tammy grabbed it.........DOUBLE HEADER......Two Keeper Redfish!

I could just tell, this place was on fire, now! And I was sure we could have a ball anchored here.

BUT........Mother Nature too many times doesn't care what "we" want.

The anchor slipped, and we were fishing while going backwards. I re-set it. Then, again, and again. The current started to flow, and the anchor wouldn't hold on this extremely tough hard bottom area. "It's like concrete down there......" I told everyone. It's hard to get a good dig in the bottom, especially in current like this.

So we were forced to move on. But I told my crew that in years past I've caught Black Drum on that spot while fighting the same thing, in November. It's awesome, and like many other areas in the river that an anchor will not set in, because of how hard the bottom is.

So we went looking at other areas in the river. Some with not enough current, and some with still too much. Damn it's frustrating!!!!

I was hoping to find more Reds, and maybe a giant for the boys to tag team. But ended up with just some more Croakers, too many toadfish, a catfish, and a Seabass.

When we have these strong tides, (5 feet and better) it seems that we're on the edge of the good & bad, all day long....is it too much current or not enough?

I tried several spots looking for a big fish. And it didn't happen. So we headed back to clean what we had. The Bidwells went home with some good slabs of Redfish and a bag of Croaker and yellowmouth fillets for our efforts. The big Croakers sure have seemed to fade off a bit, that's for sure. And I've noticed that the high tides have salted up the river a good amount, again.

I liked it when there wasn't any salt of the boat after a days fishing. And the river was good and sweet. It was nice change.

9/23 - Anglersurvey.com

Record high fuel prices are causing anglers to cut back on their fishing plans, according to a recent survey. And the impact of fuel prices among anglers appears to have escalated sharply since last summer.

In a June survey by AnglerSurvey.com, only 22% of anglers said that higher fuel prices would not affect their fishing activities this summer, compared to 35% who responded “no effect” to the same question in 2007. Likewise, 32% of anglers in 2008 said that high prices would affect their fishing plans, up sharply from the 22% who felt this way a year ago.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has risen about 39% compared to a year ago—to $4.10 on July 2, according to the American Automobile Association.

Launched in 2006, AnglerSurvey.com helps the outdoor equipment industry, government fisheries officials, and conservation organizations track consumer activities and expenditure trends.

The list above represents only a small sample of the vast amount of information that is available from the complete survey results. The results are scientifically analyzed to reflect all U.S. anglers.

http://www.anglersurvey.com/

9/22 - The Dark, Wet, Gloomy, 6 hour challenge

Was over at my parents for Taco Sunday....yeah we name days for what Mom's making for dinner. And of course they have cable TV and I don't. One of the dinner at Mom's perks.

And of course I have to watch all those fishin' shows I never get to see. And I kinda took a liking to a new one. It's called the "Urban Challenge" , or "City Limits", something like that....on Versus.

It features one of the New Young Guns of the bass fishing world. Mike Icconelli. From what I've read, he's one of the "bad boys" of bass fishing. Excitable, competitive, and I've even read he's been banned or thrown out of a tournament or two because of his antics. And of course, he gets his own TV show, because of it. "It's all about $$, I'm sure. In the long run for him".

I couldn't help understanding the premise of the show, though. And being very familiar with what it's all about. He goes to places he hasn't fished before. An urban area inside the city limits of Washington D.C. and Chicago were the two places in this episode. Has a local guy with him, be it a Pro or an average fisherman. And the goal is; a limit of keeper bass (5) for each angler, in less than 6 hours, within the city limits.

Kind of the same thing I do, except I'm looking usually for limits of Trout. I many times have more than one angler (up to 4, and that's a handful), and most of the time they are not local fisherman, or even accomplished fisherman. And have 6 hours to do what I gotta do, and do it inside the city limits of Jacksonville's urban sprawl. So you can see, I watched this show, intently.

So I was talking to DOA Rob, and we had a plan if it was fishable to try it on Monday. Especially since I had a Friday and Saturday charter that the 20 kt. N.E. winds and rain would have made unbearable. For every fishing difficulty factor on my customers, subtract 10 bites per person.

