10/28 - MY QUEST

A month or so ago, I discussed how I'm on a seemingly endless quest for the "perfect" N.E. Florida Float-rigging rod.


Attributes I'm looking for:

1. A parabolic bend....(definition: http://www.answers.com/topic/parabola)

2. Soft enough action that a 2 pound Trout is fun, as well as a 12 pound Redfish.

3. True fiberglass durability...many people are rough on my tackle. And F'glass is more durable than graphite. Although Graphite is lighter.

4. EVA grip & heavy duty trigger reel seat. Float fishing is a visual technique type fishing. Sensitivity isn't a quality needed as much as a bottom rod or jigging rod, with maybe cork grips.

5. 8 feet long...has to be. Long rods are easier to "lob" a float-rig, and easier to "mend" your line behind your float.

I have searched high and low and commercially the rod described above does not exists in this state/country. So, it has to be CUSTOM build only.

And while I'm searching, I end up having the people I believe, that can build these rods right under my nose.

Biscayne rods, in Hialeah, Florida. If you shark fished with me this summer behind the shrimp boats, or trolled big Drone spoons over the inshore reefs. You used Biscayne's K.C. Fiberglass rods, that I originally bought for bottom fishing big Reds. But really shined as a potential Tarpon/Shark rod. And shined they did!


LOOK AT THIS!

It's my Biscayne rod in action.

And yep, that was a monster 7-8' long 200 pound shark, that absolutely kicked Bruno Burnoski's butt!

And the shark won.

Here you can see a Fiberglass rod really shine, a K.C. "Biscayne" glass rod. Matched up to a
ACCURATE twin drag 870 reel, and 65# Berkley Big Game Braided line.

As I write this story, Eddie Carman owner of Biscayne rods (the 3rd generation) had called me after a email inquiry I sent him. Eddie called me!! That's right, he wanted to talk more about what I'm looking for, and remembered my name from my shark rod order a year ago. That's why Biscayne rods has been in business for 48 years. K.C. Fiberglass rods, were designed by Karl Carman, Eddies grand father. And Eddie's building "hopefully", the first of many perfect float-rigging rods.



I'll never forget what my buddy James, manager of B&M bait and tackle said when I showed him one of my 4 Biscayne shark rods. "White rods, man these are old fashioned looking...."

"Yes", I said. "before your time there was this tough kinda rod called fiberglass..."

The rods may look a bit "retro", but boy they are tough.

You maybe asking yourself, "Dave, why do you like the attributes of fiberglass, for float-rig fishing?"

Which is a really good question.

I have a thorn in my butt about using too stiff of a rod when float-rig fishing, because I like to use really small hooks. I do not want my customers to have the ability to "over-power" the size of the hook. Which means, pulled and bent hooks. I've read and heard about other guides/fisherman using what I'd refer to as a "gargantuan hook" pinned through a shrimps horn when float-rig fishing. How can a 2" live shrimp look and swim perfectly when it has to carry a large heavy hook? It can't!

Presentation, presentation, presentation!!!! Your hook has to be small, light and sharp. Big hooks tear a Trout's tender mouth, also. Simply put, I want my shrimp to swim as if it's barely carrying anything. I want my shrimp to swim to the surface, and dance across the surface if it wants too, when I'm fishing super shallow. And my shrimp do!

Like fly fishing, when it's all about making a fish bite that fuzzy feathered covered hook. In Float rig fishing, it's all about your shrimp fooling the biggest baddest trophy Speckled Trout, and that happens when the shrimp is un-encumbered to do whatever it wants. In turn looking as natural as possible.

End of story? Not yet.

Your hook matters, your floats action matters, and in turn when that Trout is on the hook the rod matters. At least it does to me. And if I'm your guide.....I MATTER!

Today there's no argument that there is less 10 pound Trout....or even less 5 pound Trout, than 30 years ago. So if you want more shots at them, you better have all your "shit in one sock."

I don't know how else to say it. Why use fluorocarbon leaders in clear water? Why use sensitive graphite rods? THE EDGE....get as much of it as you can.

