10/14 - Where, when and how

From the pages of my daily log book, straight to you....

You may have noticed that I'm sort of keeping track of when my Trout friends show up EAST of the boat ramp. Sort of? Hell, I'm gonna break out the "highlighter" and circle that day. So I was lying when I said, sort of.

As Anglers, we don't have much to go on other than seat of our pants gut feelings, or last years notes, or like here, "when someone tells you about a bite going on".

Either way, I keep last years Florida Sportsman Fishing Planner on my desk. So I can look back and see trends. And the differences from year to year. Because I keep relatively good notes on things that interest me.

I split areas up into sections in my mind, you may too. And when I mark down "Mayport ____"

Meaning as example "Mayport Reds", "Mayport Trout" etc. it means within sight of the boat ramp/shrimp boats etc.

Well, last year on October 9th, I have a big red circle around that date with a note saying "Mayport Trout"........yeah 40 of them off one spot!!!!!

Now not to give away the whole farm. I've been there, and NOT done that yet in the same area.

Key word: YET!

Then, I was out on a nasty blustery day in 2008 (have ya noticed we haven't had many of those "yet" this October??) I had out John C. and his lovely wife in and the two of them tore the Trout up. That's probably why it hasn't happened yet, this year (?) Because we haven't had that really nasty weather just yet.

This is just an example, of course. But from around Oct. 9th on, it was GAME on in Mayport.

Especially for my Trout friends.

These are the kinds of trends I track. And I don't care what other's might say or report. I go by what happens on my boat!

Don't know if any of you regular readers ever go back and look at the "archive" pages here. But if your out to learn something, like tracking a species, the when and whys and seasonal patterns of our fish. It behoves you to get to know the archives list.

I get emails asking me those same questions. And of course I actually do all this typing for prospective customers. But they don't seem to take the time to look at it, or use the archived months of reports. I would.

So what I do, is steer people to them instead.

Believe me, if I was looking for a charter guide.

I'd want to know what he can do for me, and what's his track record during the time frame in which I want to fish.

THAT'S THE REAL REASON I DO THESE REPORTS. It takes lots of extra effort, but I want people (customers) to see what's biting and when.

See ya out there.

10/13 - deep water T-routz

Had Nick W. on board with me today. We departed at 8am. And tried to float-rig fish within a mile of the boat ramp..."just checking to see if the fish think it's fall yet."

Tried two spots and the only thing we came up with was Nick getting slam dunked along some rocks by a "ass hander" which remained un-seen. And lost hook after hook from vicious strikes, that Nick said, as we started wondering "what the hell...." "Dave could these be Spanish Mac's?"

I said yeah, I bet they are. Because the float would go down with super speed, and no connection. Just lost hooks, via those small razor like teeth of the Spanish Mac's.

Oh did I mention the wind? It was blowing pretty good, overcast, zero sun shine, and yes "a lot more comfortable that the average October 2009 day, so far."

We were after one thing. Okay three things....

A box O' TROUT. We'd certainly take Flounder. And a brawl with a Redbass on the Float rig. Not much to ask for on a iffy weather morning.

But that's why I do what I do. I counted no less than 4-5 boats turn around that were heading offshore. And that included Capt Scott's 70' party boat!

That's why I have zero interest in offshore fishing. I went through all that for years with charters. And didn't care for it. And never looked back. No one has to worry about me crowding them on the reefs, that's for sure. Today, Nick and I were fishing, not catching, but fishing within 5 minutes after letting go the dock lines.

So after finding out that either the tide wasn't low enough, and the only willing fish smiling on our very sprightly live shrimp had too many teeth. I pulled anchor and headed down river.

We worked a real go-to spot, for when the tides low. Nothing. So we moved on one more time. The wind was a huge problem on a good "hard bottom" spot, plus there was another boat near that I didn't want to disturb. But, when I finally got anchored up, both Nick and I caught two good keeper Trout, right away. This is where they usually are, and we were fishing 22 feet of water. And a few Ladyfish. Then, my anchor kept pulling loose with the combined current and wind. "It's a tough place to anchor" I told Nick. "The bottom is like trying to get the anchor to stick into concrete." Many people discount the fact the Trout can be caught on the float-rig in 20 plus feet of water....."why not". That's why I use 2 oz. floats and two ounce leads on my rigs.

Works just as well in shallower water, and perfectly in the deep water too.

We left that zip code and as we pulled up a few miles away at another good spot. The current here was about slack. So we hung out for awhile and the tide then started to come on in. We re-anchored and adjusted our location, so to fish the spot better. The wind seemed to die down as it many times does, when the tide changes.

First drift of the float.......Yellowmouth Trout, second drift.....nice Speckled Trout! We were now in the "MEAT". And we were making our drifts in 20 plus feet of water and actually catching Trout in 26 feet.

Stan Milestone, previous owner of B&M bait and tackle and I were talking about Float-rig fishing one day. He's a master when it came to Trout, and back in the day before he found Pompano to his liking. I remember him saying that he rarely fishes over 12 feet deep. And yeah, that can be the case many times.

But not on these spots, and not today!

Personally, I find that if you want to get away from bait stealers, and them small Mangroves Snappers, many times going deeper on areas that you can, means, you'll find Trout. Where you didn't know they were. I like experimenting. And I liked what Nick and I were doing on this spot!

We soon caught our limit "plus" of really nice Trout, not having to even measure many of the fish.

