7/10- Low pressure and no current

Had Maria and her son Will aboard that were visiting Jax from Virginia, and we took off around 7am. I knew there would be not much current to fish today since it was really slow yesterday too. But add in low barometric pressure, an air temp change this morning, another cool water thing going on in the ocean, a wind direction switch and looming dark clouds back and forth all day. And I knew I was in for a challenge.

Neither Maria or Will were die hard experienced anglers, like a few of my past trips were. So from the river to the jetties I struggled to get them into enough current to float-rig fish. Then after that wasn't working we tried bottom fishing, that wasn't working much either.

One cool thing was the sight of Jim Anderson in his fire engine red Shamrock hooked to a big fish flying through the air as we passed him at the tip of the South Jetty. Looked like he had a perfect crowd pleaser Tarpon hooked up, as the fish did back flips in the air, and was shiny silver.

I yelled, "man that's one of those crowd pleasers!!" And Jim was hard at play, with what was a big Barracuda, not a Tarpon. Wow, that was one pissed off snaggle toothed Ledge Trout!

He got it to the boat on a mono leader, so we went closer. He said he caught a small Seabass, and saw a dark figure swipe at it, so he sent the Seabass back down to the bottom and BAM....the Cuda took the bait. Jim went for the gaff, and came back to the rod, right then is when the teeth met the leader for the last time. And the Cuda swam away, a whole lot less frisky.

Either way, an excellent catch. Cuda's are definitely at the jetties. And very much on the prowl on the clean green incoming tide. I see them all the time.


We finally found a decent spot and Will caught a Ringtailed Porgie, and then a pup Black Drum.

But still the search was on for a place they didn't have to be master casters to fish properly.
Finally the tide started to turn around and fall....."oh what sweet relief!"

That's when Will's float vanished and he reeled in a nice Flounder.


The tide started to move along as it should and all they had to do is drop out the stern and let their float drift.

After a few small Mangroves, Blennies, and tiny Black Seabass, nothing was else was happening.

Heck we should of been hooking up some decent fish here. We had it all, now.

And not long after I said, "we should have some Jacks here, this spot is jack famous. They'll be that big fish that pulls real hard, for ya"


I was drifting Will's float out for him, because the action was slow and his attention was hard to keep on his float-rig. And that's when the float went under and I handed him the rod. This was a Ass-hander on my light float-rig rods that's for sure. The fish was fast and burned drag off the reel. Here is when the rubber meets the road for a Jr. Angler who's never caught a really big fish, let alone a big Saltwater fish. You just can't jerk this one to the boat. So I really had to coach him. I had to get into my commanding voice and have him react, when I told him too. Up under the boat, a few times. The fish tried it all. And after a wearing out of the fish and Will, a 10 pound Jack Crevalle came to the net....only after a long light tackle battle.


We ended the day on this big fish high note, and headed back to the dock.










Next up: Monday and Tuesday.

Not all the interested in this weekend, there's a wind switch at play to the east and no current.
I'll start again with a new week.

7/9 - wacky and wet!

Had Tom and Kevin aboard the Jettywolf today. Left out later around 8am. I knew going in the tide would be weak, and it sure was. Water movement for this Float-rig fisherman was near to none at the jetties. But we stuck with it, because and incoming tide most of the morning made for not a lot of choices.

In a nut shell, it was a Mangrove Snapper kinda day overall. Interrupted by moments of WOW.

The WOW first came as Kevin got his butt handed to him by a really big fish (probably a Redbass). It seems to be a trend, when people first get slam dunked, no one really realizes how strong these fish are on light tackle. The fish broke him off and the whole leader was gone.

Then, I had the same thing happen to me. And I couldn't even stop what ever I had hooked up.

The rod was horse shoed, my thumb was on the spool, the drag was peeling and that was it. My 15# leader gave.

Next up was Tom. His float goes down, he reels and hauls back, and a Tarpon in the 20-40 pound class flies from the jetty toward the boat and almost came in the boat!! The fish hit the water directly at my boats transom.......splashing all three of us. I know the water was running down my sunglasses afterwards. That was a close call. TARPON TERROR, Oh no!!

The Mangroves were almost chewin' and stealing alot of bait. As a few were caught here and there. Then Kevin hooks and get the only Red that made it to the boat. a 19 incher.

You can see the darkness in the sky in these photos, so guess what was the next WOW of the day??

If guessed rain, you were right. But this wasn't just rain, this was a Forest Gump Big rain.

We could see it coming from the SW. And we had plenty of prep time. So I re-anchored and put out lots of scope just in case 60 mph winds were with it. We got our rain gear on. I packed away the wallet cellphone and turned off the big Raymarine sounder and put the cover on it. We were ready, now. And it was sort of cool, because as we prepped, every one else around took off....they still got wet I'm sure.