So the way I see it is, add 20 knot east northeast winds...take away bites. Add in weekend traffic, subtract more bites, add in rain and discomfort, subtract even more bites. So we rescheduled for hopefully a better day.

Continue to read on....because Rob and I went and did our own city limits/urban challenge.

Rob and I left for the dock at 7am. We get to the Mayport boat ramp and it's closed till Tuesday, while they repave the parking lot in the rain. Okay...where do I put in the BIG METAL boat?

Oak Harbor boat ramp, which is small, usually very shallow and crowded with no parking. But luckily this was a Monday. And there was no such thing as a low tide today or all weekend.

We're in the water and head to various spots. Even an area that Rob wore out the Trout last Tuesday. ZIPOLA!!!!! Unless you count Ladyfish, and 3 inch Mangrove Snappers. We don't. It's Trout, or at least "box" fish. (Fish that go into the cooler)

We're on our 5th to 6th hour of the challenge now, and have zero Trout. We were rained on, and I mean BIG rain. Rain that came roaring down the river so hard that we could hear it coming before it hit us. Then wind, oh we sat in calm all the way too 20 knot gust that jerked us all over the place on anchor. I kept telling Rob, "we ain't doing so good in our city limits, urban challenge!!"

Then, Rob thought of a spot on the way back towards the boat ramp. I was familiar with it, but always had trouble fishing there. Either the current was too strong, boat wakes to often.....something. He says, "no, no, I mean around the corner from there...." "Oh, man I've never thought of that", I said as we yanked up anchor and made a B-line to the locale.

We pulled up, dropped anchor, pinned on a live shrimp, and on my first cast. BAM, a good TROUT! And from then on it was fish after fish for over an hour. Just like on the TV show.

Rob and I caught at least 10 Trout to 18 inches. Not whopppers, but at least they were BITES!

Only a handful were keepers, but that was okay with us. We just went 5 hours or so catching crap fish. And no Trout. And man, we were excited. Just like Mike Iconelli on the TV show!

Then, in amongst the Trout we started catching large Mangrove snappers, 12 inches and better. We could tell no one's fished here lately. Because almost every single Mangrove was a keeper at first. We actually went about 30 minutes where we caught fish on every drift of the float-rig.

And Rob's a lure man! And he was dropping his DOA shrimp rigged rod for a float-rigged rod.

I kept saying, "this is just like the TV show!!" And it actually made it fun, being that no matter the rain, high winds, dark skies, we finished the challenge victorious. BUT, did we do it in less than 6 hours? NO. Did we have 2- limits each of our 5 Trout, NO. But if we weren't fighting the weather, I think we could have.

And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking....I hope people understand why I suggest to reschedule their charters on these nasty days. Because if two guys that are "masters of their domains" have trouble like this, how do they think their charter day will go? I strive for quality, if I can. So I hope they understand.

Rob and I finished up the day, cleaning our catch and splitting the fish. We each got a bag of fillets. And our undershorts were almost dry by the time it was all over. I like a challenging day like today when out with a friend. I just don't like a challenge that makes my underwear wet in the first two hours of the day.

This weeks weather is the same stuff, wind and rain?. By Saturday it looks to be better with lower winds and less rain chances.

Good, I'll be out on Saturday with 2 adults and 2 kids....Hello Mr. Croaker???

9/20 - Rescheduled....again.

Nasty, rainy, windy, and a flood tide reminicent of Noah's Ark. Ahhhh, perfect, NOT!
I gave them the last option to reschedule today at 530 hrs....and John C. took it.

Man, I really like having at least a gamblers chance at catching a few Gators. So we re-scheduled for the last Saturday I have open in October. I really needed him to choose a weekday!

It's weekdays from here on out folks.

Okay. These Abu Garcia 6500 CS Chrome Rockets, I'm selling "dirt cheap" didn't go, so they're on Ebay now. I want these GONE!!!!












Here they are: http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Abu-Garcia-6500-CS-Chrome-Rockets_W0QQitemZ330272786255QQihZ014QQcategoryZ36163QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Hell, they might not sell on Ebay either in the next ten days.

Remember, I deal in "two's and "fours", 90% of the time.