Especially this one, that I nailed.

A sweet 5 pounder, that I was gingerly reeling in as I was talking to my fellow Trout fishing buddy D.O.A. Rob on the cell phone. He was heading south to Guana State Park in pursuit of none other than a big Trout from his Kayak.

Here's a bit of perspective.....for comparison.

Damn, I love catching Trout like this one after another and Nick sure did too. We ended up with 7 Yellowmouth Trout also, a few Croakers, then Nick had a deep water pole bender hooked up.

We were hoping for a keeper Redbass, but it turned out to be a 30 incher.
All on one spot, and in 26 feet of water.

The day may have started out slow, and Nick and I were wondering if maybe the weather had the fish off the bite. But as usual, we didn't give up. And just continued hunting around.

The air temp was glorious!! We never broke a sweat, the shrimp were frisky and happy as all hell till they were pinned on the hook, of course. We never saw the sun. And just didn't care.
After all the hot weather. I'd take weeks if not months more of these kinds of days.

And I hear more is on it's way. I can hardly wait!

10/7- The "Costanza" rule.....

Well, after yesterday's river trip hunting up big Redbass in that full moon incoming tide. I decided what ever I do today will be the opposite, just to see.....

So I attempted to do my version of the "George Costanza rule"; "If what ever you're doing is wrong. Then, the opposite must be right.

I didn't do anything wrong yesterday, but it just felt like it. Because the current in the river was kicking my butt!

Today, I had the Fuqua Family aboard. The wind was pretty stiff at probably a sustained 15 knots from the WSW. First, we tried float-rig fishing, along the jetties. And never had a sniff from a decent fish. And my shrimp were going comatose fast. They just are not living. Out of 10 dozen, I had maybe 4 dozen dead at 8:30am. So I decided to do my best attempt at "Occams Razor".....(for the non-history buffs out there.) That's another name for the K.I.S.S. system.

So we pulled out away from the jetties and set the anchor down right where I wanted to be after a second attempt, only after for the 200 time, catching someone else's 50' of anchor line tangled in an anchor that must have been sitting on the bottom for the last 25 years. It was now considered "structure". That's why I hate anchoring at the jetties any where near the tips.

So since I still had a bag full of live crabs. We started with them. Two rods, cracked Crab...and after a good while. Z-E-R-O Redbass or anything else. The boys needed action. So as I tended the crab rods, I pitched out a rod with one of the dead shrimp, I had.

What followed was: Black Margate, Mangrove Snapper, Keeper Redbass, Jumbo Redbass at 26 pounds, Bonnethead shark, Jack Crevalle, and possibly one Monster Shark.

Three rods went to dead shrimp instead of crab, because they were eating it up. All the while we were smack in the middle of, FALL MULLET RUN MADNESS. IN FULL SWING!!!!!!!

Mullet coming around the jetty were being smashed by literally thousands of Jacks. We had Jacks running down the side of the boat. Mullet were flying through the air. There was Sharks, no doubt big Spinner's too. I decided to take a rod and tie on my favorite top water Trout lure.

A Luhr Jensen "Jerkin Sam" that's about 4" long, and looks exactly like a mullet jumping accross the surface of the water. I handed the rod to Dad, Craig, and he jumped on my front bow deck and made long bombing casts towards the packs of water wolves killing the mullet schools.

Just a low profile reel, a Shimano Citica and a Ugly Stik Tiger Lite rod is all I had besides my real light weight float-rig rods. After a cast or two Craig had a pack of 20 pound Jacks following the lure. I told him, "People go all the way to Brazil, to cast top water lures at those Peacock Bass with that lure. And you have fish 10 times better here by the thousands!" As he slurped the lure across the water on the third cast, he was hooked up!

Absolute smoking run, burning and churning that small low pro reel. Then, the fish came loose....at inspection the fish literally snapped one third of the front treble hook off.

Next up, was another smoking run. Lure lost. Busted 30 pound super braid line. So I broke out a Rapala jointed lure I have never even caught a fish on previously. Upped the mono leader to 30 pound. A few casts and Craig was hooked up again on the bow deck. This time there was no stopping this fish (I'm thinking big, big shark) and before ya know it, Craig's yelling "it's not stopping, I'm getting spooled!!!!" So he busted the fish off, thank goodness. "That's $40 worth of braided line on that reel." I said in relief.

Okay, one Rapala lure left. A few casts and he's hooked up again. And to my disbelief the small Citica reel scores again on a bigger fish then it was ever made for. A Jack. A good 10 plus pounder at least. All the while this was going on Craig's wife was on a nice Redbass at the same time. Can you say, MAYHEM???

The next cast was another freight train attack that ate the lure right off. Lure gone! Ands now I'm out of lures.

So we're back to all dead shrimp on the bottom, when Craig casts off the side of the boat versus the stern. Rod doubles, his eldest son is on it. He fights it, tiers. Then, mom comes and takes over. And it turns out to be a 26 pound Redbass, again on the light Citica reel and Ugly Stik Tiger lite rod. Man, I'm seriously impressed with my tackle choices.

Breaking the record catch size of Doug Wurster a few weeks ago with a 24 pound Redbass on the same light weight rod and reel. I love it!

The incoming tide started to slow and we had a few bites here and there. And even the Mullet/Jack/Shark brawl was fading fast. Totally, freaked out about their day. That was only half of it for the Fuqua Family.

