5/8 - Super Fun.....and trying a new product

Had Miles C. and his father-in-law Dick aboard the Jettywolf, for a day of river/inlet Redbass'n.

I'm not even gonna attempt to describe all the aspects of the day we had. Because Dick just sent me some great photos that they took with their camera.

But after going to get Pogies behind the surf, which was a two toss situation to get all we needed.

We went straight to the jetties. Miles was up first and had a nice big Red on. But then again, the fish acted weird....it went from fighting like a normal 30 inch Redbass, to a turbo-matic Redbass running out to the channel........OPPPS, Miles found out what happens if you don't get them to the boat quick enough in the summer time!


CHOMP!!!













Bite straight off behind the head!
JAWS, plays no games.

(gotta love it)

It was a great day, and we had loads of action, from Redbass to big Bluefish jumping behind the boat to Jacks playing with our Pogies like Cats with a mouse.














Dick was estactic!
























































A KEEPER sized Redbass is "not" the norm...most are larger than 27".
We had one "keeper".





























































My new "TGT" - Tournament Grade Tackle "rod riggers" worked great!

I got them to keep the rod tips lower to the water when bottom fishing the river current and for my King Mackerel fishing trolling with either live bait or my favorite Drone Spoons.

Miles caught the largest of the day, a 17 pounder that drew a jet-ski on-looker that had a Blacklab Dog with him on the jet ski! I'm all for BlackLabs, but ya don't see Dogs stradling Jet ski's very often.




























The guys caught some Jacks, and some really big Bluefish.
They basically are just by-catch in between the Reds.
But are fun, if they eventually eat your pogie. They do more messing around with them, then actually devouring them.














Super day, lots of action. And I guess the sharks are in close now!
Ohhh, that means someone's gonna join the "100 pounder club" here soon.

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

It's as easy as this:

Plan at least a few weeks ahead - Call me - Reserve on my web site - I'll give you a heads up the night before - Get a good nights rest - Show up at dock 15 minutes prior to departure - Be ready to fish!

5/7 - how small is too small

Had a trip today with two women and a 3 year old lil' girl. They requested a 1/2 day, and I said I can do as long or as short as you'd like.

I met them at 10am this morning. And went out along the beach to get some "live" Pogies.
But didn't have alot of time to dedicate to finding bait, so I gave it my best shot right along the Navy base. All the while I had some fresh dead Pogies from the day before that'll work in a pinch.

Needless to say I didn't find any, so we came back to the jetties. And right as I was cruising along the inside of the North Jetty 4 Coastie boats, a Navy ship, a Seatractor tug, and the pilot boat were heading out.

Is it just me or is the United States Navy, and their Seatractor tugs, not responsible for their wakes??

Because as all this traffic passed, the wakes had to be no less than 8 footers back to back.
I can imagine a small 17' Jon-boat sitting along the jetties getting swamped, rocked up, capsized or even worse someone being killed.

One of the women on my boat had sort of a look on her face of disbelief. I told her, the general rule is "you are responsible for your wake", but that doesn't seem to apply to the US Navy or their contractors.

The 3 year old lil' girl was sitting in the other woman's lap. And as we got into the river the lil' girl seemed to be just fine. But mom said, "I think we should just go in."
I believe they may have thought the river/inlet to be a different situation. I explained I just wanted to get fresh live baits, so we could maybe catch them a nice Red. And let's not go in but just go up river a little bit and try some fishing. She agreed.

I went to the lil' Jetties anchored up, and pitched out two dead pogies on the bottom. I've caught some beautiful reds here this week, already. The 3 year old I guess was getting a bit rammy and Mom said, "let's go in, she doesn't seem to be doing well."

So I pulled anchor and she called their ride to come pick them up. And I made the short trip back to the boat ramp.

Day Done.

The point here is, I've had youngster the same age aboard before that were boys, and man were they into it. Of course, in a 3 year old "into it" kinda way. And I've had 5 year old lil' boys outfish their own fathers.

But really, no younger than 8-10 is my rule. And 10-12 for an all day'er.

I don't frown on taking the kids. I just had four nine year old boys on the boat back on April 25th and we had a blast trolling for Spanish Mac's and Blues at the jetties and along the rip line outside the rocks.

I tell people all the time, I have a (2 hour) kids trip posted on my rates page. Especially for the real little ones. That's kinda what we did today, but when it was booked they requested a 1/2 day fishing.

Each day is different, a different challenge, different people. It keeps you on your toes for sure!!

Oh well.......onward I head.

Please think NOW, if you are thinking Memorial day week. Plan ahead, reserve in advance.
It makes for a happy cappy, because I will be planning for your day.

Tomorrow;
2- guys, 8 hrs. One never fished in Saltwater before.
No holes barred....Full Moon.......the challenges never end, do they?
HOOO-RAWWW!

5/5 - Sporte at the Big Rocks

Had George M. and his buddy Peter visiting from NY, aboard the Jettywolf today.

Decided right out of the gate to turn due east and head out the inlet in search of the magical "POGIE". Them little slimmers are the ticket for big reds. And I had a plan all laid out.

"Go get some Pogies, then hit the inside of the jetties. Anchor up, and as the tide fell we'd pull reds to the boat"....yeah, just like last Saturday.

Well the jetties were a mess. Slop City!

And as I rounded the south tip of the rocks, the wind hit us in the face, and so did the salty spray of a nice wind chop on what I was hoping to be "Lake Atlantic".

First mistake....listening to forecasts!

So we ran around the rocks and to the beach. I marked all kinds of small scattered little fish on my sounder. And let me say on thing about bottom scopes. The most valuable thing on my machine is the A-scope feature, when scanning the bottom for a nest of Pogies. It gives a view of what is exactly under the boat, versus the history while building the screen. If you ever need a new bottom scope, make sure it has an A-scope feature. I love mine, because it works!

