Monday, August 31, 2009
8/31 - Good Bye August!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
8/26 - CHAPTER 2, w/ Kirk, in from Peru
There was no sun anyhow, it was on & off windy and overcast all morning long. Felt great actually.
Monday, August 24, 2009
8/23 - FISH, caught everywhere.
But he was in town, from Lima, Peru. Where the U.S. Navy has him spending a few years. And he's just thrilled with that, BTW. So fishing is an activity in which he has been severely lacking.
He wanted to go, but I thought I was going to be in the great state of Louisiana fishing for a week. So when I had to cancel on the La. trip at the last minute, I emailed Kirk and said, "I'm now open to fish Sunday the 23rd."
To my disappointment, I'll be possibly fishing the river here for a few more years, before I can fish the "oh so bountiful" Louisiana inshore waters.
We caught fish at every single spot we went too. There's no lack of bites. We even gave bottom fishing a try again. But was there after the big Redfish bite was about over. 20 boats of all sizes were jam packed into a small area. I initially went in there just to say HI to some friends. Instead we caught small Yellowmouth Trout. As we talked with my friends. And the big Red bite was about done, so when the current went wacky we moved on.
We did try the jetties, earlier. The water temp on the incoming tide was 75 degrees. We were one of 3 boats fishing the rocks. The tide was pouring in, and Kirk hooked a Ass-Hander! Probably a really big Jack. And it ripped him down the jetty and around the corner and then shut the door.
My Ugly Stik "Striper rods"....which are my new charter Float-rigging rods, got a super horseshoe put in the one that Kirk had in his hands, on this fish. Bowed up and drag smoking. It was super cool. But once the big fish hooked around the jetty. It was over, when the light 15# leader popped.
We were looking for some incoming tide Redbass, of course. But the jetties just didn't feel really right for some reason. And that cool water was suspect.
That was about it out there, so back down river we went. Yep, we did some back and forth stuff. But settled in around Blount Island to the Dames Point bridge area.
In the river we caught Speckled Trout about everywhere. But most of them were shorts, 14-12" Trout. Out of maybe 25 total we kept six of the largest. A 14" Yellowmouth,. and two Mangrove Snappers.
But the really good thing is every spot we fished (Float-rig) we caught fish. Even a quick stop up in a shallow cove in 2 feet of water, we still caught Trout. Small ones, but they were Trout.
(we were looking for a red....even a pup red)
Hey, at least my Speckly friends are all over the place in the river. That's a good thing.
The ratio of keeper sized Trout was a bit of a bummer. I bought no less than 10 dozen live shrimp. So we were ready!
I thought.
The incoming tide came very quickly this morning and by the time the tide turned and we had ebbing water again, and were on a decent bite good Specks, we ran out of live shrimp.
We had keeper Trout from 15 inches to 20" being the largest.
Kirk thinks while he's here that we maybe able to sneak out around 3pm again this week, after he's done Navy business over at Jax NAS. I'm all up to that. Late afternoon falling tide bite? Yeah baby! Hmmm, I think I have a few "top water" spots I'd want to try.
C'C'mon.....Kirk!!!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
8/21 - BIG FAT RAIN
Thursday, August 20, 2009
8/20 - you think aluminum is odd?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
8/18 - A really nice day on the river!
And yeah, we may have gotten really wet because of a short rain shower that snuck up on us.
But again, that really cooled us off.
Had Louise H. and her son Garrett aboard today, visiting from the Lone Star state. And actually quite close to the good ole Gulf of Mexico, one seriously fishy body of water. But as Louise told me in the beginning...."we're not fishing people". But heck they wanted to give it a try.
And I think they were very pleased that they did. Because we had a really great day. And even though they may have been fishin' rookies, they both did exceptionally well. And as usual, when I have the gals aboard, they're the fish magnets!!
After I shagged off my morning "stow-away", we took off just after 8am.
We headed up river. At the first stop, I try to find a nice calm easy to fish spot. So everyone on board gets acclimated to the tackle and gives me a chance to teach them about float-rig fishing.
And we were on our spot 5 minutes with lines in the water about 30 seconds when Garrett hooks the first fish of the morning. "I.G" - instantaneous gratification!!! That's what I like to see. And coming to boat is the first Speckled Trout. Not a keeper, but it doesn't matter at this point.Then it was mom's turn, and Louise reels one on in.
Right then, we started to get some falling tide current, so we shifted on over to an area that had good steady current, straight behind the boat. But that had the wind straight to our stern, and we wobbled around a lot on anchor. But we got the job done, and started catching Trout right away.