We went back to the dock, I cleaned up all their fish and they hit Singleton's Seafood Shack with my reccomendation with a big bag of fresh fillets. A great way to end a perfect day for folks staying in a hotel room.

I was at B&M Bait and Tackle later on, and bumped into Craig again and he said "My goodness, that blackened Fish was awesome, Dave!" He was getting more tackle for surf fishing this evening and tomorrow. That's dedication.

Everything we did today was basically the opposite of what I had previously planned. And the main thing was to stay out of that strong river current. I only anchored up to fish twice really. And the second spot is where we stayed. Again, not what usually happens.

So don't discount the "George Costanza Rule." It works!

9/6 - Pullin' something out....

Good to have the Brandt Family on board again. This was there fall trip. They've fished with me so many years that we have it down pat....Fall and Spring usually.

"BUT"...oh there's always one of those, huh?

Incoming, full moon tide, challenging to say the least. Smokin' current, yeah...to say the least. Since we bottom fished for Reds. Preferably big Bull Reds! Hell, it's October isn't it? Get Go Time.

We sat in the ripping tide in several locales for probably 3 hours without a sniff, nibble or even a glance at fresh live blue crabs (whole and cracked of course...) I moved around alot, trying my best to find "fishable" current, but in deeper water.

That didn't work. I told Bill, "Damn I almost wish I had my down-riggers still...I believe a ten pound down rigger ball on the bottom might do it."

To make a long story shorter. I finally threw my hands in the air and tried a spot that was shallower, along some serious structure, when the tide was high, but the current was still moving and slowing down. And had two of my crew members at the bow fishing straight down with dead shrimp, while I manned two crab baited heavier rods out the stern.

Finally, Bill reeled in a big fat Croaker about 14 inches. Holy Moly, Fish in the Boat! And that's when a stern rod went off. And Don reels in a perfect keeper Red at 26".

Then, not 5 minutes later, it was Don's mother's turn, because another crab baited rod bent double. Shirley was on the rod and handling it like she's done this before (she has!!) The drag rips and she's in for quite a battle.

She had plenty of coaching that was for sure, as the fight lasted a good while. But she did great and still had the strength to pull the 26 pounder up for a photo.

Then, it was Bill up next. And he scored what we were hoping was another keeper Redbass. And man, we thought it was......till I measured it. At 28 inches, Damn! But a nice fish indeed. So back it went ready for another day.

The tide slowed after a few more Croakers. And the fast action on the Reds quite as fast as it started. So we kept with the same program the rest of the day. Two people fishing shrimp up on the bow, while I manned the crab baited rods in the stern. We came back east and worked the Little Jetties and had big time Croaker action on the shrimp, releasing a bunch and boxing only the larger ones...again up to 14 inches. But no more Big Redbass.

So I hit a prime last year early October spot. ZIP....No Reds, no anything except a small Seabass. Last year, at this time the spot was Yellowmouth Trout and Reds galore! But this ain't last year. It seems much warmer, air and water temp. This seems like an endless summer we're in.

And they say 10/7 is going to be almost a record breaker at 93 degrees!!??

Did I mention by days end we sat through at least 6 different rain showers? Yep, they moved fast, but it was on and off with the rain jackets all day long. And comfortable till the sun finally came out around 11:30am. Prior it was really cloudy and quite nice. I love the cloud cover.

So we moved on and closer to the jetties. No Red bites on the crabs, and only bait stealers on the shrimp rods. And it was hours till the tide was low still and the current would slow. So after our last shift on the rain jackets, we packed it in to go clean our fish.

But we had action and came back with fish for a few dinner's.

And I always like seeing the Brandt's and having them aboard for day fishing.

Next up....May, the spring trip.

10/2 - I've seen different October's......

Had Don M. aboard again. This time with his Dad, Don M. Yeah "D & D fishing team".

Ran to the jetties first thing so I could dump my bait-well water and get fresh clean Ocean water in the tanks. Don't want anything to do with the river water right now. My bait was pretty happy, and so was I.

So while there, we float-rigged the jetty rocks for awhile. Man, was it basically, DEAD.

A couple Mangrove Snappers and a few Black Margates. And the Mangroves seem to be fading off a bit, where we were fishing. They surely are not like they were weeks ago. At the high water you could whack some super studs and many of them.










When they are 14-18 inches, boy do they make for some serious pan fried fillets. As good a eating as any fish out there. And a breeze to clean.....and ya know " I likes that!".

We moved around and still came up with not much. Saw a few "crowd pleaser" sized Tarpon rolling near our floats and live shrimp. And of course them finicky bastards weren't out to please us by no means. I hooked one last Tuesday while out goofing around...but that day was basically a wash with the west winds and comatose shrimp, because of the river's fresh water.

So myself and the two Don's headed down river and tried for a keeper size red in the river. Burning up some frozen crabs I had left. Don Sr. got one Red to the boat, a 28-1/2 incher. We lost another good bite, before all the crabs were gone.















I really was wanting a few Black Drum off the spot, since I've caught some real nice ones here before. But now with the crabs gone we moved on and tried a few Trout spots, but the tide wasn't right. It was screaming, when I needed a slow soft ebbing tide instead.

We ended up by the Navy base. Where on a falling tide has been EL TORO CENTRAL. Jacks, and I mean Jacks, pouring through willing to test your light tackle, my charter's skills, and while eating hooks and leaders like candy!

