12/12 - NASTY, nasty, nasty......

Well, since Friday the winds been a howlin'. Sooo....I had the chance for some really "free - time".

Although I did have a call late Saturday for Sunday morning with three people. And it was very obvious the wind blew them into J-ville but they hadn't a clue what Sunday's wind would do to us, on the water.  So I had to educate them, but at the same time I said, "Isn't no thing for me, I can take it!" 

It's quite funny that all the "super last minute", "let's go fishing on a whim" calls I get are always when the winds blowing a gale! 

So, my dad and I with allot of his tools did some work on my Dodge Truck. It officially gets better fuel mileage now and also now has 400 horse power! 

But that's not really the object of this post, today.

I'm gonna confess something.....

I bought MYSELF a spinning reel!  Yep, I've passed over to the "average joe" side of angling. Myself and the hordes of "LBA's" - Land Based Angler's, standing on every bridge in the state of Florida, chunking touristo rigs over the power lines, now have something in common. 

As a LIFE LONG bait casting reel user, and "bait casting reel, aficionado"  aka: it's all I ever need to catch a fish!
I'm now dabbling in the ORDINARY. Stressing the word "dabbling".

No, I won't be like my buddy D.O.A. Rob and use my spinning reel for float-rig fishing. That's sacreligious! For me it's like adding square wheels to my boat trailer!  But I do have some plans for this one spinning reel I'll call my own.

And it's for Poppin' corkin' and that's it!.  (yep, everything is better, when caught on a cork, to me.)

I have come to like using the ole clicker cork, up in the shallows. ( I know....I'm way behind the times)

-It's like a lure, but it isn't.
-It's like a "float-rig", but it isn't.
-Add a 20-24" leader and a live shrimp on it. They're fun to fish.

But one thing that's needed compared to genuine "float-rig" fishing is being able to cast this super light rig, and cast it a dang country mile!!!

Because when "we're" fishing the clicker cork, it's usually not in smoking tide. But rather a gentle current, to no current at all. Yes, I can cast these with my bait casting reels. Especially, when I add a bit of weight. They usually have none, to minimal weight to them. Even though some call them selves "weighted". But add honking wind, and then even my low profile baitcasting reels and 7'6" rods, it gets really tough to drop the Clicker Corks in the strike zone.

I have spinning reels for my customers. But not for myself.....till now.

And through the magic of the "INTERNET", I have made my own personal CLICKER CORKS.  Cause when I make them my way, they are really loud, tough, and can be cast by even the, not so tackle savvy charter customer.

So, what did I get?

On Ebay, that's where the best deals are short of FREE. So after watching Kevin Ford and the Okuma Reps fishing Venice Louisiana, on Louisiana Sportsman TV, over the years. I was kinda intrigued by Okuma's newest spinning reel.

The TRIO.

Really designed different than your average spinning reel, and for $64.00 to my door I'd figure I'll give one a try.

But, it got better. The TRIO spinning reel received an upgrade this past year. An upgrade to HIGH SPEED. And that's the one I wanted. The Okuma Trio-S 30.

Plus, they gave the reel some color versus just black. Which matches perfectly to the Ugly Stik Inshore Select rod I matched the reel too. The colors look great, and the rod and reel combo feel really good too....."for a spinner..."

It's a 6:3-1 gear ratio. So quick retrieves are more than possible. It has minimal weight due to the graphite and aluminum. And the different design is the center piece of aluminum that goes right through the reel seat and the gear box, making it really ridgid. I believe it has up to 15 pounds of drag pressure too.

So, there ya have it. My newest rig, and it's only for one style of fishing and one style only.

I'm that way. I believe in having the correct tackle to fish a certain way. About nothing I own tackle wise, does multiple jobs. Each rod and reel has a  purpose.

And by doing so, "ya jus get to own more, and buy more tackle!!"


Soon as this weather breaks....."let's go fishin!"

www.captdaves.com
call:  8am-8pm eastern time

12/8 - On "Mother Natures" time line.