Sunday: Calm winds, should be here. But then more rain. We're in some kind of big funk this week, that's for sure. With more ENE winds 15kts or better this week...damn, what's up?

Do you know that I have Mayport weather at the bottom of this Blog??????

9/19 - K.O.D. kinda day....

Rescheduled with Don B. and friends today.
The forecast (wind) isn't good and at SCA - small craft advisory....even if it was just a caution. It wouldn't have been good.

Coming off a full moon, incoming tide, and ENE winds. "Oh this isn't good for anyone..."
Especially Don and his friends. And I have the same exact deal tomarrow also, and it sounds like they do not want to move the date.

The way I look at it is, if I'd stay home and not waste my time....Well, enough said right there.

K.O.D. kinda day - Incoming flooding tide, high ENE winds Kiss O' death.

Have you noticed?
I added a music track play list to the ole Reports Blog. Turn on your speakers, if ya wanna hear my selections. The play list is at the bottom of this page. I couldn't find all of what I wanted to put on it, like Celtic Soul more Rathkeltair and Neil Anderson. So I added some oldies but goodies.

Like the photos on my slide show, the tunes change automatically as the page is open as do the photos. Wonder if anyone ever notices that?

I have to say, I'm in the D-A-R-K when it comes to what people see, hear and look for.
I guess because I talk to so many folks who are not computer savvy. And have a hard time going from one of my web pages to another.

Oh well......enjoy, if ya can.

This weekend looks to be a "wind fest."

Good for Sailors, not fisherman.

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

Can't believe no one needs a few of these reels....Have ya' searched these TIMEX style reels on Google and see what they go for? Holy Moly. Chrome over solid brass, international market reels.
The only Abu Garcia really worthy of Saltwater envioroments.

I'll take $260 for all 4 cash...
or $75 each.

9/18 - A look back

Last year, on September 26th I went to Nassau Sound by myself to catch me a bunch of big beach Whiting, Black Drum and Pompano. Because just a few days before a buddy of mine wore them out. He called me, but by the time I got there the tide was over and so was the big bite. But I had a few but my buddy Rob, loaded up.

When I went there on the 26th, solo. I didn't get a single bite. And I started noticing dead mullet on the surface floating by the boat. Then, as the falling tide picked up the whole sound was a flood of dead fish. And I never lost a shrimp. So I headed to the bridge and pitched shrimp up around the pilings, and eventually caught 4 chunky pup drum. And then came home via the I.C.W.

I pulled up to the dock at Mayport and saw friend Guy there sitting in his golf cart. I said, "Man there was some kind of massive fish kill up in Nassau river, there's dead mullet everywhere."

Being the consignment boat sales owner at Mayport Marine, he said to me, "I read in the paper that there's a Red Tide up that way."

Like a brick bat over the head, I said... "Holy Mackerel, yeah that's what it was I'm sure. Dead rotten fish pouring out with the tide from inshore."

We don't experience Red Tide here very often, so I was totally taken off guard. Guy said, "you didn't have trouble breathing or anything? Ya know it gets to your eyes and throat."
"NO", I said. "I really didn't feel any effect."

The moral of this story is that there sure is a lot that goes on that effects our fishing. This summer was 73-75 degree Ocean water temps in the middle of July. When the water temp should be 83 or above!

Which really isn't as bad as I've seen it. In 2004 on July 3rd I rounded the north Jetty heading to Nassau Sound to do a Tarpon chumming trip with Anne Quinley and here brother and sister-in law. As I ran from the river into the ocean, I looked down at my temp gauge on my JRC color scope, and saw 63 degree water. How we did it, was a stroke of luck. But we ran into warmer water at the sound, had chum and in the first 30 minutes of chumming had a 50 pound Tarpon on, with Anne screaming while she struggled to get the fish to the boat. It was all being in the right place at the right time, that's all.

I also had a river Tarpon on the 1st of July that year. Way up Nassau river, the same size. Two in two tries, and the water was really chilly.

Then why not this summer. I kept trying and trying in the 73-78 degree water. But as you remember, I just resorted to the Blacktip sharks, behind the shrimp boats. Which was fun too.