Here we are and Kevin and Tom were still fishing! The rain came so hard and visibility went from 2-3 miles to 20-30 feet!

It went by us quickly, and headed offshore to the N.E. Then the sun came out and all was good again......time to make a move.

But still just a few Mangroves. So we changed up locales and ran up river to try something else.

But the tide was so damn weak, where we were. Heavy duty bottom fishing just wasn't working.

So we pitched out with lighter rods and tight-lined with 1oz. sinkers and long leaders, and live shrimp. And not long after Kevin turned into the Snappa' Stroka'.

He found them, and real good sized one too. Slam dunking one after another after another.

Then, a few Trout. No Black Drum, or Reds, which I thought we might have got tight lining the bottom and working the structure the way we did. Kevin was the big Hooker that's for sure.

Can you believe he caught a "nail"....yeah a 6 penny nail! A blue button up shirt, and then an ole coffee filter. No one ever, has caught such a weird "SLAM" before. This dang river has so much crap on the bottom, I'm not all that surprised sometimes at what gets drug up from the depths.

We ran out of shrimp and headed back to the boat ramp to clean 13 Mangrove Snappers to 16", a Redbass, 2 Trout and a Lookdown. Everyone says to me how great the Lookdowns meat is. But this will be my first and last one we ever keep. It really wasn't worth the work of filleting it.

It was a day full of all kinds of wackiness and lots of fun, that's for sure.

7/7 & 8 - GOT WET?

Had a charter booked for Tuesday. Weather looked windy and kinda nasty. Since the weather was windy and kinda nasty on Monday when I was out with Brian and Bob.

So we rescheduled for today. I was at B&M bait and tackle at 6am, and here came the rain, black skies and nastiness.

Rescheduled for Thursday. This better be it! Because I have a charter on Friday, so there's no more room to move it again, for a weekday trip.

I'm finally seeing sun out my window as I write this and it's now 2pm.

Stayed real busy hunting up a replacement for my broke Ugly Stik Inter coastal rod that blew up last week. Had to drive to St. Augustine this morning (since I had new found time to do so) and get a replacement down there and a spare. I love these rods for bottom fishing for my customers. They're tough, strong and have a gimbal butt, and only 6'6" so the kids can handle them too. Shorter rods are better for people less that 5 feet tall......LOL, LOL.............funny stuff huh?

Just got off the phone with Chip Davis. He used to fish all the Redfish tournaments around here, and did very well. He owns a Dicks Wings restaurant and asked if I'd come do a fishin' seminar on Float rig fishing, because he even wants to know more about it. He said his casting arm is wore out!

So this is the official announcement.
And like a good angler, planning is everything, right?? So here's enough "heads-up" time for you to plan to attend, if you'd like and are not worn out from all the Kingfish activity.

If you like to relax anchor on up and stay close and fish the river, then come on over to Dicks Wings; July 28th at 7:00 pm.

Here's a Google map page for where it's at:
http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GPEA_enUS294US295&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Dicks+Wings+14286+Beach+Blvd.+Jacksonville+Florida&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,13696242912456310217&ei=zttUSruHD9y_twed2O2tCA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1
Chip wants me to bring the "Jettywolf" with me and I can do that. So look for the big Silver Center Console....."what do people say to me all the time", Oh that's right..."Man, dats the biggest aluminum boat I've eva seen?" Or better yet, " is that boat stainless steel?"

More funny stuff. But, that's another subject.

So if your into learning some more about local fishing, then come on by Dicks Wings
http://www.dickswingsandgrill.com/index.html on Beach Blvd. at 7pm July 28th.



Topic of discussion. St. Johns River Float-rig fishing, tackle, how-to, fish species, what to look for, boat anchoring, and LOTS of stories and fishing tales. I've got plenty!!


Hope to see ya'll there!

7/6 - Good Morning!!

Had two great guys today. Brian C. and his dad Bob. I said, "meet me at the boat ramp at 0630 hrs. " And as I pulled in to the parking lot at 0620 hrs. There they were! Man, that was great.

Backed the Jettywolf into the water, parked the truck and we took off......for the Jetties of course. It was windy, 10-15, and choppy. And there sure was a bunch of traffic for a Monday morning. Thought the "holiday" was over????

Lots of fast action today. And lot's of "hub caps".....aka: "Lookdowns". Some small ones and then Brian caught an enormous one. 2-3 Redbass, mostly smaller fish, with one keeper for the box. Mangroves, and many hook-ups and break-off's too. But that's all good. The action was fast. And Brian never used a bait caster before, and after 5 minutes of instruction and you should have seen him pitch and flip like Bill Dance or Roland Martin!! Some people can just learn fast. And I'd put money down on Brian as a fast learner. Between him and Dad, they never skipped a beat, never had any backlashes.