Well, the last three days have surely been some of the craziest weather.

"Let's see....Tuesday, hot sunny, no wind, PERFECTION!!!!  Then, Wednesday blowing like crazy from a wacky direction for winter time. SW 20-25, then over cast, then rain. Yep, that was the front coming through. Then, Thursday. COLD, a bit breezy, but not too bad, even though I was dressed in all my foul weather gear."

Let it be known though, that last year on this exact date it was a record for the year so far. December 8, 2010 it was 24 degrees in the morning!!!  It was C-O-L-D this morning, but it wasn't that cold.

DO WE ALL REMEMBER THE WINTER OF 2010, OR HAVE WE ALREADY FORGOTTEN?

I HAVEN'T.

When it rains it pours, so of course I had three days booked in a row this week. And today I had Doug and Cheryl on board the Jettywolf.  My plans;  FLOAT-RIG FISH...that's it!  Nothing else.

My crew just moved here from Maryland in October. They have a boat. So first off, if they were to go fishing on their own they need to know #1, the lay of the land, and what to do with it. Besides bottom fishing. The next best thing that will TEACH them something is learning the mighty float-rig system. The traditional way of easily fishing the BIG St. Johns.

And as I have stated many times before. Float-rigging will teach you; Tides, Current, Anchoring, Structure Fishing, and do it all on light tackle, for maximum FUN.  Anyone can bottom fish, by just anchoring up and chucking a shrimp to the bottom!

So we left out and the tide was still a bit too high, as the N.E. 15-20 kts pushed on the water in the river. I hit an acclimation spot, and went through all the in's and out's of float-rig fishing, as we waited for the tide to really get going. Yeah, I had time to waste.....

Spot one, ZIP.....Spot two....a Bluefish.  True evidence, there was still too much water in the creek(s) we tried. But good practice, handling the tackle and fishing the float's.

Time to make a move. And travel a bit.

Got to destination #3, and we're all set. The moon's look aligned with Venus..........but are they really???

This area we're fishing has some "ground rules". But, the rules so far this week really haven't mattered at all. The fish have been around here and as you can see in my earlier reports, they're FAT and hungry.

Without going into the dirty details of my spots.......Doug and Cheryl fished and fished, and Doug caught one little Bluefish!
Ut Oh? Is this weather going to mess up the bite today?  It could, easily. This is POST "front".  With all this crazy weather, we could easily get completely SHUT OUT.  It's not like I haven't seen it happen before.

Remember, I DON'T PICK THE DAYS. MY CUSTOMERS PICK THE DAYS.

I tell Doug and Cheryl that this spot has a few ground rules. Or better yet, a rule of thumb to go by. And I learned these rules from some serious "Trial and Error" over the years.

So no matter what, "we ain't leaving jus' yet".  A less patient, and less experienced fisherman would have already been gone. But today it looks as if the "rules" will most definately apply.  So we stuck it out.

And at the stroke of 1:00pm the fish started CHEWIN!!!!!

18-19-20 inch TROUTZ!

"WE WERE ON MOMMA NATURES TIME-LINE, TODAY."

The fatties started stackin up in the fish box.

I was on the phone with a call from someone from Ohio, who wanted to go Shark & Tarpon fishing while here in J-ville, so I set my rod in the side rod holder of the boat as I discribed that I had three layers of clothes on, and if you want a Tarpon..."Go to Key West!!!", if ya want Trout and Redbass, call me back.

Because, Doug looked over and saw my rod bending over and grabbed it while I was up on the bow on the phone. This 26-7/8th's inch Redbass came from under the boat. I had to get off the phone, I yelled "sorry....we have a big fish hooked up!"  Doug finessed this Redbass around from under the boat and I netted it as I hung up from the phone call.  What a catch!!

A large Croaka' even came on a live shrimp and float-rig.

GET OUT THE SKILLET!!!

We finished off the tide with another Redbass around 22-23". The fish box was packed. Time to head in on a high note.