The two Don's went in the black when it came to getting all that bit, to the boat. And in between all the dang Ladyfish, one could stand. I actually tied on hooks and leaders and grab for the net most of the time. I did get a chance to take a few sets of pictures in of a few Jacks that made it to the boat.

I told Don Jr. here's where you can get long hard battle experience. Trout don't give this to you because Trout fishing/catching is more finesse fishing (which is why I love it). But Jacks won't cut you no slack. They expose what you still need to work on, when it comes to a fish that burns drag, bows rod's into horse shoe shapes and gives you some burn in the arms. Especially on my light Ugly Stik Striper rods. The guys were using. It was fun watching the rods bend, though.



















































































We saved a few small Ladyfish for cut bait, and then tried for a "keeper" sized Redbass. And again, after approx. five 4 oz. bank sinkers and 8 leaders we finally got one to the boat. The nasty bottom we were fishing, and lost fish via slam dunk bites and blistering drag runs, had my light bottom tackle ripped to shreds. But we got what we came for.

Bottom fishing means a lot of tackle just plain lost to the river", that's why I love float fishing. But each time we tried it, we did get our "Targeted species", which was a good thing. Size of the Reds, is just the problem right now. It's hard to find that under 27 incher, where I fish.

We sure hooked alot of fish today. And if they all made it to the boat, it would have been pretty impressive. But that's the way the wake splashes.
I'm usually impressed if half make it to the net. Which would be a good ratio. Remember, folks.....these ain't the same as Billy Big Mouth Bass. They pull so you have too, or they'll find the motor, the bottom of the boat, a rock, you name it. Then, all ya have is the distant memory of the fish that got away, instead of that nice tasty fillet. Which is always a reminder of that great catch.

Although it was kinda a funky day's fishing. We sure had fun!

"Our fish have bad attitudes."

9/28 - River update and rant.......

Time to gear up for fall. The mullet are everywhere at the inlet and especially at the north jetty of the St. Johns River. The Tarpon/Cudas and Sharks are going nuts on them, as well as the birds.

The top of the St. Johns River is basically "FRESH WATER".....has the orange tinge to it. Watch out for your live shrimp!! Don't recirculate the water in your bait well. Unless you go get clean green Ocean water. Your shrimp can die.

After what seemed like weeks of due east winds and astronomically strong tides, we had yesterday a decent west wind. Which pushed along with the falling tide enough Fresh Water that the surface of the river in the Ft. Caroline/Blount Island/Dames Point bridge area, that the salinity on the surface was 2 parts out of a possible 40 parts per thousand on my salinity gauge. And a back up test is "just taste it". I can just look at the water's color and know what's going on. The usual dark tannin, looked lighter and more tea color. Along the part of the river I fish.

Fresh water lays on the surface of saltwater, since saltwater is heavier. Just be aware of your water clarity, saltiness and temperature, in your bait well. If you want your live shrimp to stay fish'able. With river and ocean temps still at 80 degrees or better, it may seem like fall because of all that's going on in the fish world. But you still have to pay close attention to the environment that you're fishing in.

Especially us Float-rigger's"aka: Float Freaks" I'm personally keeping close tabs on when my favorites really start showing up east of the Mayport Boat Ramp. And NO, my favorites aren't Flounder although I catch mine on the float-rig 90% of the time. Or just by taking a break and pitching a jig-n-shrimp combo, bumping it along the bottom.

WE'RE ALL TERRORISTS, YOU KNOW!
Since just after 9/11 and all the "knee jerk re-actions" of our law enforcement agencies. I have lost at least 5 prime, Trout spots and now some primo flattie haunts. Last week, I was told that I can't be where I just pulled 5 Flounder and one Sheepshead out of. It's off limits now......"didn't YOU see the sign". "ya mean, the one hidden way up on the bank in the trees?", I replied.

Really.....does two guys in a boat in the river obviously fishing a certain rock pile or point, pose any National Security Threat to an area already equipped with a fence, probably with motion detectors on it, and with surveillance camera's on top of high poles, with patrolling security guards.....with binoculars? I'd love to take a Washington politician fishing just so he/she could see how utterly un-common sense this really is.

I can anchor within a BB gun range of a Naval Ship docked in Mayport N.S. But cannot anchor and fish, 200 yards from the closest Jeep, parked in a lot??

Who are these idiots, who make up these rules? Post a few signs, and become the Gestapos of the land? The land that I couldn't care less about, as a Tax paying, Jacksonville resident who's only interest is what's laying by that rock or point "UNDER WATER"! Use your head, folks. Or is the security so lame, you're scared of us?

I know we're living in a total "militaristic" country now. Let alone this city!

I AM YOUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE. DON'T YOU GET IT. I SEE WAY MORE THAN YOU DO.

DO SOME PROFILING!!

If I look/act like I'm a terrorist, I probably am. Just like the "Osama" they just caught putting a plan together in Colorado. BTW.....Why is that dude even here in my USA? A full-time fishing guide, just trying to make a living with a customer. Isn't your biggest problem. As we can see on the nightly news.

I PROFILE......you can too. I can tell if a caller or someone who emails me is really interested in a fishing charter, or if they are just out on a info hunt or tire kicking session. Car salesman do it. They steer you in the right direction to get that sale. They quickly profile your needs.