So, Eddie Carman is working on a proto-type K.C. fiberglass float-rig rod for me. And like a kid in a candy store (walmart candy isle, these days) I'm excited!

I already ran through one rod company that I tried this idea out on. And it was a nightmare.

I'm very impressed with my 4 - Biscayne K.C. rods I use for Tarpon, Sharks, and big Reds. I hope I'm equally impressed with what he came up with as a fiberglass blank for my Float-rigging rods.

You can see my Biscayne's in use on my Video bar down the right side of this blog. The first fish I ever caught on one was a Black Drum followed up with a few 20 pound class Reds.

I'm all about G. Loomis, as you may know. But Loomis is a graphite company. And one of the best. I just keep "tweaking" as much as I can, out of my tackle. It's a sickness.

I'm just not happy going to Q-mart and buying a handful of Shakespeare F'ugly sticks, and matching pot metal reels and call myself a professional angler. That's never been my style.

Yes, I know that probably 98% of all the people who step on my boat, will never know the pain staking details I go into when selecting my tackle. But I do all this to make myself happy, as well as that 2% of fisherman that can see eye to eye with me and my philosophies in tackle selection.

Like I said, It's a disease. And you are the beneficiary.

Lucky you!

As of reels to be used on these rods? You've used them already. I'm using the Shimano 200-Citica DSV (deep spool, high line capaciity, high speed gearing).

Fast and with smooth drags, and light weight, and easy palming and casting and 12 pounds of drag capacity. I'm all about Low Profile reels, now. They WORK.

As I told a guy the other day, who used to be a float-rig Trout fisherman 25 years ago, when he asked if I used the 14" Balsa floats and 2oz. trout leads, as he used too. I told him, "NO, I don't."

And he gave me a funny look as if I didn't know what I was even talking about when it came to float-rig trout fishing....

I said, "I'm taking some of the traditional tackle, and mixing it with today's more high-tech tackle."

And then I told him...."I don't even use a balsa float." His eyes widened....Then I described the west coast style float that I'm using, which is definitely not your ole fashioned "Trout Cork". But rather a better reacting, higher floatation, more durable Float.

Give me a call. (904) 642-9546

And you can be one of the folks who I can show the fruits of my tackle quest too. And we'll go catch us some fish on tiny hooks, with long fiberglass rods, with high speed-high tech low pro reels, with high tech line, and high tech floats......

In the only all welded custom "Plate Alloy" 26' Center console charter boat in the whole area or even the whole state! A wonderful mix of old style, mixed with different materials and high tech style.


JETTY
T-REX
SIZED,
TROUTZ

10/25 & 26 - From A to Z.....

Had Bob H. and his son Peter and son-in-law Chuck, out for two days in a row. Original plan was for Friday and Saturday trips. But seeing that Friday was not much better than Thursday. The guys decided to extended their stay, and get in the second day on Sunday.

We had from A to Z go on, in two day along the banks of the St. Johns river in Mayport.

Day one Saturday the 25th was windy, overcast, and actually better than Sunday the 26th when it was cooler, and sunnier, with really nice weather overall. At least that was my take.

Less people were on the water naturally on Saturday. And on Sunday on two prime spots it was wake's galore from big Ghetto cruiser boats. And made things really tough on us / "me".

As I've described before. Take a good Trout spot, with good current, and calm water, one day. The fish will be chewin'. Then take another day on the same spot with good current, add in boat traffic galore, and wakes crashing the bank....the Trout will be gone, or just not bite. I believe, they're gone. This was Sunday.

But no matter the guys caught LOTS of fish.

Redfish, Black Drum, Flounder, Speckled Trout, Jacks, Mangrove Snapper, Yellowmouth Trout, Huge Croakers and Sheephead....I think that's all of them, that matter.

OH, and I even caught myself on Saturday. After a short exercise in crisis management. IE: a tangle from hell and back. I was cutting a new leader off the spool on my dash. In between I was netting a fish or two, and unhooking a fish or two. I had been holding a length of leader in my mouth. And went to pull the leader out of my mouth and put it on a rig. But forgot I tied a hook to the other end and when I pulled it out of my mouth, I hooked my own lip. And sunk the hook pretty far.....like beyond the barb!