Back at the dock I cleaned up all the fish and wow it was a big heavy bag of fillets. Doug & Cheryl, took some of the trout fillets and went over to Singletons' Seafood Shack and had them cooked up for dinner.

A perfect way to un-wind, and reminise about the big day out on the water. I was glad to hear Doug say, he's been on many fishing charters, and today was by far the best.

I know they both probably learned more than they actually bargained for. But my goal is to have people head home, and feel no matter how the fish bite, that they got their money's worth, and had a great experience aboard the Jettywolf.

12/7 - DAY TWO...

Well, this was day two with Don and Louis.  The forecast "COULDN'T" have been any more different than yesterday.
The front.....first it pushed the warm air and perfect blue skies over us. That was yesterday, then came today.

20+ knot SW winds, and clear skies is how we started the morning. The guys wanted to hit the "big water", so to the jetties we went. I couldn't even anchor on the inside of the north jetty, my anchor kept slipping as we headed straight for the 10 tom granite boulders. So I headed over to the inside of the south jetty.

I got anchored exactly perfectly. Right where I wanted to be. And we weren't on the spot but a few minutes and Louis slams the hook on a Big Fish.  The Ugly Stik bent and the Shimano TRN reel let drag go.

Ya' may even say this was "I.G" - instantaneous gratification!  

A real nice 8 pound Black Drum...
NOT EVEN CLOSELY RELATED to a fresh water Drum fish. Which Don thought it was, which is considered a junk fish in some parts.

I told him, "this is a Redfishes ugly cousin, that's all." 

Our Drum come in Red and Black...

So, we kept fishing. But between the wicked SW wind blowing, and then the building full moon falling tide. My anchor was severly over worked, and we kept slipping backwards. And if you have any experience, you know that a dragging anchor is an anchor that can quickly turn into an anchor you'll never see again. When it gets jammed into something and you loose it.  So I'm  pulling it and re-anchoring too many times as the wind got nothing but worse.

So we headed up river. Tried bottom fishing two more spots with NADA.....and the last time we got blown off the spot I said,
"Hell with this....let's go float-rig fishing!!!!!!!!"

And after yesterday's big Trout day, I didn't get a arguement from Don or Louis.

Yes, the current was heinous at times, and so was the wind as we huddled up close to the bank. But the real nice fat Trout  up to 20 inchers, and a Redbass at 22".

The skies darkened as we fished and the wind never let up, but got stronger and stronger. And it looked like rain.

Plus, I still had a box of fish to clean. So I  heading back to the dock as fast as I could, tied off and held on. Here came the Pre-rain gusts.

And as I cleaned the fish the light rain caught up to us, coming eastward from the SW.

These guys knew how to do it RIGHT!
Picking the RIGHT time of year, and booking two days during the RIGHT time of year. And as you can see they were rewarded with two days full of great fishing. One day with primo perfect weather and the next with weather not so good, but fishable. And I can tell ya things would have been much tougher with more than 2 persons. The three of us worked like a well oiled machine.  And that makes for a quality trip(s).

Thanks fellas. Hope to see you next year! 



NEXT UP:

On Thursday a Husband and wife duo. The forecast isn't great, with 20 knot NE winds, "POST FRONT", but then again I don't know how to fish in any other weather.

12/6 - Day One.....

I had Don and Louis aboartd today from Tennessee. Today was day one of two. We're heading out again on Wednesday.
Before we left the dock I shot this pic of some actual F-O-G.

I LOVE F-O-G!
It's one of those kinda things that we get frequently in the winter and especially in the months of December through February.  It's been a bit infrequent lately, because all we've had was W-I-N-D!

With foggy morning usually comes BLUE-BIRD-SKIES.  And I told the guys that with no wind, blue skies and warm temps, I won't know what to do with myself.

The first area we tried was for Crap!  The current was all wrong, and all we did was spin around in a vortex from hell. We were up in a creek and it was a quick reminder why I hate fishing creeks sometimes.  We kept moving around, and then around some more.
It was a BAIT STEALER BONANZA!