I made a few tosses with the cast net and came up with some "horn bellies", little jack like bait fish not good for anything in my book. So was the horn bellies what I was marking?
Hmmmm, could be.

About that time, the Pelicans were coming from off the beach. "Time for breakfast!"

Usually they are your best friend when searching for Pogies. They have a way better vantage point than you do. A few dove towards some Pogies, obvious only to them. But....in the sloppy seas. I saw zero. But as the sun got higher, I spotted a few flips on the surface.

"There they are boys", I told George and Pete. A boat ahead of us took off south, I suppose not willing to patiently wait it out. Well, I'm frugal, and have more patience than fuel to waste riding in this chop.

I made two tosses of the net, and hit pay dirt.....all the pogies we'd need. Back to the jetties we went.

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL CREATURES....the swell was at least 4-6 feet and folding in the middle of the channel between the jetty rocks. I went to where I wanted to anchor. Hemmed and hawed and went back on inside. No way we can fish in that! Then, I felt I was second guessing myself. So I turned back around and went back on out for a second look. I could have anchored where I wanted too. But would it be worth it? That's the big question.

There goes my plans!!!

As usual, I sided with caution and headed back over to the south Jetty. It was relatively calm and nice just outside the south tip. So we anchored up. Tossed out a few Pogies and sat.

Well, the reason you hire me, is not for what I do, obviously not because I try to have the very best in tackle for you (most people wouldn't know the difference) But the biggest reason should be; T.O.W - "time on the water." And the short and sweet of that is, the GUT feelings I get.

And my Gut told me, we were wasting our time here after 15 minutes. The current was all wrong.

So we bid farewell to the jetties and headed up river.

I immediately knew exactly where I wanted to go. Because with all that time farting around getting the Pogies, the tide fell dramatically (Full moon is on Friday!!) and this next spot should be "IT".

And "IT" it was......

We weren't there long at all, and before ya know it the rods started to double over.

I've been using my custom Biscayne Float-rig rods with their Shimano Curado 300 DSV's for light bottom fishing the past few trips. And man do I love those rigs. It's an absolute pleasure fishing good ole fiberglass rods again.

Here's George with his biggest Red to date a 31" 12 pounder that kicked his butt!

These Redfish were super copper colored. The deep dark bronze fish are pure "river reds".

So after releasing this fish carefully, it was time for another quickly because we could loose the slight current we had at any moment. That's the way this spot is.

And then it was Pete's turn.

I'm not really liking having to use my camera phone for taking charter photos.

These two are the only photos out of 5 I took that turned out. The screen is way too small to see what I'm taking photos of.

Looking forward to getting my boat camera back from repairs.

As I knew, the current quite right after Pete's 28-1/2 inch Redbass. So we made a move.
Hoping for more "sweet lips" as George called the Reds, we ended up in a nest of 4-5 pound Jacks. Which wasn't a bad thing, George and Pete had fun with them. Or at least the ones that actually ate our Pogies. Most of the time they just ripped the pogies to shreds. But we still caught a handful of "pullers".

By now it was getting really low tide. So the guys tried their hands at Float-rig fishing. And found that it wasn't as easy as fishing a pole holder and a circle hook for the Reds.

But after a few spots they caught a couple Trout, a Ladyfish and a pupper Red.

The tide was flooding in by now so we had a sandwich and headed back to the dock.

I told George and Pete that in the year 2009 so far, I believe I've had actually 2 to 4 what I would call windless days. Ten knots or less from any direction would be considered windless.
Or at least calm days at the jetties....I'll add that too.

But persistence and patience paid off today for sure when it came to catching good Redbass bait.

Next up:
Thursday, 2 adults and a three year old (???) half'ish day.
Friday, two guys ready to fish.


----
Memorial day fishing plans?????
Reserve NOW!!!

5/2 - Birthday present from his wife

Eric B. all the way from Tallahassee sure is lucky to have a wife, that when it came to a birthday present for Eric, she thought "FISHIN".

Yep, the whole family came to Jacksonville, including Eric's father who was also coming on the trip. All the way from out west. For our 8am departure. A 172 mile ride I think Eric said, from his house.

So Nawwwww...I wasn't under any pressure!!

A birthday trip plus 172 mile early morning ride. Heck, I did have a customer come from Tampa twice to fish with a friend, here in J-ville. And I was blown away by that...twice!

I was thinking let's see if there's any "butt handers" (blacktip sharks) behind the shrimp boats. So I took off we went out the inlet in the residual swell from yesterdays 20 knot SE breeze. And when we got to the shrimp boats I could just tell, not much was going on. The first thing I looks for is Dolphins in a frenzy. And lots of them. We looked behind two shrimp boats, a small one and a big one. And both had maybe a 1/2 dozen Dolphins following as if visiting the hot dog vendor on the street corner. No real excitement was going on. The Shrimpers were out deep too. Not up close to the beach.

So we moved on.....Plan B, was to go get some pogies. The choice bait of the season. Chit-Chat on the radio was they were all the way down by Jax beach pier and THICK.

So from offshore of the chum hole, we ran all the way to the pier. And thanks to friend Pete, he pointed them out to me and with one toss of my castnet I had all I'd even need. My 8' net swam away jam packed with Pogies. A 1/4 of them went into the livewell, and 2/3rds went into my chum bag to store them.

Before moving, I made a cast out with two rods with live pogies on each one and made a drift across the front of the pier, while cutting and tossing some pogies overboard. I wasn't leaving here yet, till I'd see if any big monster beach Redfish were around.

The drift lines got hit by Bluefish....that's all. So we ran back to the jetties. I thought the tide would have changed over by now with an 8:30am low. But I was surprised to see current still running between the jetty rocks. So I quickly navigated a pack of Coasties, one Submarine, and a tug boat to get to the other side of the jetties. (Do you ever notice that on weekends is when the Navy stuff is going on? They have all week, don't they?)