The action slowed as the incoming tide faded, so we beat feet up river. Pulled up on a great Trout spot, and all my shrimp had died. Earlier I got some live Croakers from a friend and when I put them into the live-well and turned on the pump, I think I bumped the switch to the shrimp tanks bait pump to the "off" position. "_ _ _ _ happens." Nothing I can do about it now. So we hung up our Float-rig rods and moved on to bottom fish. Which I was going to do later anyhow. I wanted to catch a few more of those perfect eater Black Drum we caught on the 1st of July. So we moved on to that same spot.

The skies to the west were darkening....."REAL DARK". But we had enough time to try it.

I grabbed the bottom rods, pinned on a shrimp and cast both on out. It wasn't 20 seconds later one of the rods doubled over, and Brian grabbed it. It was a big fish!!

The second rod went off, so Bob grabbed that one. It was a keeper Mangrove Snapper, not a huge one, but a grease tester size. Brian was battling a good fish, and we kept looking westward as he fought it. His biggest fish ever! A seriously multi-spotted Redbass, a 30 incher at about 10 pounds. I said, "now that was what I was wanting you to catch at the jetties". But right here and now was okay too.

The wind started to pick up, the temperature changed right after a healthy release and a photo that needed the "flash" on the camera because of how dark it was getting.

We quickly put everything away, and I dragged up the anchor. And took off back towards the boat ramp, and stayed just ahead of the clouds, for a minute. Till they came over us.

And I snapped this photo to send to Mike Buresh on Fox 30 News for a First Alert Weather Photo, for today. I send him a lot of on the water storm photos so he can show them on the air.

This is what beat us to the boat ramp, and was the front of the storm towards the Atlantic.

Yeah, we got a bit wet. And the lightning was popping around us at the dock, so we called it a day.

Ending on a big Redbass, and a high note.

Wish we could have fished together longer. But sometimes ya just have to surrender to Momma Nature. Next time we'll get the whole day in. And maybe next time a box of fat Trout.

Thanks Brian & Bob.

7/2 - Summer days are never the same.

After yesterday with the young kids catching the Black Drum, I figured what the heck that's what we'll try today. Well, it's summer in J-ville Fla. and I should have known that just because you do one thing one day that it certainly doesn't mean that you can do it the next day.

So I had the Richard S. family aboard. Mom and the two boys and dad. What could be better than a little bottom fishing, and pulling in good eater sized Black Drum, with maybe a Redbass and a few Trout, Mangroves, and Croakers tossed in the mix.

I can tell you whats worse.......

Catching Toadfish and Stingrays!

The same tide, the same spot, the same current, the same shrimp, the same rods.....BUT not the same fishing, that for sure.

So after giving it all the time I could stand to produce, I pulled anchor and said heck with that we're going Float-rig fishing. So I gave the two boys a fast crash course in using the float rig. And they were right on top of it. And doing great!! I love it when I have young boys that are ready to fish, just like when I was their age.

First spot was a tuffy. The wind was blowing hard, and so was the current. But they got the hang of it, and boxed a Yellowmouth about 13 inches. The fishing was difficult here, so we moved on one more time.

Next spot, was right on the money. I believe it was the first or second drift when one of the boys was hooked up immediately. And it was a nice fat Speck!!
















A pretty over 18 incher for the box! The boys were really into it, and running their float rigs back and forth like ole pros. Then, another big fattie, came to the net.

















Man, I'll take these all day long. Serious "boxer" over 20 inches.
Glad to of had 4 people aboard, so we can keep them all because they just kept coming!!

















These were 3-5 pound Trout!
And now Mom and dad were wanting to get into a few, too.
































We had a few Croakers, Mangroves, only one Ladyfish, and one "pup" Black Drum.


















We ended the day with 2-Yellowmouths to 20", and 5-Specks to 23", Croakers, Spots, Mangroves, a Stingray, a Ladyfish, and a pup Black Drum, using up all 12 dozen live shrimp. So we headed back to clean the fish. And I bagged them up so they could go straight over to Singletons Seafood Shack and have a early dinner of FRESH fried Trout.

Turned out to be a great day, after all. And I really enjoyed having these two boys aboard.




NEXT UP: Monday and Tuesday. I'm taking a break during the Holiday, because usually the river is just plain insanity, anyhow.

7/1 - Good Customers, come year after year....