What's this country come too? I've had multiple background checks, have been finger printed I don't know how many times, have to buy a so called, security card (which is another fancy word for taxing me to pay for this "homeland security".) And still am considered a potential Terrorist?
NOW, is stereo typically in my mind the Big Bull Redfish time of the year. Ahh, October is almost here. Not August or even the beginning of Sept. And the funny thing is I hear about all these MONSTER REDS...and how big they are.

It's funny, I'm anchored 100 feet away from someone who's catching only monster reds, while we are catching the average sized fish, 20-30 pounds. Boy, can some guides really "pump up" a story. I guess that's why they're fisherman. If they weren't fisherman, they maybe "sci-fi writers".

I've caught numerous 50 plus pound Reds. But I can tell ya honestly, I don't really care if they're 20 or 40 pounds, they're all fun for the person who hasn't ever caught a big'un. The school that comes through is the school that comes through...No one's catching just 40-50 pound Reds, while everyone else is catching 20-30's. It is what it is, folks.

No one's blue crab sitting on the bottom is that special.....just the stories you'll hear afterwards are "special".......special hype!

Have fun with them, make sure you get a good healthy release, take a picture and be happy they haven't outlawed the catch & release of a big Redbass, yet.

We can all learn a lesson from what the offshore charters and headboats are facing today. The fight to not have the entire "bottom fishing" industry shut down. Starting with the closure of Geniune Red Snapper, then the entire Grouper/Snapper Complex to follow?

Jerry Sienfeld put it into perspective, when he said. "Parents for Adults is what government agencies are. As a kid you never understood why your parents had such rules. And as an adult you don't know why the government it constantly telling you what you can and can't do."

See ya out there......

9/26 - Short Saturday Trip

Had the pleasure of having Dr. Rodney and his daughter Tara aboard for a Saturday morning. They were in town for a wedding, and after fishing is when the wedding was. So we departed at 7am.

I decided to keep everything close. So we went over by the Navy base and did some float-rig fishing. But only caught Jacks and Ladyfish on the last of the falling tide. I'm going to mark it down in my log book this year, the day that good amounts of Specks show up along that bank. I just want to see how late it will be. Good number's of Trout. Not just a fish here and there.

I'll do an "educated guess", and say.....November. Because right now the water temp is still 80 degrees plus. Yeah, "PLUS" according to my calibrated temp gauge. There's been loads of food in that area. Especially on the incoming tide. Lots of glass minnow schools. Always pay attention to what kinds of birds are working the area, and what they're doing. On the falling tide this morning of course there's some smaller mullet jumping right up against the rocks. And "yep", we saw either Jacks or Redbass, popping the surface, 6" off the rocks, water busting, and what looked like tail splashes. But getting super tight to them is tough. Especially with one boat wake after another on a Saturday morning. You'll end up on or in the rocks after being waked. I've been there, done that. Looking to hook up on those reds that patrol the absolute edge of the those small boulders. And of course with a float on the line, because it's mighty snaggy fishing.

But like in the past, it's hard to ignore "TAILING" Redbass in close and tight. And don't forget your top water plugs, or un-weighted soft plastics. Right along that edge!

After some okay action on the float-rigs, you wouldn't have believed Tara. She was pitching and flipping like Bill Dance and Roland Martin. Bait casting tackle didn't scare her! She said, "I don't know the difference, so I have no reason to be afraid of the reels". Smart gal!

Sometimes people ask me, what would be my perfect charter......and I usually reply, "Two smart gals who haven't been fishing before. Because I have a clean slate. And of course I always enjoy having the woman aboard. It's a departure from the norm."

Keeping to our tight time line, I decided to go try some "Bait & Wait", for the bull Reds. Again, keeping our travel time to a minimum (damn, ya gotta love river fishing, just for that fact) I pulled up across from the Coastie station and anchored up. And set out two rods with crab baits. What seemed like a long time to me as a I.G. - instantaneous gratification, angler. One of the rods went off......A burning run, smokin' line off my mini Accurate twin drag reel. I called for Tara who was relaxing on the bow, she sprung up and after looking at the rod, said "Dad you take it." She was just a itty-bitty gal, and I wanted to see her tangle with the junk yard dog on the end of the line. But Rodney took the rod and was now in a heated battle.

And a few minutes later the line went limp. The line broke, the 50 pound super braid line! The fish was pulling so hard, I'm sure a weakness in the braid was found. It gets nicked too. And 50 pound no stretch line turns into 20, easily. Oh well. So I grabbed more crabs and another rod and we sat waiting again. Every few minutes I re-baited, keeping fresh crab (stink bombs) on the bottom. It's all about the smell down in the darkness of the 38 feet of water. Keep baits changed, and rolling out the crab scent. So if you're not staying very busy, re-baiting. You're probably not keeping fresh stink bombs on the hook. That's the difference between using cut bait and crabs.

Cut Croaker, Bluefish, Ladyfish, Mullet, Pogies, have a longer shelf life on the bottom. And when the lil' peckers are chewing on a large chunk of cut bait, I just refer to them as "scent dispersing devices". Because too many times, they'll be nipping at the cut bait and all of a sudden. Brutus T. Redbass will come on the scene.

We got bit again, and this time it was a fish with not as much "spit and vinegar". So it makes me wonder "how big was the one we lost?" (if you catch a big mean Red with a Eagle Claw 7/0 circle hook in it's mouth trailing a leader and a bunch of Berkley 50# super braid. You'll know where that fish has been) Rodney fought and fought. Arms getting tired, feeling the burn in the forearm, when finally the big Red appeared.