So I got to my spot, tossed out the anchor and before the boat came completely tight on the anchor line I pitched out a Pogie to the bottom. Two seconds later......there was a rod shaped like a horse shoe in the starboard side rod holder and my Curado 300 DSV, was smokin'!!!

Eric a fresh water lake fisherman was up. And this ain't no bass. It's a Redbass, "Brutus T. Redbass" in the deep water heading East.

And I told Eric's father, "That livewell full of frisky pogies is the reason why we're hooked up after being here two seconds!"

Well, the bite didn't stop there.

I rebaited as fast as I could after snapping a shot with my camera phone, and got baits out again.

Instant, DOUBLE HEADER!

These fish ranged from 28-31 inches. But our goal was a few keepers. (under 27")

So we stayed at it and kept the bite going getting re-baited and back in the water as soon as we could.

The school of Reds were right behind the boat. And made for some

"I.G."

kind of action,

"Instantaneous

Gratification."

We ended up getting our 3 keepers from 26-27 inches, and finished the last of the falling tide current with 7 Redfish and when the current slacked, one big ugly stingray. The bite would be over till the tide turned and the clean green water flooded between the jetties.

Eric's father was feeling seasick in the slow swell, so we packed it in to go clean our 3 Reds.

You can see from this shot, I'm not all that good yet using this phone camera. But it gets the job done at least.

I sent my boat use, water proof camera in to get fixed yesterday.

When the pogies are around, I like to feed them pogies! Even if it means having to go get them a good distance away, that's the part I don't like though.

4/30 Good Bye April.....good bye early

-----BOOK NOW FOR MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY WEEK, DON'T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE.---------------


Have some pre-booked trips coming up. So I went out and just wanted to check the "state of the Trout". Yeah, after today it's pretty much confirmed.

No more Trout fishing in Mayport.....they're GONE?

And man, was it fast and way too early.

If you don't know, here's the deal. On our coast it's Trout nearer the inlets in the cool water, and when the water warms up, the further away from the inlet's they go. That's the quick and dirty way of describing it. But, since this really isn't a massive freshwater river we have flowing through our coastal zone here in J-ville the Trout want some freshwater to spawn and follow the shrimp up river.

So I watch it like a hawk, waiting for when the disappear along the jetties and Mayport area, and head to places like down-town, or all the way to Orange Park, FL!!

Believe me, I'm not happy about it, either. I used twice to three times the fuel in the boat, and twice the bait, and need more hours in a charter day if that's what we have to do to catch'em.

But "IF" this was actually a big time freshwater flowing river......take the BIG Mississippi for example, with huge amounts of fresh water flowing 24 hrs a day. The fish (Trout and others included) would run to salty water, rather than what they do here. Which is run towards sweeter water.

Believe me, I'm amazed in the complete 180 it is here compared to other areas with big time rivers. Our St. Johns, really is like just one big salty path-way in the Jacksonville area. Not a river in the sense of the word. Or what rivers are to others in different parts of the country.

So with that said, I went to the jetties to really check. But first, I hit the rip line and looked for Tripletail outside the jetties on the last of the falling tide. It was sloppy and choppy, because of the high EAST winds the last few days. And of course, I'm always doing this by myself. Which couldn't be any harder. Run the boat, watch the ripline, be ready to cast. All while slopping around bobbin' and weaving through the rip.

RIPLINE; defined as the last of the falling tide coming out the inlet, where the dark river water meets the clean green ocean water. Different temps, clarity, salinity, current. Basically, to the fish, "it's structure".

Here's the color change line, aka: RIP.

See the color change on the right side of the photo?

The rip is where all kinds of junk collects. Weed, trash, foam, you name it, collects on the Rip.

But most importantly.....BAIT. And I sure saw bait. Threadfin Herring love the Ripline. And so do Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Cobia, King Mackerel, Tarpon, Redfish, and Tripletail. That's what I was looking for.

Here's the first one I ever caught sight casting from the Rip, back on March 12th.

An odd looking fish that is GREAT EATS!

Notice that it looks to have 3 tails, hence it's name.

They lay on their sides and float along, looking like a piece of debris. Which attracts small bait fish, seeking protection. Which in turn, they eat those bait fish!

Dark gray, to almost black makes them easy to spot along the Rip line.

So as I slopped around along the Rip. That's what I was looking for. And I saw two of them.

One was about 18" and another was over two feet long! I use a small cork above a stout hook, where I pin a live shrimp. When I see one, I try and judge the current, and make a cast near the Tripletail, so the live shrimp drifts right up to it. They are quite aggressive, and if they don't get spooked by a slapping boat hull or engine noise, they suck up that live shrimp like a fun size Snickers bar!!

Well, I made a cast to each one I saw. But like I said, in the choppy sea and alone it's not the easiest thing to do. The boat scared the smaller fish. And the big Tripletail I saw I don't believe even saw my live shrimp pass by it, before it moved away down deeper.

You can spend literally hours doing this, and I did. And only got two chances at casting to the the Tripltails I saw. I milled around till the green water come up on the south jetty as the tide rose.

And another sign of some seriously EARLY activity was the 3 foot long Barracuda I witnessed stalking mullet on the end of the south jetty. Holy crap....It's not even May and the cuda's are at the rocks already!!!!!

The end of the south jetty was crashing with monster swells and was down right nasty. Consecutive days of high East winds really messes things up, let me tell ya!

EAST winds.... I really hate!

I anchored up as the tide flooded and tried my hand at some float-rigging down the rocks. Yellowmouth Trout and Speckled Trout....I've caught them here right into May in the past.

But I never lost a single Shrimp. No Trout, they're probably gone already I said to myself.

Yeah, this certainly isn't my favorite time of year,. let just tell ya'll that!! Heat of summer, and having to travel so far to my favorite fish, if I can find them in good numbers at all, is not something I relish and dream about.