Between Bluefish and Pinfish "WE" couldn't even fish!  So after only a Blue and one small trout, we had to move on.

The second spot was nearly perfection. As we float-rig fished all was great. We pullled in there, because I wanted the guys to tangle with some Reds. But all the reds were just small "puppers". But they did slam dunk some nice Trout.

We played with the pup Redbass and some small Trout and then it was time to move on. Get out in the BIG RIVER, and leave that mud and marsh behind.  So we picked up and made a run.  We weren't on the spot but a few minutes when Don goes for 3 drifts, 3 Trout.....Louis needed to start playing catch up. Don had a hot rod!

He even nailed this 25", 5-1/2 pounder!! 

The guys caught a few more pup reds as the Trout came in waves.....



Boxing "LIMITS" had me really happy!!
And Louis caught up quickly.

LOOK at Louis... "he's ready for the cover of Florida Sportsman Magazine!" 

I love a Big Box O' Troutz.
GET THE SKILLET, PEANUT OIL, AND ZATERAINS CRUNCHY FISH FRY MIX READY!

I believe the guys wanna try the jetties on Wednesday.

The forecast is saying this right now:

...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT...

Guess we better catch alot of fish really quick in the morning then..."we'll see".

WEDNESDAY
SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING WEST 20 TO
25 KNOTS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS
CHOPPY. ISOLATED SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.

Earlier in the season, TWO FISTED "RB" ACTION

As I said in my last report, there's a new Hunting and Fishing web site out there called On One Outdoors.
And Clay, Billy, Myself and Doc Miller did some video on this past Saturday.

CHECK OUT THIS REDBASS FOOTAGE OF CLAY AND BILLY ON:  http://www.ononeoutdoors.com/

"SIMPLE REDFISHING, AND NEEDING MORE HANDS"

Jus' great stuff, here LOCALLY!!

It's on the home page right now.

A fine example of  put the bait out there and catch some whoppers.

Next up for me:

Tuesday & Wednesday with a couple from up north, and then Thursday with a couple from Maryland.

12/3 & 4 - You Name It!

Had a rescheduled trip on Saturday. And because it was 4 small kids and one adult, it was almost a good thing. Because as usual every single weekend. The wind was howling!

So I gave Clay a call......

Clay and friends have started a  new web site http://www.ononeoutdoors.com/ and his site is where you can see video shows of local fishing, duck hunting, deer hunting, you name it.

We've been trying to get out and do some footage of winter "float-rig fishing". So I gave Clay a call friday evening. He grabbed a buddy, and a small bass boat to use as a camera boat and we did hours of footage of Doc Miller and myself, doing what we do best, "Float-riggin".

Only problem is, the morning bite was a tough one, and then it went from calm to all out blowing 20 knots.

I'll be sending ya'll over to http://www.ononeoutdoors.com/  as soon as I know that our show is up on the website. I won't tell you what we did, so as not to spoil all the fun.  

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

Then on Sunday, I had a four passenger charter, that actually turned out to be a 3 person. I picked my guys up at Sisters creek at 7:30am and since the wind was calm. We headed straight to the jetties.

Let me jus' interject a fact here....Do you know that by this time last year I was having an absolute ball fishing the jetties catching Reds and Black Drum. The action right about now started to be so damn good, I about hung up the float-rig rods and gave it up because the bottom bite was so good.

Well, today was only the second day since the 12th of November that I have actually anchored up at the jetties. And even on the 12th it was a some what calm day, directly after several days of gale force winds. We hardly could get a bite back then, and today I actually dropped anchor!

The rollers were huge in between the rocks, it was real slow going heading out to the end of the jetties. And my guys had wide eyes as we rolled over the huge swells. But we went out to the end of the north rocks. And caught one Seabass and one small Yellowmouth trout on live shrimp bottom fishing. AND THAT WAS THE ONLY TWO BITES WE HAD!

YEP, raining offshore. Cloudy all over.

Too bad the big swells don't show up in pics.