We were fishing now, no more than an hour maybe and already caught 6 and had 3 up to 19-7/8ths of and inch, in the fish box. Again, not bad for my float-rigging newbies. They both got into the rhythm and that means fish!!
After boxing some nice Trout up to 20 inches, we moved on and tried our hand at some bottom fishing for a big red. But it's still summer and the first hook up was a monster Stingray that smoked off line so fast there was no stopping the big "dumpster-lid", and it broke off.
My patience for this is about a foot long. Starring at the rod tips, (I hate stinger fishing...) so we moved on and went back to float-rig fishing and catching good fish. But the next spot was short lived. Here came the clouds and ran us off to a safe haven, but as I ran there, we ran straight into the big rain. We got wet, but during the down pour the boat was safely tied up and we took cover with a handful of other fisherman under a roof that was close by.
After the shower we found a nice calm river and a lesser breeze on the next spot. Caught some more throw back Trout and boxed even more up to 20 inches, again. Along with plenty of Ladyfish and jacks, and the days only Mangrove Snapper at 14 inches, that hit the ice along with a double limit of beautiful Specks. I know, I couldn't believe it either.....only one Mangrove?? We really didn't have many problems with the "shrimp snatchers" much at all, today. Maybe because I fished deeper waters, further away from the hard structures.
Louise was the "hot rod" all day. And it was well deserved. She was on her game.
I believe, she should fish more often. She might get really hooked.
They ended their day by taking a bag of freshly caught trout all filleted, de-boned and skinned by their guide to Singletons Seafood Shack and having them cooked up for them. They just don't get fresher than that. Louise gave me some also, because they had more than enough and when I got home and put everything away I was reminded of what a nice day we had with a big plate of fresh fried Speckled Trout myself for supper. Ahhhh, the fruits of our FUN. sure did taste good.
See ya out there...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
8/16 - In Between Fishing
Yep, in between fishing charters I'll sometimes be in the red TOWBOAT/US boat.
It's not Big Alloy. And I almost forgot the way F'glass feels on the water. But I'll have to let it slide, this time.
Next up: Tuesday's charter, then maybe Saturday and then a definate Sunday charter.
Friday, August 14, 2009
8/14 - Almost one year ago......
It was last year, NEXT WEEK.
Myself and DOA Rob went out the first day afterwards that was calm enough and not raining and I caught my largest Redbass to date; 50-55 pounds.
Tropical Storm Fay was a real belly washer and from there on out the season basically began.
The "fall'ish" season I mean.
The Reds were about everywhere, and so was the bait.....CROAKERS. Yep, that's what I used,. them and cut Ladyfish (cuts down the population of the slimey jumpers.....no pun intended, hahahahahahah)
I read these stupid reports about going and catching 175 Croakers, as if that's some kind of super charter fishing day. Yeah, who's cleaning all them damn things. It's not like they are 15 inches a piece. Your guide isn't.
That's all fine and dandy for some, but I'll catch my larger Croakers on the float-rig and a live shrimp, like I usually do. And be happy with 5-10 big ones up to 17", then move on.
Because all the waiting thru the 99 degree temps, scrounging and putting together new tackle all summer long, is all for the preparation of SEPTEMBER.
The days are shorter, we've usually had some significant storms, the water's cooling off and it's all about.....
The first week of last September Paul M. from New England caught this beautiful 6-1/2 pound Trout.
We're loosing basically a minute a day of daylight. Wish I could speed that up a bit and make fall get here even sooner.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
8/3 - No sooner ya turn around......
Wow, I'm glad days fly by in the summer. Because it's all that shorter of a wait till winter. And I can tell ya right now. I'm ready for shorter days, cooler temps, and BIG FAT TROUT at the jetties.
But, I can not go through a summer without sharing with you a Poem my dad wrote back on December 19, 1992, when I used to troll offshore. The poem is all about a "N.E. Florida summer routine".
I can tell ya honestly I was always a better "dead" bait guy. My dad may have done this Pogie Poem, but I lived by the saying "a 5 pound box of frozen cigar minnows, don't leave the dock without them".
Here ya go.....
Pogie Heaven by Don Sipler
Around the end of the rocks we raced
Back to the beach, warm air in our face.
In the distance we saw the birds fly
we scanned the surface with a keen eye.
There they are! First one then many, other boats are coming, quick get
ready!
They're in front of us! So throw it straight.