Bob said, I looked bad. I said, I just needed a mirror to see it. So we went back to the boat ramp, I looked into my truck door mirror, yep it was in there all right.

I used a piece of mono, and put it around the hook, held the hook eye down, and gave a good YANK. And the hook came flying out. As usual, when using the ole fishing line pull method. This was the first time I caught myself in the lip. But not the first time I had to yank a hook out of myself, and it won't be the last.

Thank goodness the hook was a small one. I didn't mind. If I hook fish, I can take the same thing from time to time....heck it's only fair, right?

Afterwards we just went back out and fished some more. No biggy.

Here's some of the catches:

Saturday I made up a bag of fillets for the guys to take to Singleton's Seafood Shack, around the corner from the dock. From what it sounds like, the guys had a feast. Singleton's will always fry up your fish for you if you go in with a fresh bag of fillets, for a couple bucks a pound.

They drank beer, had oysters and their catch. A really good end to a good day of fishing, I always think. Eat your own fish, they were just swimming a few hours before.

Bob set up and entire "kit" of materials to preserve a Redfish for skin mounting by a award winning taxidermist in Pa. So here's the one that'll get it. Peter's exact 27" Redfish, caught on a flaot-rig. The proceedure included linen towels, borax powered soup, plastic bags, bubble wrap, detailed photos and B&M bait and tackle's walk-in freezer and a box to carry that fish on a plane. I can't wait to someday see a photo of that Redbass at least in a photo Bob will e-mail me.

Peter was the HOT rod, he also landed this super nice 8 pound Black Drum, 5 minutes before the Redbass, on the float-rig (which of course makes it extra special). Using a giant shrimp each time. I always tell my crew, save them big giant shrimp till we fish a spot where the current isn't all that strong. Big shrimp can't take retrieving them in heavy current. Use small shrimp then. So here we were, on a slow tide area. And Peter used the whopper shrimp and was heavily rewarded.

The guys caught enough fish for not only a fine fresh fish dinner at Singleton's Seafood in Mayport. But took home a cooler full of bagged up fish for later.

It was a wild two days, weather wise and fishing wise. I know I relished the cold air on Sunday morning. It reminds me that still to come are some of the best days of the entire year.

The water temps are between 71-75 degrees.

Man, has it dropped out of the 80's fast. I like that, though. My favorite time of the year is when all you need is a sweat shirt, but can still wear shorts and a t-shirt during the afternoon.

Thanks to Bob, Peter, and Chuck for the two days...

10/23 - And everyone wants my job?

Everyone wishes they were a fishing guide. Every Tom, Dick, Harry & Alice, thinks it's some kind of glorious adventure day in day out.

Well, if your a regular reader of these reports, commentary, editorials, you know by now.

IT'S NOT.

While you're at work, I've been up at 5am, to the bait shop by 5:30, to the boat ramp 6:45, met my customer 7:15, sat and looked at the weather and decided, "this ain't worth it" 7:30am.

It was cold, rainy, and yes.........WINDY!























I can usually deal with wind, but straight down the pike, from the EAST at 25 knots as the sun came up this morning, pushing the tide overly high. I said, forget this. While always striving for fishing excellence. If I can???

Here's the deal:

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON...

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...TODAY NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS WITH FREQUENT GUSTS TO GALE FORCE THIS AFTERNOON. SEAS 6 TO 8 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY. SHOWERS LIKELY.

Now....I have a Friday charter & Saturday charter with the same 3 guys.
We maybe better trying Saturday or Sunday.
Life is just one giant scheduling nightmare sometimes.

SATURDAY WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. SATURDAY NIGHT NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT NORTHWEST WINDS 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

We'll see how it goes.

Thanks, Mother Nature...... Love ya'.

10/22 - 4 for Fish

Had Kathy H. and crew (4) on board today.....the morning was really nice, but as the afternoon picked up the wind got stronger. I'll be trying it again on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday.