Not a single boat but "us" ventured out at the end, in the JETTYWOLF. And the dredge heading out to dump.

Guess what else is upsetting me? The last time I actually got to trout fish the jetties was back on OCTOBER 13th!!!!

The reason for all of this is because every weekend and every time I head out there on a charter, it's rough as a COB.

I sure hope this changes. Because did you know that we're almost 1/2 way through the winter season already?????????
Yep, Christmas marks the half way mark through the best inshore fishing season.

BLINK TWICE, CROSS YOUR ARMS THREE TIMES AND SPIN AROUND THREE TIMES AND GUESS WHAT?  It'll be 90 degrees again, and there it goes, another winter gone, and a boring hot summer to live through.

I love this time of year. It's what keeps me going. And jetty fishing keeps me going. So you can see why my nose is all outa joint.

Whewwww......never is one year ever like another.  At least it's not below 32 degrees every morning, this winter so far. But the wind and big seas, are the problem for me. Or maybe it's the days my customers pick to go?????? 

Well, needless to say. Today, we didn't hang at the jetties much. I had one fella feeling seasick of course. And the rest of the day was full of just a bunch of small fish, no trout, no reds. It was a struggle all day long.

I guess the Jettywolf will fish the water's that are left......The Jetties always seem too rough. We can't fish along the Navy base, Blount Island any more...so the list is growing!

BTW, I plan on doing a video of where YOU as a citizen of the USA, in Jacksonville Florida cannot fish any more. And I'll send it along to the Newspaper, News stations, and maybe even a Congressman or two.  It'll be my personal campaign.

11/27 - Gone Shallow...for loads of fish.

You're missing it!

Headed out on Sunday, with a "VACANT" boat ramp. First spot went through 6 dozen live shrimp. Visited the Jetties and it was nasty. Got 6 more dozen live shrimp and continued on till almost low tide.

NEW MOON tide still, so we dealt with screaming current, even in the shallows. But it all worked out for Doc Miller and I. Catching so many fish, it was rediculas.

The video only represents a small portion of the action we had!!




CALL and book your private charter.....ASAP!

11/26 - Days are a wasting!

NOVEMBER #1 month of the year for me, I love it.

Because it is the start of "DAVE TIME", which equates to "TROUT TIME"...and much more. Ask any local die hard fisherman. They live for this time of the year too.

Now we're on the verge of December, ALREADY?????

So, with each person I see sign up for these blog reports, jus' remember.

You could have your report seen here, for all to read also.

8am - 8pm call to reserve your day. Always consult with me about best tide dates.

C'mon and get yours.

11/22 - Different all day...

Had Peter D. and his son on board today. They were visiting from Washington. And were even familar with the town my boat was built in. Peter's a biologist for NOAA out there, that works on the Salmon populations.

I was very excited about our day, coming off two really great weekend days. But, the skies were dark over the river with just patches of blue sky. So as we started, I went up in a creek at the first of the falling tide. Which turned out to be kinda the opposite of what I did on Saturday.  Had the guys on spin tackle pitching Clicker Corks up along the grass near a few oysterbeds and "Redfish" highways coming out of the flooded marsh.

They caught some small "nursery" Trout and "pupper" Redbass. But something was really O-F-F. The action should have been alot better....

After awhile, it was very evident that the tide's strength was a real problem, when Trout fishing. The falling tide even up in the creek was a real screamer.  According to my Florida Sportsman tide book, it was going to be a ebb tide nearing SIX feet!  The "NEW MOON" is on Friday. So we're building up to it today, and the rest of the week won't be much different.

Mayport High tide:  5:30am  5.7 feet
Mayport Low tide:  11:30am 0.2 feet

We struggled doing any kind of Float fishing with tides like this. But I wasn't about to give up so easy. Peter's son got the first "keeper" on the third spot we tried.

A 16 incher. But I also had plans for them to get slammed by the Redbass that frequented this same spot on Sunday. So we kept working it.