Had Greg T. and family out today.....three kids and two adults, 1/2 day. Greg comes to Amelia Island every year about this time. And since his boy was 5 we've been going fishing before or after the 4th of July Holiday.

Here's a photo of a few years ago, when Will was just a begginer.


















Then, the next year when he was reaching big game angler status:



















So this year he was the Veteran on board. But had to share the bites with his Lil' brother and cousin. So I decided instead of float-rig fishing, we'd do some bottom bumping in the river, keeping it close to maximize our fishing time. And it really worked out.

From Black Drum to Croakers, Mangrove Snappers, Speckled Trout and a 29 inch Redbass. The boys pulled on fish for most of the 1/2 day trip.



































































A good time was had by all, with fresh fish dinner on ice. And I just can't imagine
what will happen in a few more years.

Blacktip Sharks behind the shrimp boats??

Thanks again Greg, nice seeing you again.

6/30 - Good bye June....you sure were hot!

But today, with overcast skies till at least 3:00 pm, Roger L. and I had a "cooler" day on the Big St. Johns River. We also had a good breeze from the SW which really had us basking in good fishing glory on my last stop of the day. Where we sat for hours wackin' and stackin', while also having our asses handed to us, also.

We started late this morning. Fishing the tides. No need to leave at the crack o' dawn.

We fished the river and it wasn't like we were burning down the house by no means. That last of the falling tide hasn't done me any super favors lately. Lots of bait stealing Croakers, Mangroves and pinfish, in the same spot where Chris and Zach and I caught several Trout on Saturday, while boxing 3-4 keepers. So instead of making a radical move, I made a 50 foot move and Roger was rewarded with this 21" Yellowmouth Trout, that was glowing it was so yellow from the brackish waters up river.

We had several good bites, and lost a few. But only boated this one. Time to make a move.


Next spot, two Specks with one 18 incher, and one
14-1/2 incher.



Again, today the falling tide was a real screamer, so we headed to the jetties for the flood tide and as scheduled when it got right it got nice and right!


Nice fat Mangrove Snapper's to 16", 6-Redbass from 16-22" boxing our two keepers. A few lost big Reds that smoked the drag and broke Roger off.

I told Roger that many times, people who fish once a year say to me, "Dave, all I want is BIG fish" as if I can order them up for the day like Cheeseburgers at Hardees. But the deal is, it's all relative, when fishing light tackle. Because if you hook a 33 inch Redbass up in the jetty rocks, let's see if a fish that size makes it to the boat first.

We kept hooking really good fish up in the jetties that would really stroke us. Have them coming to the boat, and then they'd get off. This happened at least 5-6 times. In between the Mangrove Snappers, Redbass, and even a Speckled Trout!!! Yeah, a Speck! Roger caught the first Speck caught at the jetties on my boat since May. A 15 incher.








I had out a brand spanking new Ugly Stik "inter-coastal" rod with a piece of cut Croaker for bait. I liked the rods, because of price and that they had a gimble on the butt for putting them in the rod holder. I've had at least 5 broke rods in that past year. So I've resorted to all Ugly Stiks, because people are so hard on my premium tackle.

Well, the rod went off, and I picked it up, reeled down, and lifted the rod, when it broke in half right in my face, while the fish was on the other end. HOLY.....&%&@#!!!!! This rod was brand new, never used except for today, and it broke as if snapping on command.

Between lost and bent anchors. Rods broke in half, I seem to not go a month without replacing one or the other. Needless to say, the fish was lost too.



The spot was really getting right and the bites were steady and the action between Reds, Mangroves, and that mystery fish that both Roger and I were hooking and loosing constantly.


Well, I was ready, and the next bite up tight in the rocks came and I got really ready and got the fish out of the rocks. I mean, these fish felt like Reds diving for the deep when you hooked one.


So I finally got one out of the rocks, and up to the boat and it again came off the hook. But this time I saw it! It was a monster sized Black Margate! Mystery solved. But still not one in the fish box, yet. Then, again we got real ready and the next bite, and here it comes to the boat.

YES....MONSTER BLACK MARGATES. The largest I have ever seen.


I've caught lots of Margates before, usually bottom fishing the end of the jetty rocks.


But let me tell ya, these fish were handing Roger and I our asses on a silver platter, on the float-rig! We'd hook them, they'd rip us down into the rocks while we were bowing the rods over trying to keep them moving towards the boat. Loosing all of them except this one. Keeping them hooked up, was the problem.



Even though...... it was FUN - FUN - FUN.


We easily went through 10 dozen live shrimp, and used ever single one. It was a really good day, not as hot and lots of action on the float-rig all day long. I loved it. And I think Roger had a really good time too. At days end he went home with a big bag of really nice fillets, ready for the pan.