Well now is another time...it's what I call the "second chance" at a Tarpon. They were at the jetties all over the place right after Tropical Storm Fay.

So we know they're around. And if I could, I'd go out and chase them behind the shrimp boats, RIGHT NOW. But the problem is 4-6' seas and Small Craft Advisories with 15-20 knot East Northeast winds. The second chance doesn't last long as they will start to head south. And of course this happens during good Trout fishing (eaters), and spawning big Redbass.

Rosanna Rosanna Danna, a character played by the late Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live used to always say....... "It's always something" .

But if the seas allow, it used to be that I'd anchor up at the south or north jetty for the big Reds on a falling tide only, catch some small Croakers, and then pitch them out for the Reds. And one year we hooked as many as 9 Tarpon, a few spinner sharks, and caught numerous big Reds.
What a day!

You don't know this, but when you pick a day, call me, and reserve it, all these scenarios go thru my head. Well, ya know it now, I guess. I not only have a fantastic memory, but I write everything down too, in my tide book. As you may have noticed, writing isn't a big deal for me. 1200 words a day is a goal of mine.

Still, the best is yet to come folks. Here's a really pretty fish caught where I hope they will be this year......in the sand off the jetties, during the spawn. It was October 4th, in the late afternoon.
And you can plainly see how close we were to the end of the jetty.

The reason I'm using this photo is, the husband of that gal standing there, (Not pictured) will be on my boat with three of his buddies on October 18th for a late afternoon charter, and we want fish like this once again!! (and seas too)

Last fall the Big Reds were a morning ritual for me.
We'd head to the rocks and actually do a controlled drift and hang a bunch of them and then go catch some "box fish" aka: Trout & Drum. It was fun while it lasted.

Here's some of those fish off the sand, from us drift fishing, which we don't often get to do around here.
Do not let these good times pass you by.

I'm hoping for a really good fall season, and of course can't wait till that first morning I have to reach for that old fleece shirt that's hanging up in the back seat of my truck, since last year.

I left it there to remind myself that my favorite season, will come around again someday.

And now it's almost here....just like all the news people are counting the days till the BIG election?

Well, I'm counting the days down till the air cools and days are shorter. And yes, I can't wait till this election crap is over too.

This photo is really funny looking. It looks like she has an extra head growing out of her arm...

Yeah that's Don M. Jr. and his sister. Had Don aboard last week with his dad, and he'll be back next month with his sister again. Maybe we'll get a photo without that extra head....hahahah.

9/17 - Primo-tides for October...

I often forget that many people do not have tides, don't know how they effect the Marine world, and certainly don't book a days charter because of the tides....that's about the last consideration, most of the time. Especially in this non-stop world of juggling multiple peoples schedules, work loads, family, and finances.

It's sort of funny that I've never juggled a schedule, mine or anyone else's, a work load, or family.....only finances. But I do stress over things like tides, weather, tackle, and bait & fuel money. And I'm talking before I went into this business full-time.

And now 12 years later, I still stress over the same things...But now it's called focusing on the goal. People I know say to me all the time, "I can understand why you like all your tackle to match, why you are constantly looking to upgrade, and worry over weather and tides. It's your business."
And I have to stop them right there.... And tell them that it's not that it's my business, I've been this way my whole life. I've always been pre-occupied differently.

So athought came to me to post the best days, the best days I'd consider going fishing with a buddy for fun, wackin some fatties, AKA: putting fish in the box. Which would also be when you would want to go fishing, on my boat. The days could be totally different for someone else. But then you'd be reading that dudes report blog.

OH....I forgot, no other Guide service around here has one, like this.
Stupid me...

Okay, enough editorial info.

October 2008 - Departure at sun up. When I like to pull away from the dock.

6th-8th, 10th-12th, 19th-25th

Now this is just looking at the tides in my book. If I could "guess" at what the weather would be, I just might possibly be on your local TV News channel at 5am, 6am, 8am, 12 noon, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 10pm, and 11pm. Yeah...that kills me too. The local yokel news is on TV way too many hours a day.

For Trout in the box, I like a weekday, no boats around me, low tides in the morning, before 10am.
And since I'm an early riser, I'll take the same thing for big Redbass in the river and at the inlet.
A non-Fish in the box, but fun for everyone.