So I left the jetties and traveled up river.....on the incoming tide. Which was as much fun as a slap to the face everywhere I went. Undesirables, on ever single stop. From Jacks to Blues to small Spanish Mackerel. (well, undesirable to me, when I want Trout.)

I finally ended up about 12 miles west of the boat ramp on a favorite dock of mine. And here is where the "ass handings" took place. The wind was blowing "EASTERLY", and was a genuine pain, but I got anchored up good. I sent my float-rig and live shrimp into the depths of this dock and had 3 fish I couldn't pull from underneath it. I had them on and heading my way. But man were they strong and the pilings sharp. I believe at least one of them to be a really big Trout!! I got a glimpse of it, as the fish made its way across the top of the water around a piling. The other two fish, could have been Reds, or Jacks. And now after seeing DOA Rob's huge Snook....ya never know. I could be loosing a Snook on docks like this one. Really out of the way, hidden, and full of fish sometimes.

I did pull 3 Ladyfish and 5 Trout from this dock, but only two of the trout were keepers.

So I moved on, as the tide started to turn. I hit a really old spot, that I never see anyone fishing anymore that's always been a Trout on a lure spot for me. And here is where I finally caught my (5) Trout limit, a few on a MirrOlure, and the rest of live shrimp. And had to work through 20 small 14 inchers to get the keepers.

Take this into consideration when booking a charter, (I know ya won't, but I hope....)

If we have to fish the river, we'll need a falling tide, period!!! I've been out doing R&D twice now in the last week or so on an incoming tide and didn't catch what I was targeting on the incoming. And as my dad always says, "if you aren't catching them, how am I supposed too....." And he's right! I know exactly what I'm doing, compared to a "learner".

Coming up this week:

Saturday: solo'ist, one man charter. We'll be staying coastal.....Spinners & Blacktip Sharks? Yeah! I wanna do it so badly.

Next Tuesday: 2 guys, on a falling tide. I believe we may mix it up a bit. Some river, some beach fishing.

Next Friday: 2 guys, incoming full moon tide. Beach fishing...Pogy pods, shrimp boats? If there's no EAST WINDS!

--------BOOK NOW FOR MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY WEEK, DON'T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE---------

4/29 - Surprise, Surprise...for DOA Rob

The East winds have prevailed this week, so far. And no one "I" know likes it.

But just like me with someone who booked a charter on a East wind breezy day. "I gotta deal with it."


And that's what my buddy, DOA Rob has to do, also.


He's off work, 3 days. If those 3 days are east windy, freezing cold, hot as hell, raining, you name it, he's going fishin'. And if not in his boat, you'll find him in his Hobie Kayak sitting a foot off the water, casting his D.O.A. Shrimp for Trophy sized Trout. He and I are alot alike, but so different at the same time. It's the float-rig rod & live shrimp for me. Rob's all about a 1/4 oz. DOA Shrimp in his yak because it's usually easier to not have to worry about live bait. Hence his nick-ame....DOA ROB. But we both hunt BIG Trout, 12 months a year.


Well, Rob went yesterday. And he went to a area he loves. Which is a place I find hard to fish, 90% of the time. He left late, and sat through big East winds, that backed off, then blew all over again, later. We talked on the phone, and Rob couldn't get back to his truck. The tide went so low that he would have had to trudge through mud. But he tried it, and sank up to his hips in St. Johns River Gumbo. So back to his yak to wait out the higher tide.


Rob showed up on my door step last night at almost 9:30PM. Wet, and with mud still caked to his arms. But it was all worth it........


Because Rob caught his 4th or 5th, SNOOK


















And what a beautiful fish it was, at 29 inches....thank goodness, Rob has his Snook stamp!
He also caught a 21" Trout.



















Snook, especially this nice are a rare but getting to be a more common catch in the St. Johns River. From Palm Valley/Ponte Vedre in the ICW too the river here, the catches are heard about, but it's not like anglers go out "Snook Fishing", like in S. Florida.

What kills me, is that I fish every nook & cranny I can fit my boat in, and have never caught one. Let alone know if I hooked one, or had a customer hook one, even. I've traveled to S. Florida of course, when I had the time too, to catch one. And didn't!!!! Because it was too cold in S. Florida when I was there. Now, ain't that FUNNY!

Rob and I stood under my boat-port looking down into his cooler, "that fish didn't migrate here in the last month....it couldn't have. 30 days ago the water was still cold for them, supposedly??????"

We believe a fish like that made it through the winter, somewhere around here!! But where?

Just goes to show you, that you never know what will happen when you're out there fishing.
Rob, had the one nice Trout out of a handful, that was it. But stayed at it, and look what happened.

This is what most of my customer's need to realize. IT'S FISHIN'...that's all it is. Do it right, do it often, and you never know????

This fish isn't Rob's first Snook from around here, either. He's caught other's although smaller, in creeks south of the river, in his yak also.

Hell, I'll take any size!!

I still need a Snook, and a Wahoo to complete my list of "local fish"....I think I'll have a better chance at a Snook. But, by the looks of it, I may have a better chance at a Wahoo, than a N.E. Florida Snook?


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


Supposed Snook water Temp preferences:
70 to 85 degrees.

4/27 - OCEAN CLOSED

Went out today to just burn a few dozen live shrimp I had left over from Saturday.
Of course I would have loved to be able to fish outside the jetties...But the Ocean was closed!
You cannot tell from this photo (taken with my new phone camera w/ uploading capabilities)
But I hardly wanted to take my hands off the steering wheel, at the end of the south Jetty.


It was kowa'narly out yonder! Heck with the "bunga".


















But never fear......the 26' Plate Alloy BlackLab, is here! And we're not afraid of ANY jetty nastiness.
I pointed the Jettywolf over to the south side of the south Jetty, worked my way through the slop sandwich and when I got there I said to myself, "Self, you can't anchor in this, can you??"