The clouds came and went, and I saw what usually happens when a "front" is coming. The Trout don't bite, but the bait stealers are having a field day! The guys were constantly attacked by Pinfish, and the Pinfish are chewing, because the Trout aren't there!!  It's all...Jus' that simple!

We pulled up and headed to another spot. To let this tide go down, and and come back later. And, to take a break from the bait stealers. I ran pretty far, to a completely different fishing zip code. On the way, it started raining. Ahead, we could see the rain hitting the water as the cloud came toward us. I quickly made a U-turn and headed under a bridge that was close by. The rain went right on by us. So, I continued to the spot.

Upon arrival...."there was hardly any tide!"  Yep, get out and away from that deep, channalized St. Johns, and the current was barely moving. Crazy, crazy stuff.....

Since we were here now, we fished it.  Pulling only one Trout out of the spot.  But it was a decent 18 incher.

Okay, the were really darkening again. Here comes more rain. Time to scoot!

So I ran back to where we just left, and the current was perfection.

A nice "walking speed" as our floats drifted along behind the boat.

But NO bites. Again, just plenty of thieves.  As Dr. Phil, the large and in-charge, blow-hard, on TV always says, "This ain't my first Rodeo!" Good gawd, have I seen this before. I grumbled to myself and my crew.  It's as if my hands are completely tied.  What else can I do?

So we picked up and went back closer towards Mayport. And pulled into a rising tide spot, because now in Mayport the tide was pouring in, and HARD!

Yep, either direction today, the current is gonna be a rippin' screamer. We gave it a try and the Pinfish made a deal with the Devil. They were possessed!!  Make your float-rig really short, keeping the bait 8 feet off the bottom....... and you still had them attacking your shrimp!

Cast away from them, and another neighborhood of pinners would find your live shrimp and pinch it off the hook as past as it hit the water!! 

Die - Pinfish - Die, is what I was thinking!

In frustration I asked "biologist" Peter......."Hey Pete, what's the deal here?"  "What kind of fish activity would ya call this?"  He just laughed. "I call it, no predators around. So the litl' stealers are on the war path!!  Huh??" 

The skies weren't looking any clearer, and we were running through live shrimp like cord wood during a N. Dakota winter. So we packed it in, and headed back to the dock.

I cleaned the two keeper trout we had in the box and bid Peter and his son a farewell and Happy Thanksgiving.

I was astounded between the difference of Saturday and Sunday, versus today. The guys caught fish. But it was more fishin' than catching, while working through Mother Natures temperment, today.

And as I got home and backed the boat into her shed. The rain cut loose big time. I'm glad I was at home for when that happened.


Happy Thanksgiving.

11/20 - Day two with Brian & Kelly, the fishing duo.

Brian knew how to do his home work. Heading out for day two, on his birthday. This time of year is so nice, and Brian and his wife Kelly so far got a perfect weekend. The forecast, at first wasn't super appealing. But as usual, it had to be taken with a "grain of salt". Being a very avid angler, Brian studied websites. Looking for updated reports on Guide websites and choose "yours truly" to book his weekend with, because of what you read here!

Sunday, I had plans to mix it up a bit. Head to the Jetties, bottom fish around. Show Brian and Kelly the "wild, wild west" of Jacksonville's inshore fishing.  Well, Saturday's east breeze later in the day and night did a little damage out at the jetties. There was some serious "swell, slop, and chop" out there early in the morning as the last of the falling tide pushed against, Mother Ocean.

I could tell while sittting at the dock, before Brian and Kelly arrived. If it's got some serious roll at the jetties. My boat tied off to the dock will go up and down slightly...."yes, you can notice it, even 2 miles inland."  But, we went to investigate anyhow.

The jetties lately (the last 2-4 weeks) have been tough to get too. But as we rode on out, and then spun around and pulled up where I'd want to drop anchor. Kelly, didn't think this was all too appealing. And I kinda knew it. It would have taken some serious sealegs to sit inside the rocks this morning. Evidence was, we were the only boat out there even thinking about it!