Next up: Half day kids trip on 7/1.

6/28 - Changes today.

Had Chuck & Susanne B. aboard today. Following the same game plan as yesterday with Chris and Zach, we started in the river on the last of the falling tide. And again it was one heck of a belly washer of a ebb tide.

Big difference was the CHANGE in wind. I haven't seen wind that hard in a few weeks. Being from the west at what seemed to be 10-15 knots with the occasional 20 gust thrown in for good measure. It wreaked havoc for some people right off the "git-go" in the morning at the boat ramp.

WHY, you ask? Because the week end crowd is #1: impatient, and #2: it all ME, ME, ME.

Or they just don't pay attention to the conditions. The boat ramp(s) had not much water. The ebb tide, along with the west wind was pushing the water out the river hard. So instead of waiting their turn, I saw people using the side ramps.

They should have seen the boat ramp before the new one was built. We used to have to get in line and wait your turn. We all have it made now compared to back then. Even though the new ramp gets all sanded in on the sides and IS NOT the 6 boat boat ramp they intended it to be, it's only a two boat boat ramp with all the sand. But people back down o0n the sand anyhow, and then get stuck. They should know better by now.

Trucks stuck in the sand, trailers falling into holes, it was a real cinematic moment.

Boats running down the side of mine....not a fiberglass friendly maneuver. People pushing the boat off their trailer without starting the motor first, and boats being blow up onto the concrete

because of the wind. Really fun stuff to watch.

We departed at 8am, that's why I got to see so much of the follies.

Of course because it was a weekend. I pulled up to where I wanted to go over float-rig fishing with my crew out of the wind and there was already a boat there, bottom fishing. If we could have gotten in there we could have caught some Trout, like yesterday.

So I opted for another area where the current was a bit too strong, but a good acclimation spot, to show them what to do. Susanne was new to the fishing game. So I wanted to go over everything. Chuck, he fished with me once before last year.

The wind was a bit of a bear. But after awhile she got the hang of it. So we moved on. Next spot

way too windy, but lets give it a try. And that's where Susanne caught her first small Trout.

The bites were very lean. Something (the wind I believe) had really changed the whole attitude of the day compared to yesterday.

So we headed to the jetties.

Anchoring on a dime, like I usually do was really hard. I was getting blown all over the place. The wind out in the open was unruly and making it very difficult for me to position the boat just right, seeing I had a beginner bait caster on board. So pitchin' flipping and putting the float 25 feet away from the boat was something that wasn't going to happen. Boat placement becomes very important.

We got bites, but they were Mangrove Snapper bites, blenny bites and basically Lil' fish bites. The current pushed by the breeze was roaring. I certainly wasn't going to give up though. This is the spot, and we're gonna fish it. So after one attempt after another I kept working on getting the boat positioned where I needed it. And the tide got high and slowed down.

First came some of those big Mangrove Snappers, 12-15 inches.....and if you can hook them, you can catch anything. So we were doing good. A small Redbass or two. But still there really wasn't much action at all. The tattle-tale fish, like Jacks and Ladyfish weren't even here. Saw maybe one or two small Tarpon, and no schools of mullet, like yesterday.

THERE WAS A BIG CHANGE, TODAY.

So we just kept working the are hard. I had confidence something would turn around. Putting in your time and being patient, is all we could do. A few good fish were hooked and lost. But as conditions improved is when a few bites came from decent fish.

A 4 pound Black Drum. Was added to the fish box along with the Mangrove Snappers.

This was Susanne's largest fish ever.

Then, I a few more large Mangroves, again. One hooked Cow nosed Ray foul hooked, and then the fish we were looking for.

A 27 inch Redbass! This one kinda whooped her, and good!
By now live shrimp were getting mighty lean out of our 10 dozen, so we used up the rest of the shrimp Chuck hooked a big fish that got off, I boxed a Mangrove, then Chuck boxed a Mangrove and we headed in to clean the catch.

We ended up with 5 Mangroves, the Red, and the Black Drum, tossing back a small Red or two and a small Trout. Whewwwww....I was whooped! Each day has it's challenges, but today really took it out of me. And the wind was to blame.

Next up: A one person trip on Tuesday. Yes, Tuesday. No one around, back to my my kind of day. Then, a kids trip on Wednesday, then a whole family on Thursday.

6/26 & 6/27 - ITS HOT!

On the 26th I had Richard, Ryan & 10 year old Jude, aboard. We started in the river float rig fishing and caught some Jacks, and one keeper Trout.

Then on to the jetties we headed. The tide started to flood and the green water was getting just right. Ryan got his butt handed to him by a big Jack that caused all kinds of problems in which I do not have time enough to describe, but let me just say, "it was like Chinese yellow mustard.....not hot, it's just exciting".