Then, I had a flash-back of the last time I was sitting alone in the soup. And went to pull my anchor and over ran it, because I had to do it all myself. Anchor pulling, I mean.
And pretzel'ized my trusty rough water anchor with it's 16' of chain. AKA: "The man-maker!"

So I turned around and came back to the inside of the jetties. Tried a spot or two, caught basically nuthin', and then worked my way up river for more nuthin'.....except one decent spring-time Flounder.

I saw a sad sight as I was heading west of the jetties. I was running down the middle of the channel and saw a dark item in the water with lots of commotion around it. I drove right up to it and saw a baby Dolphin dead on the surface. Looked to be a new born. The commotion was obviosly it's Mother, and she kept coming up to the baby and pushing it with her head. Just not a curious push, but rather trying to move it along. The baby flipped over and I could see the embilical cord still there. I pulled right upside of the baby Dolphin and that didn't make no difference. Mom came right back and was on the side of my boat pushing on the baby.

A large tug was heading in the direction. So I moved on. It was a sad sight for sure.

I float-rigged and tossed my MirrOlure everywhere I could in the 20 knot due east wind. Many areas I tried quickly, I never even lost a shrimp, so I went home.


It was what I refer to as a K.O.D. day....."kiss of death". East wind howling with a flood tide. I knew that!


But damn, I hate to waste good live "river crickets". So I went anyhow.

Hills and valley's, hills and valley's. Really, is that exactly what fishing is like?

4/25 - a little trollin'.....

Had a unique group today. Four young boys with one dad, for a late 1/2 day.
I believe they were all in the 9 year old catagory of Angler'ship.

And we sure had fun.

What do you do on a Saturday afternoon, that was absolutely gang-busters with people everywhere, as if it was mandatory to be on the water?

STAY MOVING....is what I say.

So I rigged up a few light rods with trolling leads and some small Drone spoons and we trolled the jetties and the rip line.

This is one of those very rare opportunities that Bluefish come in handy.

Normally, I'm not their biggest fan. When they eat all my hooks off, used to target Trout and Reds with live shrimp.

The boys had a ball as every time the rods bent over they ran from goofing around on the bow of the boat, to the stern to see the fish.

















We also caught our share of Spanish Mackerel, some keepers and some throwbacks.

Saw huge spreads of Pogies, too. And I hope to continue seeing them. Because it'll make the difference between a good summer and a poor one....."no matter what you hear the chamber of commerce Captains say." With out bait along the beach, it sure can be a boring summer.















Of course, my camera is really screwed up, and I was lucky to get these two photos. I guess it's time to stop fighting it and ship it in for repairs. I could have used my new phone camera. But can't find one word in the manual about loading the photos on to my computer. (?)

Reports without big time photos for me, is like Summer with no pogies!!!

UPDATE: Redunancy.....like the military! That's now me. I upgraded my cell phone to a phone/ camera with download capability. So while my real "water proof digital camera" is getting fixed I can continue to provide quality fishing reports with photos. It only cost me about $200!!

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

I'm ready to get hooked up with some "butt-handers", ya know what I mean, (hopefully).
It's GO-TIME, for some Shrimp boat "Run & Gun" fishing. "Don't knock it-follow it!!"

Many people have told me they read these reports. But at the same time, have never watched the Video's I have running down the right-side-bar of this page.

I have some Shrimp boat sharkin' video from last July during the 74 degree water on that video bar. It was overcast, and really windy. But we caught'em anyhow, and had a great day.

Talk about a good day......Catch the tide right and do some Float-riggin the jetty rocks or river, then as the sun gets overhead and as the shrimpers get things stirred up, just offshore. We can head out and you can maybe join the "100 pounder club". Go from catching Trout/Redfish for dinner, to having you arms ache from big Blacktip sharks. All in the same day, and within eye shot of the shore many times. And maybe even a Cobia or a Tripletail too.


Don't cheat yourself:
-try for a weekday if you can. Less boat traffic equals better fishing.
-You'll want my "after April 1st" deluxe up to 8 hr. charter.
-Plan ahead, so I know your coming. Then, I can plan your day.


-always get the info you need, here at:
jacksonvillefishingreports.blogspot.com

For Sale:

4 - (used but in perfect condition)

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/search/spo?query=fishing+rods&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

NO MORE THAN 2 YEARS OLD MAX. LIFE TIME WARRENTY TO ANY OWNER G. LOOMIS 8' BUCARA (graphite) rods.

DO NOT BUY ANY ROD YET, TILL YOU SEE THESE!!!!!!! 1/2 PRICE MSRP.......of $260 and there is no such thing as a discounted Loomis rod!

PERFECT FOR LIGHT BOTTOM FISHING, TARPON, KING MACKEREL, BULL REDS, BLACK DRUM, RIVER, OFFSHORE.

MODEL # BR-926C - 8 FOOT CASTING RODS, TRIGGER GRIP, CORK HANDLE, FUGI GUIDES, DEEP PURPLE COLOR QUALITY G. LOOMIS ALL THE WAY . 10-20 PLUS LINE, MEDIUM FAST ACTION

ALL (4) $550.00 split with a friend.....I'd like to sell as a "lot" rather than splitting up. Or $137.50 a piece.


















Can also be found on Jacksonville
Craigs List:
http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/search/spo?query=fishing+rods&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

search: G. Loomis Fishing rods
(4) - $550 (Jacksonville, Florida)

REDUCED take all 4 for $400 cash!

4/22 - Workin' hard in big wind

Had Ben and his visiting brother Ian on board today. When I got to the boat ramp, it was really blowing already at 7am.

So I took my compulsory photo of the flag at the marina next door standing at attention.

The guys arrived and we departed around 8:15am.

No Jetties!!! I wasn't going there in this wind and tide. I was there on the 21st doing some R&D by myself, and it sucked on the Trout front. The water looked like sand. Just the wrong tide for seeking GATORS.