I have provided a nice Tide Chart link along the side bar (top right) as a tool for you to view.
I refer to the Mayport all the way up river to the Navy Fuel Depot, when utilizing the conversions. Or the rule of thumb I go by is add an hour for each 8 miles or so from the inlet, when people ask.

I'm more concerned about current than "tide". The two are separate things in the St. Johns River. Because so many weather situations can change the "current" we fish in.

I have some customers that get obsessive with the tides, as I am and because of me. Probably because they've learned from choosing a really difficult tides to fish that ended up effecting our day negatively.

My policy is;

I cannot be help responsible for loss of fishing time due to weather, fishing patterns, transportation or other incidents from conditions beyond my control.

And TIDES are another way of saying....."fishing patterns."

That's why I have my phone on my hip, 12 hours a day. 8am-8pm eastern time.
To help you choose, amongst all the other things you maybe juggling. But in the long run, remember it's just fishin'. It's supposed to be fun. You'll learn a lot, guaranteed. See things that you may have never seen before and do something you may have never done before.

A private fishing charter is way more than just, fishing.

And as always say...

"FISHING FOR ME ISN'T MY J-O-B.
IT'S A LIFE STYLE, THAT I SHARE WITH OTHERS"

Sweet....Buck Tail

From Canada with style...

the 25' Conrad Tuna.

Super Sweet.

Ya' know part of your

coming here, is an education

on various Aluminum Alloy

Fishing vessels, right?

I'll even let those MERC 's

on the transom ....slide.

C'C'mon?

9/13 - Yellermouths.."the other tide runner".

Had Dave C. and friend Jay (from Michigan, I think) on board Saturday. Dave's local and fishes south of Jacksonville in the river. I always like having him on board, because he's excitable, like me. Jay a very accomplished angler was visiting, and came down from Amelia Island, where he was staying.

To start off, high tide was at 8am. Not exactly perfect for what I had planned. So we went to the jetties and anchored up on the south. It was a soup sandwich. Slop, choppy, and windy. From the S.E. But, they had their sea legs on and BIG METAL can handle it with no problems.

The bait stealers were so intense, it was one minute per shrimp. And the bait stealers were mangrove snappers, the most evil 4" fish we have. I wish they were worth $5.00 each and there was no limits at all on them. Then, there wouldn't be a single one left. They'd be fished out.

But, all of a sudden as I saw mullet spraying across the surface, then Dave hangs into a good fish that burned off drag. It was 5 pound Jacks. Then, Jay hooks up. The whole school's behind the boat and Dave and Jay catch two more.

Dave thinks like me. He says, "Two each, okay that's enough of them....let's go." All the while my hand was on the key switch, ready to start the engine myself and move on. We're on the smae page and in search for "boxers". (boxer's are fish that land in the fish box head first)

The tide was about dead high now, so I switched up gears and put a few jigs on some rods and went over to the north Jetty so the guys could pitch the ole Jig-N-Shrimp combo meals.

Not much was happening up in the rocks. But Jay hooks up a nice fat Black Margate. I should have taken a picture of it, but forgot. They're actually a really nice fish. Better than any Ringtailed Porgy, Croaker, or Jack. It was about 2 pounds or better. I said to Jay, "Now we need about a 5 gallon bucket of these and we'll have something." But as usual, we only catch one or two when they are around. Although I have seen folks catch a bucket full before.














The meat of Black Margate is similar to a Sheepshead or a small Drum...although it's a large Grunt. But desireable, for sure.

They have a gold eye, or could pass for a "pup" Drum to the unfamiliar.

There was plenty of small Croakers out in the sand off the rocks, and I was surprised the guys didn't score on a Red up in the rocks. Casting was tough though with 15 knots of S.E. winds blowing.

So we moved on because the tide finally turned.

Time to hunt TROUT!

Dave has all the Croakers you want just north of Green Cove Springs where he lives, so he didn't want any of those. And Jay was happy to hunt up anything. So we went and followed the same path I've been taking to intercept some GATOR sized Trout. Like yesterday's 6 pounder caught by Don M. from Pennsylvania.