A super light colored fish.....In, from the Ocean??

A nice 25 pounder. Tara, reminded dad and I that she didn't sleep well the night before in the hotel, had to take a nap, and get "dolled up" for this evening festivities. So we gave it a few more minutes, didn't get any bites right away. So we called it a morning, and made the short ride back to the dock.

On a short time line, we caught fish. And had some excitement.

I had some live shrimp left in the bait well. So I took off down river, pulled up at a spot and caught, 5 Speckled trout, and only two were keepers at 15-17". Then ended up at the jetties, where it was sloppy as all hell. Big swells, crashing the end of the rocks. I stuck one good drag burning fish and it broke me off on the float-rig. And caught one 13" Mangrove Snapper. Then packed it in, cleaned the fish at the dock. And went home. Cleaned up the boat good, after 3 trips in a row, and went in and made Cheezy Pasta with veggies and fried Trout and Mangrove Snapper for supper. Watched some TV and was sound asleep by 9pm.

Next up;

Pre-booked in advance charters with regulars October 2nd and 6th and 7th.

9/25 - Multi-species day in Mayport.

Had Don M. aboard again, with his sister Lindsey. Don's a regular customer and he'll be back next Friday again, with his dad visiting from Pa.

We stopped in along a rock bank this morning. And I did a survey drift with my float-rig. And on the first shrimp of the morning I had a big Trout hooked up. Head shaking, pulling drag, and then the fish busted the surface, I saw it....then it got off. Damn!

This was after we tried outside the jetties along the rip line for big Reds with crab baits. We soon left to go float-rig fishing instead, because there wasn't a bit out there. My buddy Capt Randal was also out there trying it. And the same thing for him, so he left for up in the river.

I decided to hang out east of the boat ramp all day long. The river and the jetties haven't had my full attention lately. But it's about time, it did.

No Trout....but believe there could have been if we caught more of the falling tide. But Don's sister wasn't feeling good, so we took her back to the dock and Don took her home then we re-started our day, over again afterwards.

We re-tried the absolute last few mintes of the falling tide inside the jetties bottom fishing. And again came up with no Big Reds. So right there we decided, it was Float-rig fishing the rest of the day.....forget those crabs, and the heavier tackle. Let's put something in the "BOX".

So we worked the jetties.....

BIG, Mangrove Snappers....but no Reds. It was sloppy as all hell, as the incoming tide flooded in, bringing crashing waves and white water. Then, Black Margate's, with the distinct "golden eye". A Funny fish, a member of the Grunt family, I believe. But you'll never hear me "grunt" about them. Large ones in the 3-5 pound catagory will kick some butt on light tackle. I've been so into them in the past that out of 15 hook-up's have only got a handful out of the deep rocks. They clean easy and taste just fine yielding a very nice fillet.

Still no Redbass! But I have to say the fishing was tough. Even the Mangrove Snapper bite was hard to stay on. As we bounced like weebles around the boat deck. So after getting fish in the box, we moved on. I was the Ring-tail Porgie king. While Don caught the good fish.

But I quickly caught up....with the non-eaters. Because the next stop was, one small Redfish, Jacks, and Ladyfish action on the high tide. Birds diving all around us on schools of glass minnows. The tell-tale sign, teeth were below.

And every other drift of the float had our live shrimp being stolen with hardly a noticable bump.

But Don finally figured it out catching a "fall" Spanish Mackerel.

I hooked a few finally, but they ate the hook off my light 15 pound mono leader. It was really hot and the sun had scorched both Don and I. So after boxing one more Mangrove Snapper we headed back to clean all the fish.. And not one was a Redfish or a Trout. But Don still headed home with a big bag of fish fry fillets.

It was fun, and we get to do it all over again with a full days falling tide, next Friday. I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks again Don.

9/24 - Curt from London

Had Curtis from London England, and step father Ed from Jax beach (I think) aboard, for a day of hunting Big Bull Redbass. Curtis was all for it.

Well, we fished and fished....using one live Blue Crab after another. Then, finally we got bit. But lost it to a "hook-set" on a 7/0 circle hook. Remember, never set the hook when using a circle hook. Just let the fish pull against it. AND START REELING!

So we moved away from the crowd anchored up on the first of the incoming tide, all alone. I pitched out a few fresh crab chunks. And a rod went off. Finally, crazy, wacky, super excitable. let alone entertaining, Curtis was hooked up and freaking out!

They don't have fish like this in the Theme's river, he let me know. And Curtis got what he wanted. A big fat "brood stock" Redfish, out of the St. Johns River. Ed has a boat, but it was down so they called me. So Curtis has fished the river before in past visits.

Man that took long enough....I went from a zero to a hero, finally! Curtis was whooping and hollering and just plain ecstatic. And he had the right to be. The fishing in London, just isn't the same.

Next up was Ed. Not long after Curt's fish. And being a local angler handled it like a pro.

The tide was ripping and the water was green. And no more bites, so I kept hunting. But we only ended up with 3 Bluefish and a Croaker for all our efforts. Basically a pretty tough day.

But Curtis was happy. I was frustrated, and Ed was tired. So we packed it in, and headed back to the dock.

Maybe Curtis will give it another chance his next time visit in. I'd love to have him out again, because this guy was into it!