So we turned Westward. The tide was high and just starting to fall.

1st spot: I taught the guys all about Float-rig fishing since they had never fished like this before. And they picked up on it right away and were doing good.

Between the bait stealing 4" Mangrove "VERMIN" Snappers, they hung 2 big fish, but they got off on the way to the boat. I knew the tide at this time was not optimum, but the spot was worth sitting out for awhile. I even tried my hand at it and came up with no good bites. So not long after we moved on.

Maybe it was the 20 knot, very stiff westerly wind, but we tried two other spots and Ian was the only one to catch a fish. A small 12" Sheepshead. We never even caught the regulars; Ladyfish, Jacks or Bluefish.

Hmmmm, somethings really wacko. We just fished the "TOP SPOTS" in my Trout file!

Not under the perfect tide, or conditions, by any means, but usually we get bit by something.

We kept moving, while the brothers were perfecting their float-rigging skills. And getting the hang of it quite well.

I had about 3 more areas I would hit. But after I pulled up and anchored on the next spot, we never needed to move the rest of the windy afternoon. We found them!

FIRST TROUT: A pot bellied Female.

This fish hit the live river cricket like it was it's last meal (It was!) ripping drag out and pulling hard against the tide.

We found them. And it also coincided with the tide getting much lower. But we were lucky that the wind was helping blow our float-rigs right into the area they fish were.

And although we did have a few Ladyfish, Jack and Bluefish, believe it or not they left our baits alone for the most part.

It was really weird. But of course the VERMIN Mangroves were still present. But the guys just

couldn't hook one.

I usually get a few small Reds on this spot too, and maybe a Sheepshead or two. But nothing about the whipping wind was making the area perfect.

But after lots of fishing...we were really glad to be catching quality Trout.

The longer we stayed the harder the wind blew as the afternoon wore on.

As many keeper fish as we had we also had throwbacks. And at one point it was drift your float 100 feet, look away, look back and it was gone on every single drift.

Ian said, "Ya' have to look away when you get 100 feet out." as he looked at me! He then looked back and said, "SEE" , as he set the hook on yet another Trout. It worked, for sure.

That's the thing about my J-O-B; I never know what's going to happen after I leave the dock. Each day is completely different. And sometimes it's just plain Bizarro World, out there!

But what makes it great is the PEOPLE. Ya' get used to the challenges, and just expect them.

When the tide finally slacked off, we were fishing in whitewater. With the wind waves foaming the surface of the river. I think the warmth I felt was just, wind burn!

It turned out to be a good day. A bit challenging finding them. But Ben & Ian, had a great time and a big bag of fish fry for tonight.

4/19 - and number "252"

Well. I wanted to fish the supposed SOUTH wind today. So I went. All by me lonesome. I try not to ever fish on a weekend, but it was kinda blowie out there, so I figured there wouldn't be any crowds.

So I make it out the jetties......and not dry by any means on the last of the falling tide. It was sporty, with nice fat rollers being bucked by the stiff breeze.

I get to right where I want to fish. The breeze certainly wasn't DUE SOUTH. But 100% SOUTH EAST! Yep, there's a huge difference, in my book.

I anchor up, after waiting a minute for a little boat to leave right where I wanted to be.

I'm dead-on. And surprised myself again with my anchoring perfection. (remember those words)

I played around a few minutes and tossed a MirrOlure Catch2K at the rocks. It's about the time when I'll pitch a MirrOlure, and if I catch a good Trout I know it's "go time".

Got whacked once. But could have been just a Bluefish. So I put away the play toys, grabbed my Float-rig rod, pinned on a fat live shrimp. Lobbed the rig into place, and it drifted about two feet and went DOWN. I reeled up all the wind slack in my line and came tight with a locomotive!

The 'whatever' speed eastward. Then, toward the bow of the boat. My 8' Biscayne rod was bent in the shape of a horse shoe, and my Curado 300 DSV was peeling line. AWESOME!!!!

First cast, and this maybe just the reason I came out here.

Problem was, as the fish ran toward the bow of the boat. Unfortunely that's where my extra long scope of anchor line was laying. It was no less that 2-4 foot seas, and to make it really stick I did an extra long anchor lay.

I pulled as hard as my 15# mono leader, and tiny hook would allow. Then, I felt the anchor line and then, POP! Fish gone.

I believe it was a BIG Jack Crevalle.....like way bigger than we have been catching. Maybe in the 15-20 pound Yellow Submarine catagory, because it was having it's way, no matter what I was doing.

I continued on. And had my ass handed to me two more times as I sat in the slop, dancing around the back deck of the boat just to keep my balance. Both times my float disappeared, I reeled and all I got in return was "SMOKE", from a burning run, down the jetty rocks.

I did hook a Trout, and it got off on the side of the boat.

Doesn't look as if it's gonna be my day, does it??

But that's why I came out today. I was hoping to pick a fight with something that had shoulders. Be it with a "forked" tail or not, I didn't care.

The tide started to change a bit so I wanted to reposition the boat. I usually pull up on my anchor line with the motor, so I don't have to pull the weight of the boat. And like so many times before when I'm sitting in the soup, I pulled up just a little bit, left the helm and went for the anchor line. Still had an acre of line out. So I went back and pulled up a bit more.....and it turned out to be a bit too much. The boat went up fast on a monster swell, the anchor line came tighter than a gnats ass, the boat lurched.

And right there, I knew what happened!!!!


















DAMN!!!!!!!

That's the end of my day. You can see the white water in this photo, yeah it was rough.

This has happened to me so many times it's rediculas. And the stocks on these cheap anchors are so weak, but I don't think any fluke anchor could withstand the force of being overhead and to the side, when the boat wrenches. But I am still looking for one that's tougher. (I'll let ya'll know when I find one.)