But, it was a Saturday, the tide was and would be late.

Here's what I mean....
There's nothing like when I was out last Wednesday or even last Sunday. Low Water, was early in the morning. That's why we even struggled yesterday. The low water (low tide) was too late in the afternoon. I like leaving the dock, with slick water, nice and calm, and the tide low. Or will be low in an hour or so. That's how we catch them I.G. - GATOR Trout. (instantaneous gratification, I mean)

Those GATOR Trout in the first 5 minutes last week, we're on que. Because the water was quiet, and the light was low, and so is the water.

Saturday????? Well, the tide would be low late, like 3pm. The sun was high and HOT. And there was no such thing as the water being calm and quiet. The river traffic was very thick, if I was a giant Trout, I'd be waiting till midnight to go up along the banks to feed myself!!!

Weekends, what the hell can you do? Live with it in my case, I guess. And hope people understand what the deal is.

I've tried running way north, to an area where there's NO one anywhere. Yes, there is an area or two that even on a Saturday afternoon where there's no one around. I've seen it, yes.....it's like HEAVEN!!!!!!

But in today's world. No one will pay what it takes to fish there. Hell, no one wants to really pay for fishing the "hub" around Mayport on a Saturday. The fuel usage would be 3 times what I use now to go to this area I call "A weekend, Mecca". And I can't afford it myself to run up there and survey the areas and know it like I know my present area, I fish. It all comes down to economic factors, related to today's FUEL PRICES. I'd love to make twice what I do, and provide a weekend sanctuary charter. But that idea is just, "pie in the sky".

So, Dave, Jay and myself just worked along from spot to spot. Catching no Trout. I caught a small one, at one spot we tried. So about this time, the tide was finally getting LOW.

And when the going gets tough, the tough change Zip Codes! So I made a run. And when I get there, it was NO shock the places had 14 other boats fishing it. Croaker Strokers....or want to be's, it was hard to tell. Because I only saw the "regulars" catching. While the weekenders in the Ski boats just sat there.

Ya know, "boats attract boats.....Fish don't attract boats".

I moved on in to the mix and slid my anchor over. I surprised myself, how perfectly I anchored in amongst the crowd, right where I wanted to be. I told Dave and Jay, "up here is usually Specks, pointing ahead of us where another boat was staked out. And behind us is usually Yellowmouth Trout....but I have caught both here at the same time, also. And big Specks too! "
Actually, I don't want to give away the spot. Because in the spring, I have sat here and caught 20 Trout all 18" to 24" and could hardly box my own limit of 5 because they were mostly over 20 inches. But then again that was "me", fishing on the perfect weekday.

Dave and Jay pitched their floats out and let them drift back to a hump behind us, and I.G. - instantaneous gratification! Double headers on big fat Yellowmouth Trout.

"FINALLY", I yelled. And from here on out, it was a slaughter of Yellowmouths just like we get into at the jetties in the winter and spring time. We kept them at 15 to 16 inches and above. And the "above" was 21 to 22 inchers! In no time we had our boat limit. And as I stood with the net in hand, waiting for the next one, I started to see all the other boats start moving away. Usually it's the opposite. Usually they all come over and horn in on ya'. People leaving a perfect tide?

Dave and Jay fished every last live shrimp we had left and even used bits & pieces off the floor and at the bottom of the live well to catch a few more just for fun. These yellermouths, were on fire and BIG.

I'll admit, even though I love my Speckled Trout, especially for filleting and eating. The Yellowmouths (weakfish) sure do pull harder, and act like Piranha's when schooled up. Which sure makes for some fast and furious action.

We headed back against the wind, and through the slop and chop of boat and tug wakes to the boat ramp. And I'll tell you one more time. I'm sure glad I don't have a flat bottomed boat. Because we steamed full speed and never came off the throttle through it all for a solid 8 miles, till we reached the boat ramp. I love my boat, and you will too. It fishes us places no other 26 footer will, and at the same time no amount of sea or slop effects it.

I'm a "tide runner", one of the nick names for the fish I like to pursue is "tide runner". But then again when we left this morning I didn't think the box of Trout we'd have at the end of the day would have been Yellowmouth Trout.