Then Jude got seasick. It wasn't like it was sporty at the jetties, by no means. The tide was getting really right for some Redfish. We moved on into the river, but that didn't do it. So we went back and called it a day.

Then on the 27th I had Chris and Zach S. aboard. Just one look at this father and son team and I knew we would have a exciting day. Zach reminded me of myself at 14 years old. Pitching and flipping with the low pro bait casting reel like he was Bill Dance or Roland Martin. Yeah, me too...When I was a kid I used only bait casting equipment because that's what the "pros" used.

So I knew we were gonna catch some good fish today. Half of the hitch in light tackle inshore fishing is using the equipment and knowing how to handle your fish, big or small. When I go Golfing, I know what I'm in for. I just don't Golf enough. So it's O.J.T. - "on the job training". And I like Golf!!

We started in the river this morning catching about 10 Trout, boxing only 3-4, and a small Redbass. Most of the Trout were 14" males. But Chris and Zach also wanted to learn some techniques. And catching on to Float-rigging was easy for them.

The tide was a real screamer. And about everywhere I wanted to go the water was ripping eastward way to fast. So we headed eastward to the jetties.

Yesterday, after I dropped off Richard and his crew I went back out and caught a 26" Redbass, and a 16" Mangrove Snapper, and 4 Jacks, right where we were, when Jude got seasick.

I looked out into the ocean and the Pogies were everywhere, and the Tarpon were everywhere too.

I just couldn't stand it. I had to go for it. So I pulled anchor and went to the Pogie pods and cast a Pogie on a leader with a 2 oz. sinker into the pod. And no sooner the Pogie hit the bottom, and I was hooked up to a Tarpon. All I saw was the rear-end of the Tarpon flying through the air twice away from me as I held on. My leader was only a 25# piece of mono that was already rigged up on a light rod. And the Tarpon broke off after the second jump.

So this is what I wanted to try with Chris and Zach. But here in bazaaro world, where no single day is ever the same. Today the Pogies didn't come down the jetty rocks, and the Tarpon were no where around the same area of the jetty. Today we had a stiff breeze from the west. And that's all it may take to have everything 180 degrees from yesterday.

So today on the incoming tide, I had to go hunt up some Pogies, way down the beach, near the end of Hanna park. Severely scattered and most likely tossed on all day long. They were a pain to catch. I had to make at least 5 tosses of the cast net before we had enough to chum-fish with.

We headed back to the jetties and anchored up. I tossed out a chum bag, plus we cut dead Pogies and dropped them out the stern while fishing to big rods with dead Pogies on the bottom.

I saw one Tarpon the whole time. And yesterday I saw 100 Tarpon!!

We ended up catching two sharks. And one got tangled up in something on the bottom and I had to jiggle and jerk on the line for Chris because the fish wouldn't budge off the bottom. Never had this happen before, and probably may never have such a weird thing happen ever again. But the shark got loose, and we got it to the boat. (I was leadering the fish so I got no photos)

With no signs of Tarpon in our future I kept looking over at the jetty rocks and was seeing nice green water. So we packed up the chum fishing and went back to float-rigging.

No sooner did we get on the spot, and Chris hooks a good sized Redbass, that lays the wood to him and got him down in the jetties and broke him off. Then on his next drift he catches a small 18.5 inch Red. Then, came all the Mangrove Snappers.

And good sized ones up to 16". Now that's a Mangrove worth boxing!! 10 Mangroves later, from 12 to 16", a 25" Redbass, and a few more 17 inchers. We were about out of 10 dozen shrimp. The action on the high clean water was gang-busters. And the fish box was filling up.

So it was time to head in and clean the fish.

And feed my Egret buddy who comes and stands on my boat every day. Never have I seen a Egret as tame. And today we even had a rare Wood Stork come and get in on the free fish trimmings.

6/25 - Fishing is good for America!

http://www.noaa.gov/features/economic_0309/index.html

With the current state of our economy, it’s interesting to note the positive effects of unlikely activities, such as commercial and recreational saltwater fishing.

According to a recent economic report released by NOAA’s Fisheries Service, commercial and recreational fishing generated $185 billion in sales for the U.S. economy and supported more than two million jobs in 2006, the latest statistics available. “Managing fisheries sustainably is good for the environment and the economy,” said Jim Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

“Fishing helps create a substantial number of jobs around the nation.” The peaceful pastime of fishing involves a few more expenses than some would imagine. Saltwater anglers are estimated to have spent $5.8 billion on trip-based expenses, such as bait and fuel, and another $25.6 billion on fishing equipment like fishing rods, tackle, and boats.