So stay tuned.

I had a guy (Jason, I think) on board today that was a "Natural Talent" and obviously very smart. He reeled in fish perfectly, and get this....Cast a bait casting reel with 1 minutes worth of instruction, with out backlash.

Man, I see a lot of goofy stuff on my boat, but this shocked me. When he said he's fished a little in a lake back home. Natural Talent, I can spot it. And I like it.

We caught a nice keeper Redbass at 24" right off the bat (serious I.G.) along with some yellowmouth Trout.


And then we made a move to the BIG ROCKS out at the inlet.

The tide was moving good, and as soon as we came tight on the anchor I pitched out two cut pogies.

Instantaneous gratification again!!!!

John was on the rod, and the big Red handed him his butt. Unfortunately the fish dove to the back of the motor and before we could do anything, broke off on the prop or skeg of the lower unit.

Okay, no biggy. Keep on soakin'. Next up was our "hot shot" fisherman who didn't even know he was one. Jason handled the rod like a pro again! Tangling with his biggest fish, not an excitable kinda guy. He was, too calm. Big Red to the boat, 25 pounder.

Man the little Accurate twin drag B-197's sure are killer reels. They handle a fish like this and much larger like Butta'.
No pot metal reels here. Just the good stuff.

And only a few I ever get on the boat will ever know the difference. But always something to think about. I talk quality only....it's a disease.

Had a few more bites and lost baits after the big'un, then 2 stingers (Sting Rays) back to back, and I don't sting ray fish, so we picked up anchor and hauled butt while the tide was still falling.

TIME TO BUST OUT THE FLOAT-RIGS.

And the Trout were on fire. Scattered Specks on this spot, with some seriously motivated Yellowmouths in a real good size range. The wind was kickin' but it didn't matter.

We easily boxed about 10 or so released a bunch of smaller ones and headed back to clean the catch.

It was a good day. Always a bit tougher when I have 4 on board, but today these two guys here did all the fishing.




















I'll be out in what is supposed to be 20 knots east on Thursday with one regular customer.
The winds supposed to build to GALE FORCE.

OH, NO.....

10/18 - I'LL LET PHOTO'S SPEAK

PAUL M. WAS ON BOARD TODAY.

....IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!!!!

PAUL PULLED UP AT THE BOAT RAMP COMING STRAIGHT FROM THE AIRPORT.

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A 4 PERSON 1/2 DAY LATE TRIP. THE OTHER 3 GUYS PUNKED OUT.....THEIR LOSS.

BY 3:10pm WE WERE INTO YELLOWMOUTH TROUT, AND BY 3:30 IT WAS 25-30" REDFISH GALORE!! AND THE WEATHER TURNED PERFECT, AS THE LATE DAY SUN SHINED AND THE AIR COOLED.

AND THE REDBASS CHEWED FAST AND FURIOUS, AND PAUL WAS FREAKIN OUT.

WE FISHED MAYBE 3-1/2 HOURS.

EACH PHOTO IS A REDBASS CAUGHT. AND PAUL EVEN LET ME CATCH A FEW.

(nice guy)

THANKS PAUL...LET'S DO IT AGAIN SOON.

(PHOTO'S SAY A THOUSAND WORDS)

10/16 - I.G. all day long!

Man, what a day we had Thursday. I had the pleasure of having Jeff P. and his father Harry aboard again. It's been too long.
Well, not all that long....Just feels that way.

We had Instantaneous Gratification from start to finish!

And like that ole Yellow Mustard at the Chinese Restaurants, it was not only a HOT day of fishing, but an exciting one too. (kinda an inside metaphor)

We started off Float-rigging for Trout. And on Jeff's first drift of the morning. He connected on a Yellowmouth Trout, and then Harry hooked up.

This is the way the entire day went.

WHY ARE YOU MISSING THIS?
That's the big question.

The full moon "incoming tide" was a super gusher. The water's moving slowly, and then you could just hear it coming. The noise it made around pilings and around the boat was clearly a louder audible tone. Jeff noticed it. Usually, I'm the only one that has "Batman or Spidey" senses enough to detect what Momma Natures telling us.