Thanks fellas.

9/23 - and ya think our tides are extreme??

Try living with this every day!

and we're bitchin and moaning about our tides???

Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. Don't have ALLOY? Oh well, then ya better be tough.

9/21 - These tides.......

If you are a frequent visitor here, you know I tell it the way I see it. I call a day when there's a really high incoming tide and a N.E. or East wind. A "K.O.D." day. Not very conducive for river float-rig fishing for Speckled Trout, less alone anything else. So what's the best thing to do? Hit the bottom. And this morning we had really no alternative.


But you know me, I never leave the house without my float rods rigged and a bait well full of live shrimp.

Had Mike D. and his wife aboard today. So I had to scramble a bit to get some live fresh crabs, because I just talked to Mike the day before. So with everything in place, we left the dock around 7:30am. First thing, get to where I've been starting days like today, and get some baits out ASAP. The first push of the incoming tide has been the ticket. No sooner we got there and a few other boats that left before us were already hooked up. But our first taker didn't take long, but we sort of lost it. The fish ate the crab off the hook while giving us a sort of false hook-up.

No biggy, I had about a dozen crabs just enough to get some Reds as the incoming tide rumbled under us. Mike is an avid Texas Gulf coast angler, that had us swapping info back and forth like to kids trading baseball cards. Which made for a fun day.


It didn't take long and Mike got his chance on a big Redbass and so did his wife, pretty much a double header. The bite came just minutes after he showed me a big Red on his cellphone camera. I said while he held his fish for the camera, "Damn Mike, is that just like the ones in Texas?" We had them from 19 to 24 pounds. Then the bite just went away. So we moved around, looking for the perfect current, along with everyone else.




Mike's wife had a Red with probably 100 spots. A really beautiful fish, but in all the confusion of taking photos, I failed to take a photo of her with "my " camera!










We only caught a large river Seabass, and I had only a crab or two left. So after a quick pit-stop for a ladies room break. We were on our way to the jetties. I'm a float-rigger, and love teaching and showing people the techniques and in's and out's that make it so fun and interactive.

With all the chit chat about it there was no way Mike was going home with out giving it a try.


We ended up fishing the start of the falling tide out there. It was "sporty" just getting to the jetty tips. East Nor-east wind at around 15 kts. and the start of a falling tide bucking the wind. A Kowa-bunga ride on out, but not all that bad once we were anchored up in my "jetty fishing sled". I had this boat built with the lay out designed for one thing. Fishing the Big Jetties, no matter what the weather brings. Always safe, and no one's going to feel like they're gonna fly out of it. Compared to low sided inshore boats, with limited deck space.


Mike and his wife were set up and floating a live shrimp down the rocks at first. But as the tide fell the floats would come off the rocks and hover where there was no washing current. Not perfect. But, Mike's wife was first up with a jetty sized Mangrove Snapper. We boxed 3 or 4 decent Mangroves, and Mike caught two Jacks.


Eastward, the clouds were dark, and we could see sheets of rain falling from the sky. "Hmmm, time to make a decision??" Mike said, "it's all cool Dave, we can head back in."
So I drug up the anchor as the rain approached and followed us in the jetties....which now were, EXTRA SPORTE!

Peaks of 5 foot tall waves, rolling over at the mouth had me slowly slogging through, doing my best Tug Boat imitation. But no worse for the wear. And when we got back to the dock the rain was just drizzling, and headed south of the boat ramp.


Let's see.... the tides have been well over 5 feet tall at high tide, with an East wind blowing the water in the river now for the last 7-10 days. I haven't seen a "genuine" dead low tide since.

As I said, certainly not all that conducive for perfect Trout fishing. Thank goodness, the big Reds are biting, if not real good, at least enough.


Personally, I like to split the day up. I don't want to bottom fish for the same fish, over and over again. All day long. Been there, done that. Each day, I hope to be able to mix it up a bit. And today even though conditions were far from perfect, I'm really glad I got to share a bit of it with Mike.


Next "pre-booked" day is Friday, with an old client looking at Saturday with friends as of right now.


Plan, Plan, Plan. I know what the weather's doing, I know the tides. Get the best out of you day on the water. Please give me some notice.

9/17 - Rain, Wind, Current, OH NO!

Had the pleasure of having Doug W. back aboard the Jettywolf again today. His last trip was probably early 2007. So it's been a little while. Doug's a good angler, and I found that out after our first trip. So I was excited about today's well planned trip.

A bit of history first. Last Saturday the bite was slow on the Speckled Trout and float-rig fishing in general. But Nick W. and I pulled it out and put some hard earned fish in the box. Monday, I tried some float rig fishing with John H. and there was NO bite. After trying 5 different areas, we gave way and hit the bottom with heavy lead and pulled on 4 big Reds from 5 blue crabs, in the 20 knot east winds and wacky high and strong tides.

Then there was today with Doug. It was a flash-back...no matter where we went and what we did, there was no bite on the float-rig. We even left out at 10am, so to have a few hours of tide change going before we left the dock. So I thought.

We turned left out of the dock and headed down river a piece. And there wasn't any current. But we tried a spot, anyhow. Have you ever headed out, with a time line to find out that during the whole day, you just knew you were fishing each spot "hours" too early? That was me, today. With the astronomically high tides right now, every where we tried had us there hours early for the "right" time of the tide.