A good cast yielded a bounty of bait.
We turned the boat slowly to the open sea.
Happy the Pogies were where we wanted them to be.......I believe this said it all.
Friday, July 31, 2009
7/31 - how to burn 8 dozen shrimp....FAST!
Just take two fish crazed young boys fishing for what ever bites. Yeah, my goal was to stretch some strings. And did we!
Had Charlie H. grandpa of Finn (8 years old) and his brother Elijah (6 years old) on board today.
If every charter day went as good as this one, I'd be one "Happy Cappy". The problem was I spoiled these kids. Because we weren't on location and lines in the water 5 minutes before a rod was bent and a drag was getting yanked.
Ladyfish and Jacks, throw in a Mangrove Snapper or two and we had 30-40 fish to the boat, with some lost and there went the first few hours. So went it came time to try and put a decent "keeper" in the fish box which took patience, the boys told me, "we don't like this spot!"
The action wasn't fast enough. So Grandpa Charlie and I had to tell them about the word, Patience. And with a little we ended up with a nice sized Mangrove Snapper and a box sized Black Drum. Which was targeted species at the last spot of the day.
The boys learned how to Float-rig fish and watch for their float to disappear. And then later how to feel the bite as we bottom fished with a light lead and a long leader.
Float-rig fishing is the perfect technique for anyone, and even more perfect for the youngest of fisherman. Just let the current take the float, and when it goes under, start reeling! And the fish is ON. And the battle ensues.
The boys had double hook-ups all day. It was perfect weather. And when the dark clouds came, we were out of live shrimp by then. So I ran fast back to the dock, so as to stay ahead of a storm coming from the west. And got the fish cleaned, and bagged and they were on there way back home just as the first rain drops fell and the wind got strong.
Perfect timing!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
7/29 - Another Adventure with Tim from Tampa
Chip said, he felt that about 25 people were in attendance on the stormy night.
You sometimes have to watch out for what ya wish for when you include "Dave" in something like this,.......is what I was thinking. I can pontificate on for hours, and did. But your delving deep into my world when handing me a microphone and say...."talk fishing Dave". Even though I felt, I was a bit rusty. Since it's been awhile since I've talked to a large crowd.
I love what I do. And have no problems with teaching people anything I have learned over the years and passing on info.
I heard billionaire casino owner Steve Wynne say there's two different kinds of FREEDOM; there's "Rich Freedom", like owning and building casino's in Las Vegas. And there's Poor Freedom, like being a beach bum surfer dude. Mr. Wynne always wanted rich freedom to do what he wanted. Well, I guess "Fisherman" falls into that poor freedom category, like a beach bum surfer dude.
But either way, it's Freedom, right? I have no interest in owning big buildings, and having thousands of employees. Instead, I have people all over the globe that love to do exactly the same thing I love to do. And that's F-I-S-H. And that means a lot to ME.
-----------------------------
Today, at 9:30am I met "Tim from Tampa" at the boat ramp. I wanted to get started on the first of the incoming tide. And I wanted to go....."somewhere else". So we went North.
Tim has fished with me many times. Our last time was two days in a row. And it was like NO other two days in the summer that I've ever had before. We some how got involved in a mass confluence of Redbass of all sizes at the jetties, like I have never seen before in June.
Here's links to those two days, if you'd like to read more about them:
http://jacksonvillefishingreports.blogspot.com/2009/06/611-redbass-redbass-redbass-tarpon.html
http://jacksonvillefishingreports.blogspot.com/2009/06/610-fishing-in-aquarium.html
So since I told Tim, that I doubt we'll have a day like either one of those, this time. We're going else where. But no matter what kind of trouble Tim and I get into, it's always an adventure!
We went float-rigging......naturally. So that meant trying to catch "summer Trout" and whatever else. Well, we got into a Trout bite and right as we thought we were in the MEAT, the bite quite.
Four nice Specks, behind the surf. Yeah, summer beach Trout!! Damn, I love that. Clean, green, shallow water. But no sooner the bite started, then the wind started to blow. Which I believe was responsible for shutting down the trout bite as soon as it really started. The water was basically slick, no surf, and oh so calm. Then came some S.E. wind that chopped up the water, that started a bit of surf swell.
But the fish were fatties.
Here's a close-up.