So we sat there and caught as many small Specks and yellowmouths as we could, till the current got to bad and moved on. The next spot was super flooded, and yep, instantly we caught Specks but they were small, so we headed to guess where????

My home, where the Jettywolf's roam...the big Mayport Rocks. (inlet)

And there was a good sized swell pouring in with the last of the incoming tide.

But no fear, the Jettywolf's here.

I anchored up and we all tossed out our float-rigs and sent them drifting down the granite boulders. Being the "ringer", I instantly hooked up a big fish.

I handed it to Jeff. Harry said he's paying so make sure he gets the big one this time.


Usually Harry, Jeff's dad, catches the biggest fish.

So Jeff battles him a nice Red along the rocks. A perfect 26 incher.



















We go at it again, and on my next drift of my rig, I hook yet another Redbass.
Another perfect keeper at 24 inches.


Then, Jeff tangles with this years first Float-rig caught Jetty Sheepshead. A nice 5 pound, 7-striped jetty Snapper.

And a Black Margate...which we hardly ever capture more than one or two a trip, this time of year. But are such nice fish.


Then we get some big Mangrove Snappers, really nice ones worth taking their sides off. A few Jacks in the 4 pound range, too.

All is going great, we're getting bites, the box is already full of fish. And Harry and Jeff are concentrating on the area where the Reds just came from. So I walk to the stern and pitch out a my float-rig behind the boat, up in the rocks.

My float goes down, so I do exactly what your supposed to do. Reel, Reel, Reel......Lift.
Yeah baby. I'm hooked up to a smoker! Drag's pulling and the rod is bowed. But no matter what I did in those first few seconds the spool never stops ripping out line. I yell to Harry, "Come here, take this rod!!!", he does. I start the engine, pull the anchor, and am ready to give chase.

I could tell, something on the other end was just not gonna stop. Harry's holding the rod, trying to stop whatever it is, as I drop the engine in reverse. And he yells "I see metal!"......and then we hear a POP!

All in about 60 seconds, whatever that fish was smoked off 200 yards of line, never broke the leader (15# test mono) and took the float, the lead, everything. Harry hands me the rod and the POP we heard was the line breaking off the spool.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EMPTY SPOOL.












Guess I'm outa commission.
Oh no..."the ringers down for the count".
So what was that fish?

It's any ones guess. But my guess would be a Jack Crevalle so big, that it was no ones business to catch it. But now trailing 200 yards of Berkley
Stealth Super Braid, a 2 oz trout lead, and a Salmon Stalker float.

By the time we re-anchored again. The tide had faded so we moved to the tip of the jetty looking for one more keeper sized Redfish. And never caught one.

So back into the river we went. The tide just started to fall. I passed a friend with an over sized Redbass he and his charter just caught. And of course his folks thought I was the Police man in my BIG METAL boat. So we laughed and joked about that, as he released a healthy 30+ incher.

We pulled up into what could either be Speck land or Yellowmouth land. It changes day by day. Today, it seemed to be pinfish land in the shallower water, but out in the deeper water it was I.G. on the big Yellowmouth that rip drag and freak out all the way to the net.

But the float-rig wasn't doing all the well on them, and I found them out a bit deeper,
"tight-line" fishing them.
That's what I call when
using just enough weight
to stay on the bottom,
and keep a real taunt line
and lift every so often,
teasing them. And it works
so good on these
Yellowmouth Trout
it's unbelievable.

We were stroking nice fat ones at first doing this. And then came the absolute mother load!

Just cast out, and before you even hit the bottom you'd feel a tap and your hooked up!
So Jeff and Harry used two of my super fairy wands....Loomis "greenwater" rods and stroked one yellowmouth after another.

Harry put it mildly. "This ought to be almost illegal...this is legalized stealing!!" That's how fast a furious the fish were biting. I stood there tying new knots, with mono-leaders in one hand and the net in the other. I couldn't keep up with these guys. And there was maybe 2 small Specks in the whole bunch. But that was okay. We only kept the largest fish and had our 3 man limit of 12 fish in minutes.