That has to be anchor number 252, that I've either destroyed or just plain lost, in 25 years. Same thing really.....and they don't work in this shape. And all the straightening in the world, doesn't help. They just bend again even easier in the same spot, all over again.
So this one was made into a "reef".

I look at it as a dumb mistake, that always happens when it's rough as a cob, and usually when I'm alone, and of course focused on catchin' fish.

Remember, the fish are not always where YOU are the most comfortable. At least that's the way it works for me most of the time.

So I went and used my cinder-block anchor I had with me on two spots. One at the jetties, all I could catch at this crappy spot was bluefish. So I took a ride to an ole creek I used to fish all the time in my first love, a 1974 14' Aluma-Craft, many, many, moons ago.















I like this creek, because it reminds me of "old Florida"...or what it may look like in Lousiana with broken down docks, outboard engines sticking out of the water, over hanging trees with Spanish moss and ancient boats sitting on lifts.

The only problem is wasn't much like "fishing" in Louisiana......because I never lost a single live shrimp as the tide flooded in. (I bet that doesn't happen much in Louisiana!) I caught lots here before. On Noreasters, it makes for a great hide-away. Usually the Trout are in there pretty good.

Sometimes you eat the Lion and sometimes the Lion eats YOU. Before I was completely devoured, I figured I'd go home. There's always a weekday.

But first I gotta get a new 18# Fluke anchor.....Number 253, and counting.


www.fish-jacksonville-fishing.com

4/17 - Mo' Wind......

Had a call yesterday for a possible Friday trip.


But it was obvious that the weather was not taken into account. All I have to do is step out side and I can tell if we "could" fish or not........and yesterday and today seems like a "not" to me!


I told the person, who had a 5 year old coming. "Saturday, and Sunday is what you may want to think about."


I suppose I'm also the weather-man, too.


I'll reiterate where and what I look at when it comes to the forecast:
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/Forecasts/FZUS52.KJAX.html


I don't care what the land-lubber forecast says. We're not fishing on the west side of Jacksonville in a Walmart Parking lot.


I can easily remember a year very similar to this spring, where it blew hard for what seemed like forever. Due East winds in the spring months literally had me towing the boat to ramps such as the Arlington Rd. and Lions Club University Blvd. Boat Ramps, where the river goes basically north and south versus East and West compared to the Mayport area. Just so I could get a bit of shelter.


I looked back into my log books this morning and also saw that the GATOR Trout bite isn't or hasn't yet been as strong for me in the same places as it was in 2006 & 2007.
But I'm optimistic.













YEARS & YEARS OF LOG BOOKS FULL OF NOTES.


This is why I'm adding a "follow the fish" 8 hr Deluxe, trip to the selection of charters.

The jetties can be good.....and they can also be way off. Following the fish means heading up river, where more fuel is used, there's a bit more travel time, and more bait is consumed by Jacks, Mangrove Snappers, and Ladyfish. This is what I do during the summer and spring. And covers you no matter if we are off the bars at Nassau Sound chumming Tarpon, or at the Mathews Bridge float-rig fishing for Gator Trout, after departing from Mayport.


Each year has it's set of it's own circumstances & patterns.

I'm ready any time, for no wind and full fish boxes.





http://www.fish-jacksonville-fishing.com/

4/16 Million Dollar Product!

"Tammy the dock master"......here ya go.

And the rest of you gals out there have now zero excuses for not staying in the boat during that hot bite.

No more bare butts, buckets, getting low behind the console of the boat, or whatever it takes.








Now there's the P-Mate: http://www.pmateusa.com/howtouse.html check it out!

The one thing us guys had over you gals, is now only one P-Mate away.

"I can see a gal in here skimpy bikini on the beach behind the lawn chair using one of these and having some guy see her. Especially if the P-mate comes in flesh tone."

I'd love to see that guys face!

No more excuses......its the P-mate. Just not for cold weather mountain climber woman, anymore.



Don't you wanting your Wifes girl friend, joining you behind "the tree"?







AVOID THOSE BEASTS IN THE WOODS!








YOU CAN SAY YOU SEEN IT HERE 1ST, AT:
http://www.jacksonvillefishingreport.blogspot.com/

4/15 - calm & cold after the storm

Ended up rescheduling the 14th, because of the obvious 70 MPH winds that hammered the area Tuesday. Spent a good part of the day helping to cut up giant tree limbs that fell in my parents yard.

So Wednesday the 15th at 7am was a whole new set of weather. It was down right C-O-L-D out on the river. Met Keith E. his girlfriend and his mom visiting from Minnesota at 7:30AM.

We had the last few hours of the falling tide to work with so we ran up river. With plans of the jetties later in the day.

The spot only produced one good Speck, and Keith caught it (I think) on his first drift of his float-rig. A nice 20 incher.

Just on Monday afternoon, the same spot yielded many break-offs and big fish hook-ups for Bob and I, with a 4 pound Trout and a 28" Redfish that came to the boat on the same tide.

But today was also the Ladyfish arrival day for me. Day 1 of Ladyfish catching. As if they sneak in under the cover of darkness, all in one day.

But that's okay, Keith's Mom caught the first one, along with a big Jack that kicked her butt pretty bad. She said to me, "this is alot different that Mil lac's fishing, back home." And she was right.

We stayed till the tide slowed, hoping to get a big Redfish or more Trout, till it was time to head toward the jetties.

The jetties haven't been big time Speckled Trout lately. But the large Yellowmouth Trout fishing has been through the roof. And Keith's mom was gonna love this.

So we got on them rather quickly, and started filling the cooler full with nice ones. Great fun, and so much ACTION, it's incredible.

No one goes with out bites, and catching fish.

And in between the yellers, we picked up some small Speckled Trout, Jacks, and a Ladyfish or two. But did manage to box a few more keeper Specks. No Sheepshead or Reds for us though.