Not only does buying fishing gear boost local economies, the fees from fishing licenses provide states with significant funds to improve fish resources. North Carolina was the most recent state to implement a saltwater fishing license.

From January through August 2007, the North Carolina committee in charge of the fishing licenses collected about $7.9 million. Once obligations and other expenses were paid, the committee was able to fund several projects to promote and improve fishing, including:

Take a Kid Fishing Foundation
Take Boys and Girls Club kids fishing
Recreational fishing data collection program
Multiple other fishing beneficial campaigns
Multiple professions are involved in the process of delivering the fish from the ocean to the dining room table.

The 1.5 million jobs supported by the commercial fishing industry did not just involve restaurant employees and commercial fishermen but also, seafood processors and dealers, seafood wholesalers and seafood retailers.

Saltwater recreational fishing was a close second, supporting more than 500,000 jobs, including fishing guides, equipment retailers, and many other service jobs that support anglers.

If you’re angling for ways to help the economy, grab a rod, your favorite bait, and head out to the nearest pier for a little saltwater fishing… or simply head down to your local seafood market and buy some fish for dinner.

Let NOAA’s Fishwatch be your guide to a healthy choice.

6/19 - Beach, Jetties, River......oh no!!

Had Dave C. from Virginia out with me again. Dave always fishes as a solo person. And we always have fun. He enjoys the water and the pursuit of the fish as much as catching.

Thought I'd mix it up a bit. So I took the Kingfish rods with me today. Here's what I figured....

First thing this morning, get some Pogies and run out to the S.E. Hole/Spoil Area/Chum hole and do some of that "el boro" live bait going really slow, trolling. Hey, but it's a change!!

So as we passed the old Sea Turtle Inn from behind the breakers with out seeing a single "flip-n -splat" of a single Pogie, right then were at the extent of my chase for live baits. I usually will not waste any more time. PERIOD. But heck, we were going "slow trolling".....

So we ended up at the Red Tops. Still no Pogies! Yep, good ole Bazaaro World Florida is at it again. How do people put up with this all summer long?? I just do not know.

I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AT THE NORTH JETTY AND JUST JIGGED UP SOME GREENIES (threadfin herrring). I could have just kicked my own ass at this point, but my stubby legs don't go that way.

At the Redtops, I came off plane and rigged up my flimsy King rods with Drone spoons and a 4 oz. trolling lead. On top of it all, I am experimenting with "lead core" line spooled up on Shimano Tekota 500 level wind reels. For the non-down-rigger, trout fisherman (me) I was really wanting to see how well it would work getting the Pogie down deeper. Now you know, the cats outa the bag. I believe it would work great, too bad we had no live baits to try.

So over the side and into my TGT rodriggers (see mine and others here: http://www.tgttackle.com/photo_gallery.php ) the two rigs went, as I bumped the throttle up to about 5 knots.

I pointed the bow back north and away we went, passing plenty of boats that probably were pulling ribbonfish, in the Fernandina Kingfish tournament.

Believe it or not, we received 4 strikes, two were hook-ups and stroked the rods over, buzzed the reel clickers, one was a wimpy bite, and one was a Spanish Mackerel hook-up. The Spanish were chasing small minnows on the surface all over the place.

We got between Hanna Park and the jetties and gave up, packed it in and got up on plane....."the lure of the float-rig was calling this Float-Freak, as it was calling Dave too."

We tried the falling tide dead jetties, with nothing caught. Then tried along the Navy base. Every single live shrimp we drifted on the float-rigs were eaten by a 4" Mangrove Snapper!! This, again

was absolutely futile. Up into the river further. Next spot, Mangrove Snapper futile fishing once again. Then another move, and the game was on......FINALLY!

First drift, 23 inch Speck at 4+ pounds.

Then, an 18 incher!

Then, some smaller Specks at 15-17 inches. Then, I had my hook completely crushed, and lost a good bite. I told Dave, "see this, it's what a Sheepshead can do with those snarly teeth, it happens all the time."

Then, ten minutes later Dave catches the hook crusher!

The current about quit on this spot, and we had 2-3 Ladyfish.

Damn that was some fast and furious action. I know I loved it.

As we call it in the biz, "zero to a hero" real quick.

Dave is so laid back, he's an angler and knows I was trying to do something different with him this time, when looking for the Pogies. We've float-rigged fish many, many times together. And he was with me when I caught my first 10 pound Speckled Trout, April 28th of 2008 near the jetties. We'll always have this day in the record books.

With a slack tide in the river, we headed back to go clean the fish.

Today's take ready for the knife:

Dave says, he'll be back in August and will be bringing a friend with him from Virginia.