Then, Harry sets the hook on a really good fish. Now, remember. This is a falling tide. A 6+ foot falling tide. The current is ripping! And Harry's got another drag burner hooked up that's utilizing every bit of the current to get a head of steam behind it. We laughed saying, "OH NO...not another take all the line fish??" But Harry with fairy wand rod in hand finally put the breaks to the fish, and it was a large Redbass at 30 inches. Wheww...Harry got worked.

And yet another year, Harry catches the largest fish (Redbass) off the day. (just like last spring)

Man what a day. Again, we went through 12 dozen live shrimp and used every single dead one, live one on the boat.

Folks, ya know what that means?
It means fishing is so damn good it's ridicules!

But of course we had a rare "PERFECT" weather day also.

We left to head back to the boat ramp tired of catching. But it was time for Cappy Dave to make the donuts. My code lingo for, "time for me to get the fillet knife out and sit on down and get busy once again."

Jeff came really prepared. He brought a kitchen garbage can sized plastic bag. And when it was all over the bottom of that bag was a foot deep in fillets.

"And like sands through the hour glass, these are the best days in Capt Dave's life."

(Jeff, Harry...hand me some more of that yellow Chinese Mustard, please??)

10/15 - 6 foot tide and a N.E. breeze

Not a bad day at all.....Had Dave C. on the boat again, with friend/relative Ron and his wife.

Dave's still all full of the memories of the Yellowmouth Trout slaughter we had back in September. Which was really fun, but it was only after a morning hunt for big Specks that really didn't pan out.

Although they too, are Trout they are not what I'm normally hunting. Stronger, meaner, and willing to chew many times when the Specks aren't, sure does make them pretty desirable. Dave C. says, loves 'em.

We left the dock and headed to where we caught some decent keepers in the gale force winds on Monday. They caught some Trout, but we only "boxed" 2 - 16 inchers.

So we moved on. The wind in the river was not all that strong, but the jetties were a mess. So we stayed comfortably in the "hub". And with the tide still pouring in real strong, started catching a mix of Specks and Yellowmouths.

There was many 14 inch Specks, and small yellowsmouths. But the fish were coming to the boat one after another. I stood by Net ready!

Here's what I mean....
By 10:30am we had almost run right through 12 DOZEN
LIVE SHRIMP!!

Holy crap....

FYI: The new policy is, when I bring that many shrimp and they are burned up early.

We head back to the dock. I bring more than enough shrimp. There's no way I can account for how many get used "not" catching a fish!





















OR: I will give you the option to pay more for your charter, and I'll bring some many we'll have them left in the livewell at the end of the trip.

At dead high slack water I insisted it be lunch time, break time, whatever... Just so no more shrimp were used up during a super non-fish catching stage of the tide.

In Louisiana, they say, catch a limit of Specks and Reds....trips over, time to head in. Well, this ain't Louisiana. So my rule will be use all the bait, playing feed the bait stealers? Time to head in.

So after a 10 minute break for lunch a stop at the boat ramp for a rest room break, we moved on to try a different spot at the absolute first of the falling tide current. Two Jacks and a Mangrove Snapper, no trout. So we picked up and headed to where we caught Trout earlier, but now had maybe 2 dozen shrimp left. So while Ron and his wife float-rigged, Dave and I dropped bottom rigs with cut Croaker and caught more Yellowmouths, and a Black Drum.




















We finished up the day with no shrimp, used a whole Croaker for small pieces of cut bait, used every shrimp that died. And left for the boat ramp to clean 1-Drum, 8-Specks, and 9-Yellowmouth.

So that goes to show ya, how many fish we released, lost, and how many bait stealers were fed.
I kinda blame fishing the mega- incoming full moon tide.
But, the wind wasn't all that bad, it was warm and sunny. Water temp. 76 degrees.

I'll be at it again tomorrow with another regular customer, Jeff P. and his dad. Always fun to fish with.

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.