Looks like the fish swallowed a tennis ball! The fishes belly was all distorted. Well, it turned out to have huge roe sacks, being a female. And instead of tubular roe sacks, they were big and round. Obviously, something went wrong with their formation. And the eggs were dark green rather than dark yellow. We checked it all out, while I cleaned the fish. It was something I had never seen before, that's for sure. That Trout probably felt like me after eating a giant Dicks Wings Cheeseburger and waffle fries and 3 big glasses of iced tea at 10:30 pm!!!
Tim ended up catching a total of 4 keepers and 4 - 14 inchers during the day. In between Jacks, Ladyfish. We ended up hunting around the rest of the day. But it sure was fun.
Some included lightning, rain, wind and utter gloom & doom.
So plan "B", turned into plan "F", seeing how I had no control of what was going to happen with our wonderful day on the water.
Yep, we skirted rain, winds, lightning, temp drops, and clouds that looked like "Jesus fingers" coming down from the sky to snatch us up and take us to Kansas!
It was one heck of a fun day. And I always enjoy having Tim aboard. He's up for about anything, and is flexible, along with being a good angler.
We ran through some super sloppy, rough water on the way home. Proving the "mettle" of the big Alloy boat, because I gave it holy hell, so to get some distance between us, and the next set of rolling "Jesus fingers" that was chasing us home.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Why I Iove 'em, while trying to understand them.
And found this Trout, which turned out to be 7 - 1/2 pounds, with a mullet stuck in it's throat. The Trout was barely alive, and the mullet had been stuck in it's throat for awhile Greg said, because the "forward" half was a bit decomposed. But the mullet still weighed in at a 1/2 pound.
Gator's, Hawgs, whatever you call'em, big Trout provided stories and proof like this from time to time. The photo isn't all that great, but you can see the tail of the mullet sticking out this fat trout's mouth.
(Greg also said the nasty green algae at Guana's 6-mile boat ramp was so thick he had to "row" his jon-boat threw it)
Had lunch with DOA Rob today, and we both agreed that it's a real rarity to catch any Trout around here on a bait that large. I told Rob, "I've used small live pogies, pilchards, mullet and Croaker, all less that 6 inches, and can count on one hand how many Trout I've caught. But then use a live shrimp and BAMMMM........I'll then catch that GATOR Trout."
Rob pretty much agreed with me and has had similar experiences.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
7/25-26 Summer's Pinnacle.....
In bazzarro world nothing is ever the same. At least not the things I look forward too.
One thing that's the same is the Algae bloom in the river once again......yeah, crap like that is always the same in that poor river during the summer.
But last weekend like many summer weekends we struggled to catch enough decent fish. So what's the difference between right now and what was going on in this photo??
Obviously a WHOLE LOT!!! Yep, that was 7/14/07.
HUGE difference, huh?
The secret was then, and probably now also, is "GET OUT OF THE RIVER!!!"
These fish above, in this photo came from no where near the St. Johns River.
This weekend I worked really hard and this weekend's fruits of our labor, were some Trout to 19" and lots of 14 inchers with Don M. and Jamie and Eric on Saturday. We finished up our 12 dozen live shrimp with Mangrove Snappers about 12 of them to 16".
It's just not my kind of summer when Mangrove Snappers make for the majority of the catches and the fish in the box at the end of the day. I want better and more that Mango's!
But, then on Sunday I had Ray L. Sr & Ray Jr. along with Ray Jr.'s friend. In the morning we fished the river for zero. That's where we had strings of algae on our lines and plenty of the particulates of it in the water. NOT GOOD!
We ended up at the jetties where Ray Sr. lost a Speckled Trout along the rocks .(WOW, Speck #2 at the jetties so far this summer) lots of small Jacks, and then finally one that was big enough to put up a fight. And then later we ran out of 12 dozen live shrimp after catching about 10 Mangrove Snappers for the fish box.
I'm going again on Tuesday and Wednesday. And I'm thinking....."NOT in the St. Johns River".
When we reach this time of year. I believe the river gets to where it's begging for a summer flush. Usually Tropical Storms or passing Hurricanes take care of all that.
You'd think that the astronomical tides we're having right now would flush that river. The New moon tides this month are some serious ones. Upwards of 5.5 feet of water movement in 6 hrs. Hope things are better afterwards. I'll be able to tell.
Looking forward to fishing some where else for a change. In less than 30 days, I'll be heading to Venice Louisiana for a week. Totally different enviroment over there, thats for sure. I'm so excited!!
And Tuesday 7/28 , we'll be talking techniques at Dick Wings on Beach Blvd. Come on by, the topic is Float-Rig Fishing. Need more info: email me or call.