I look at the grass along the bank and know by heart that the best time is when I see the water out of the grass. I look over at a dock, and know by heart, that the best time to fish this dock is when I'm starting to see barnacles on the pilings.

You may say to yourself, then why are you there too early in the tide? Well, if we left the dock today at the right time, we probably would have left at 2pm and that was way to late. And I tried to pick a middle of the road time frame to depart. But it really didn't matter....

As my dad tells me when I take him fishing, "Dave, if you're not catching, how I am supposed too?" Being a very analytical guy. He's usually dead right. I know the spots, I know the fish, I know how to fish better. So yeah, if I'm not catching how is dad supposed to whack them. Since he fishes with me only once a year. That's why I love small group's aboard. I can get the time to at least survey an area every once in awhile myself, so I can see if they're home or not.

So after much struggling, Doug and I gave in and went to PLAN B. Bottom fish for big Reds.

Well.....a bit easier said, than done. The current in the deep water was smoking fast. We sat through a really good down pour, with stiff winds. While soaking wet, but with a squeaky clean boat. I ended up moved around hunting a bit less current, that had a few fish in it, hopefully.

Doug was thinking today just might have been the "Perfect Storm" and the cards just weren't laying right. He was about to say "let's call it a day". But I know better. And maybe it's just being a bit stubborn, but I was not about to succeed to these cards. So with Doug in agreement, we tried one last spot.

The current was perfect, the wind wasn't all that bad. And I've caught them here before, no problem.

So we anchored up and pitched two crabs out on the bottom. A boat near us was into a few "RB's" so they were obviously here. And after just a few minutes, Doug was hooked up!

And since Doug has never caught a really big Red before. I felt as if we were

accomp-lishing something!

It turned out to be a 16 pounder. Not a giant, but hell, we'll take it. A real good fighter. Running against the current and to the side of the boat.

As I was getting ready to take the hook out of this Red, I noticed some fishing line. And it was coming out of the Red's butt!

This fish broke someone off, and was poopin' out some green Berkley solar green line, and the entire leader and swivel. The hook was still in the fish, some where. I've seen this before, but it's still a sight, and a testament of how tough fish really are. I've caught Red Snapper and Grouper that had the same gastric strings.

The current started to slow down after the first Red, and the east winds started taking over. Having the lines and boat laying all kattywhompus. So we adjusted to it. And I started thinking, what else might be living down there on the bottom. Maybe some Yellowmouth

Trout, Croakers??

So I grabbed a light rod, one of my casting rods. A Shakespeare "Tiger Lite", with a small low profile Shimano Citica bait caster. The same reels I use for Float-rig fishing. I had it rigged with a one ounce egg sinker, and a leader with a 1/0 Wide Bend hook. I said to Doug, "let's see what's down there."

As Doug watched the heavier rods baited with crab. I pitched out, and let the light sinker hit the bottom. The current was just enough to hold the line behind the boat. And I hopped the shrimp baited rig back to the boat. I was just behind the boat when the line came taunt and just took off, up current. It was a massive fish, so I quickly handed Doug the rod.

Ain't that something.....a light rod, light reel, light hook, light leader, and now we have a massive fish hooked up, dumping the small reels spool. This was supposed to be just a "test" to see what was down there?

I was thinking a big Jack at first. But all clues pointed to BIG REDBASS?? Thirty eight feet of water, and yards of line were now between Doug and the big fish. It ran toward our anchor, so I pulled the anchor. It ran under the boat, so I lifted the engine. Now we were free drifting along, but still haven't seen the fish.

The Red popped to the surface the first time and now we were in 12 feet of water drifting towards a set of docks.

What a great "L.T." - light tackle battle!

Which almost made all our trials and tribulations earlier in the day fade completely away.

The Redbass weighed in at 24 pounds, and I'm sure Doug's arms were feeling the burn. But in my book, that's a good burn!

Well I now know what my Shakespeare

"Tiger lite" rods can take, along with the

Shimano Citica's.

If we didn't have to use such heavy lead to stay on the bottom around here, I'd like to do more "L.T." fishing for these fall brusiers. But we don't get the chance to do that much.

After landing this fish we packed it in, so Doug could head home back to St. Augustine. Just in time, because soon as Doug stepped on the dock, his wife called wondering where he was.......

"He was out on a day's adventure....with a guy that hates to give up to momma nature."

Thanks again, Doug.

9/16 - JETTYWOLF II

This is your monthly installment of...."Damn I could of had a really tough ass boat".














Now, this baby has Jettywolf written all over it!

• Make: Workboats Northwest, Seattle, WA. $7,900.00
• 16' 6" Long, 7' 6" Wide.
• Hull built from 3/16 inch aluminum.
• 90 Horsepower outboard motor with new lower unit.
• Less than 50 Hrs on motor.
• Self bailing flush deck.
• 100 gal. fuel tank in bottom.
• Non-skid paint on rails and decks.
• Center steering station.
• Rubber rails all around.
• Canvas cover.
• New battery.
• New hydraulic hoses.
• New fuel hoses.
• Towing hooks in stern and bow.
• 4 lifting eyes inboard.
• 4 tie down cleats.

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

The furthest thing from being a "Caroline Skiffer" .........HUH?

-add some rod holders and now ya have a REAL COOL jetty boat!
-Do I hear Sheepherders.....Ahhhhing?
-But with a 100 gallons of fuel, it could also mean a Daytona Jetties and back too.