I'll have the ole float rig rods rigged and ready, Dave!

6/16 - Multi-fishing

Had Bob, Matt, and Micheal H. aboard today. Originally, I thought we might be able to get on those reds at the jetties like I did with Tim from the Tampa area, on Wednesday and Thursday.

But as usual.....that was a summer time "fluke". I know, because DOA Rob and myself went out yesterday and fished the same tide, and same place, and NEVER CAUGHT A SINGLE FISH!!!! The Tarpon that were everywhere were gone. It went from absolute gang-busters to ZERO. And we know what we're doing out there!

Yeah, that's good ole summer in J-ville for ya. You can't count on what your doing now, to be what you'll be do, 2 days from now.

Exactly the opposite during my favorite time of year, November thru April 1st. You ask, "what are you doing?" And my answer will be, float-rig fishing for big Trout, toss in Redfish and Sheephead.

I get so damn mad when on this subject, that I don't even like discussing it. And it won't ever change, because every single summer it's exactly the same thing. No matter how much I despise it.

So we left out around 7:30am, and went in the river to where at low tide we had a 4 pound Trout last Monday, before the afternoon storms. There was a breeze blowing up the stern of the boat and bucking the water flow out of the spot. Which is the first no-no. The tide height was perfect, but between the three guys they mustered one small Trout, so we left. I wasn't surprised.

Jack Crevalle fishing, anyone? Next area is famous for Jacks of all sizes. But each time there, we usually get a decent Flounder too. Well today, Mike caught a Redbass, 22 inches instead of a flattie, which is better anyhow, because they actually fight.

The jacks were there and they were all sizes. But not any super strokers in the 10-15 pound class that I have had before, thank goodness because the young guys had a handful with what

bit.

They caught a good number of Jacks, a Ladyfish, the usual 6" Mangrove Snappers.

And an interesting thing....

I asked super "fishing" veteran, Capt. John Campbell this morning at B&M bait and tackle, if there was an infestation of 6" Mangrove Snappers in the St. Johns 30-40 years ago. Because John always mentions "back when" while talking to him. Not all that happy about the changes he's seen in the ocean and river. He's not one to hold back any comments. And his answer to my question was a resounding, "Nope!"

That's one fish that I'd like to see a price tag put on their head, at any size. That insures there won't be any of them around in the near future. Spring time 10" Bluefish don't even bother me as much as these mini-bait stealing snappers. I used to fish offshore almost every single trip I booked, years ago. Some of you may not know that. From trolling to bottom fishing, I was out there in a 23' center console day in day out. And from my experiences, if we have so many juvenile Mangrove's inshore, you'd think we'd have tons of larger ones offshore. But how many do you hear about? Next to none! It's Red Snapper, Red Snapper, Red Snapper....and that's it.

I can tell you that the offshore waters should be infested with Mangroves everywhere, for the amount of the small bastards that are in the St. Johns as of April 1 of every single year.

We left the Jacks and headed for the jetties. I wanted to try something real quick. I know some small Black Drum were caught on top of the end of the jetty, I saw them. So we gave it a quick try, with pieces of shrimp. MISTAKE....you cannot drop any shrimp to the bottom at the end of jetties. In a nano-second, your bait would vanish, there's so many bait-stealers down below.

Fiddler Crabs may work better, but I didn't bring any fiddlers, because I wasn't planning on doing much bottom fishing the jetties. This was just a "try" that's all. Not worth doing till mid to late October, for me.

The guys wanted big pullers, like sharks. But the skills to handle big fish just have not developed yet for the boys. Maybe in 10 years of fishing 10 times a year with me......LOL,LOL.

So I figured I'd give them some Nassau Sound Bonnethead sharks to play with. So we took off to the north.

The tide was a screaming falling at the jetties, it's not like other waterways. Because when we got to Nassau Sound the tide there was a screaming incoming. Isn't that funny? The St. Johns does play by the normal rules.

The guys caught Ladyfish at first. Then a few moves later we found a few Bonnethead sharks for them. It was all they could handle! And not a single one made it boat side. Every one broke off out away from the boat. Fighting a 20 pound Bonnethead for a beginner can be a daunting task. You learn "tackle handling" real quick like!

In between the Bonnets they caught a big beach Whiting, for the cooler.

They were getting tired, hungry ......or was that just Matt? Yeah, I think so. So very tired, that when the rod horseshoed over he'd knock ya out the way to get it!

So we packed it up and headed back via Lake Atlantic.

Next up: Friday with Dave from Virginia who's fished with me numerous times.

This next week coming is the "dark side of the moon", a New Moon. The ONLY time this month that we'll have BIG tides. Get the anchor ready!