The action was very consistant, and lots of fun.

Keith's mom was having a ball, as she sat on one of my livewells in the stern of the boat. At one point she was leaning back on a fish and reeling and almost fell completely backwards off the livewell, she was so into it. I was right behind her, and caught her as she fought the fish. As if it was an "ole man of the sea" battle.

As you can see, it finally warmed up for us, heck it is Florida and mid April and should be warm anyhow. The forecast was actually a bit wrong.

They called for 15 knots, and as we sat at the jetties wackin them, the ocean was slick calm and it warmed up nicely.

The water was a bit stirred up, naturally it should have after belly washer rain storms and 65 MPH winds in the last few days.

Talk about a transitional time of year!

I have fished through or around some wacky weather so far this month.

The goal is to book as many trips as I can, and if I can get out 2/3rds of them, I really doing good!

I've rescheduled trips all the way back from January till now, and then have moved a few all the way forward till July,

when the folks can come

back to J-ville again.

It's the nature of the beast. But the fishing is worth it.

Coming up next week is some great morning tides.

And I have some days open.

4/13 - Day of firsts, with Bob from N.C. // UPDATED

Had Bob J. aboard today. It was a solo trip, just he and I that was rescheduled back from a windy cold day in January. I've known Bob for quite awhile, because he fishes the Southern Kingfish Assoc. tournaments around here, in his own boat. But he wanted to learn some "river" fishing techniques.

The weather in the morning was okay, but not great. So we left out and I headed to the lil' jetties instead of the big jetties, which I'm sure were really rough. My left foot was killing me. You may remember that back in February I missed the Miami Boat Show because of the side of my foot having some kind of problem, and there was no way I could have walked 5 miles a day around the show. Well, all the jumping out of the boat I've been doing re-injured whatever was wrong with my foot. So I hobbled around the boat all day on my right foot. I think I may have a fracture or something. All the dancing around on the deck in the rough stuff this last week probably didn't help what I thought was a healed foot. No, I have not been to a doctor either.

We pulled up at the lil' jetties and in the first 10 minutes, I caught the years FIRST Pompano!

Usually, I get the first Pomp's at the big jetties, naturally. It wasn't a big one, maybe a pound and a half "keeper". We got a few more bites. And I had a sneaky suspicion that the second round of VERMIN fish, have magically appeared over night. MANGROVE SNAPPERS!!!
I'll be marking the calendar with today as the first day I got into those rock & dock snappers that eat ya out of house and home.

I took a photo of Bob and I and the Pompano, and realized again somethings wrong with my digital "dive" camera, still. It wasn't working last week so well, either. And I didn't have time or the patience to sit and play with it.

We didn't pick up any Trout or anything. And Bob was getting the hang of the "float-rig" really well. So we moved on.

We worked our way up river and started to hit every rock pile and good dock spot on the way towards the Dames Point area. We ended up catching Bluefish, and more Mangrove Snappers, boxing a few large ones big enough for a good fillet. Then, it was "double whammy secret spot time".

But by now the wind was in the heinous category. And it wasn't looking like we were gonna bust any decent Trout or Reds. We picked through some smaller Trout on a few normally GATOR Trout spots, boxing only a few between 15-16 inch Specks. These were two spots that I have basically been able to keep to myself. And if it was any other day, without a looming front approaching and 20-25 knot winds, I have the utmost confidence that we would have pulled out some really big Trout.

So we headed back towards Mayport. I was enjoying fishing with Bob, he's a good fisherman. So I made one more stop......and we ended up there, for 3 more hours! The tide was high, and I usually don't fish this spot at high tide. But I figured, "Why Not?"

We picked up a few more vermin Bluefish, and a Speckled Trout. And we were a bit protected by the wind too. Eventually, the tide started to slowly ebb, and "swells" started to form in the river. The boat was going up and down as if we were anchored offshore. Then, as usual the spot "lit off"!!!

Bob hung into a big Redbass, as his float went down with authority. But it was in a serious DANGER area. Pilings, rubble, you name it.....that's where they are, and that's where you have to be able to perplex them out of. Bob, the concement "light tackle King Mackerel angler" worked the fish out of the structure, held on for several burning runs, and kept his 15# leader intact. And I scooped the Red into the net. A pretty 28 incher...a bit longer if tail pinched.

What a fight!

Since my camera was not wanting to take or hold a photo, even though we tried several times.
Here's an "ARTISTS RENDERING" of Bob and his beautiful Redbass.



















I fished along with Bob, hung a few decent fish too, but had my leaders broke. Bob hooked another big fish, it got into the structure and popped off. Then, he hooked into another good fish.
And it was a exactly what I had been looking for all day long. A Speckled Trout, 4 pounds and 22-1/2 inches long!

Again, here's an "ARTISTS RENDERING" of Bob and his big Trout.




















We tried for a another big fish, but it was getting late. My foot was throbbing. And the "SEAS" were building in the river. So we headed back to the boat ramp. I cleaned Bob's fish, and he had himself a nice "St. Johns River sampler pack" to take back to N.C.

And when I got home, while cleaning up the boat and talking to Tim, my Tuesday charter. ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!!! The rain came down like a biblical flood in my area. So needless to say, Tim and his buddy are rescheduling.


That's an understatement......I sit here writing this report and the wind is blowing and gusting to what seems like Hurricane proportions. The tree limbs are flying down my street like rain drops.

HOLY CRAP, this is some bad wind.

I'm supposed to also be out tomorrow, Wednesday. And maybe Thursday or Friday, too.
It doesn't look like it, right now.
But we'll see.

(and I figured out what was wrong with my digital dive camera today. So hopefully we'll be back to "real" photos, instead of drawings.....hahaha)





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

UPDATE:


Found some of the photos on my SD card:














2009 - first Pompano!












Bob's 28" Redbass....with screwy lines in photo from goofy
camera.



www.captdaves.com