But I'm glad they were there, chilly out. Waiting on us to arrive.

---------------------
FOR THE BARGAIN HUNTER. I have (4) Abu Garcia 6500 "Chrome Rockets" for sale.


Very good condition. Level-wind reels, best Salt-Water Abu Garcia reel made. Chrome over all BRASS construction. HEAVY DUTY.

There's two kinds of Abu Garcia's, flat sides with double centrifical controls, and domed sides with one centrifical control. These are flat-sided reels. Way better than their domed counter parts. YOU WILL NOT find these reels in Walmart!

They MSRP for $214.00 each!!

Outfit yourself for 1 or 2 for less than half that. I have additional parts, tools, oil and schematics if you'd like them.Some of them are tweeked with better bearings, and a Stainless Steel spool "clutch" rather than weaker brass. I did the improvements, myself.

$90.00 EACH or $340 for all (4) OBO...lets talk.
Cash or Paypal transfer (+ fee charge.)

DO-ALL REELS. FOR INSHORE FISH.
Contact me at: 904-642-9546 or e-mail at: charter@captdaves.com

9/12 - The Two Don's

There's not anything more fun than leaving the dock at HIGH tide, then running to your spot that was also every "Croaker Charter's", same spot too. Then, sit around waiting for the dang tide to turn! Well, I say sit around.....what I really mean is watch live shrimp get burned up on bullshit bites from 1/2 pound Pinfish and 3" Mangrove Snapper, by your "participants".

Heck, at least it was float-rig fishing practice for the two Don's. Don M. and his dad, Don Sr.

Dead high tide. Not my favorite time of the day. But what can you do, leave later and then have possible boats on your spot when you get there?

So we worked through it. And when the tide finally started to fall. We got what we came for....
T-Rex sized T-rout. (I'm jumping ahead here...let me go back.)

Don Jr. landed trout #1. And I was ready for the Croaker onslaught. But the guys only caught a handful. And they were really big. Again we had 14 inchers, "oh so worthy of meeting Mr. Zaterain".

The bite wasn't "on fire" by no means. And it hasn't been, since we've had the SE-EAST winds.
I've been tracking it. Remember, my saying. "East winds and a falling tide no matter where I'm fishing is like going against the grain of the wood."

I stepped in each time the guys looked to be struggling a bit, and caught Trout each time. So to prove they are there. Float-rig fishing isn't hard, when the fish are chewing, and it's hard when the fish are not. BUT....details matter, no matter what the fish are acting like.

I only took this one photo, and it's all I wanted. I wanted either Don, to catch a whopper, a Gator, a big trout. As I have been doing since last Wednesday (with the exception of this past Tuesday).

And that's when Don Sr. hooked a big fish, that ate his shrimp and immediately came to the surface splashing and frothing the surface.

Weighing in at 6 pounds and measuring 25 inches
it was "the fish" I was hoping for when we left the dock.

We finished up this spot with a half dozen Trout from 16" to the 25 incher. And a dozen Croakers, and one big Mangrove.

So off to do some bottom fishing for a big Red.
But wow, was that a chore in the afternoon east winds. It was all wrong, no matter where I tried.
I'll just leave it at that. Frustrating, yes!

I'll be trying something different tomorrow morning....Saturday's high tide.

I really hate it when we get in the funk of 15 knot SE-EAST winds day after day.
At least it's been dead calm in the river till about 10am.

The two Don's really learned the in's and out's of float fishing, were heavily challenged and scored on some good fish. It's always a good day when we catch a big Trout like this one, in my book, plus go home with a nice bag of "fish fry" groceries.

I'm not counting, but that's at least 6, 5 pounder's or better in the last 4 trips.

Not bad.

I haven't mentioned this in awhile. Now two years old, I still cannot discribe to you how well my BlackLab Marine 26CC fishes. This boat is not an aluminum novelty boat. It's truely a charter fisherman or serious fisherman's dream. From the roomy deck, durability, fish cleaning table, ride and even my electronics, the shallow draft, and especially the rough water stability, the list goes on and on. This is my all-time, dream machine. And with good tools, comes good fishing.

I welcome you aboard anytime, to see for yourself why I love it.