The "wild, wild west of inshore fishing" was rearing up it's ugly head, one more weekend!  So, we headed back down river in search of calmer waters. We stopped along the little jetties and tried fishing a certain spot looking for a Black Drum or Redbass. But instead the bait stealers, small Seabass, Croakers, and the ever present Pinfish were wearing us out.

I pulled anchor and said to Brian, "what ya think about going back to the trusty Float-rigs and catching BIG Trout?"
As if he cared if we just bottom fished all day or not.......after seeing what the float can do yesterday. He replied, "IT WORKS FOR US!"

I picked up the anchor and we blasted to the next locale. As we pulled up, I gave them the low down on the shoreline that we'd fish, and what to expect. We got into position, and I took a rod baited up and said, "this is what I want ya'll to do exactly......."
When the float disappeared and I handed the rod to Brian, "here ya go!!!!!!!!!!"

I.G. - instantaneous gratification!  First drift of the float-rig, and 15 feet behind the boat, first Trout!  Brian worked the fish expertly along side the boat and it was a nice big fattie. Much larger than those "creek trout" we had yesterday.

"YEAH, now that's a beautiful river Trout", I yelled. Big water, big fish. That's how it sometimes works out.

And from here on out, it was time to box some fatties! And in between the Trout, the Reds were chewin, too.

I told Brian and Kelly that the Reds here will be larger and meaner than the "creek" Reds. And they were. As Kelly wore her arms out on a her's.

The action was pretty steady. But as the morning wore on, the cruising motor yachts, and Tug boat wakes started to really KILL my beautiful spot....which par for the course in this river. CALM WATER and steady current, is what keeps these fish catchable here. NOT, giant wakes, ghetto cruisers, tugs and ship traffic. But this is our river. Not know for it's easy, calm water fishin'. Especially on a weekend.
 

We finished up on this spot, after the fish SHUT DOWN, and moved on boxing a half dozen and letting the rest go, to catch another day.

We worked on more spot as the falling tide died. Didn't really get any action there. So we headed back to the dock. Brian and Kelly were catching a plane home around 4:00pm, back to Chicago. Kelly said, "back to the cold weather".

They both sure had a action packed weekend, with perfect fall N.E. Florida weather. No high winds, never hot, and filled with bright sun.  Sometimes you can get lucky like this.

But, as Brian did. He did his home work. Read my reports, asked question via e-mail and made quick decisions, then booked his charters during the absolute best time of year.

He was the, "Model Charter Client!"  And I really hope to have them back aboard the JETTYWOLF again in the future.


Thanks Brian and Kelly, it was MY  pleasure.

11/19 - DAY ONE, of two.....

Had Brian and Kelly M. aboard the Jettywolf this morning. As I will tomorrow for day two, of their visit. Well, weekends.....what can ya do. I went straight as fast as I could to where I wanted to fish, turned the corner. And bam...there was a boat sitting slap on the spot I usually fish.

Further investigation..."I know these two guys, and one even did a charter with me on a heinous windy day, and this is where we "had" to fish because it was out of the wind."

Just a few minutes earlier and we would have the spot.  But it really didn't matter. The Jettywolf is flexible. We sat just the other side of the creek and caught TROUT, like they were going outa style, boxing twelve, and tossing back several small ones. On float-rigs.  And even picked through a few Blues. And lost a bunch of fish that could have been Sheepshead bites. But Brian and Kelly were just getting used to what we were doing, so it was okay. They quickly figured the float-rig fishing out with my expert coaching.

At one point Kelly was catching nice fat Specks just a rod length off the side of the boat. The fish were thick. I liked that.

As the tide died, we only had a short period of falling tide this morning. We "all" picked up and headed else where. The fellas in the other boat left and so did we. I was gonna go to the jetties, but figured we can do that tomorrow. So we  went about 1200 yards away from spot one anchored up in shallow water and immediately Kelly had a fish on but it came off.   This spot I broke out the spinning gear and my home made, "mega-loud" Clicker Floats.  Fishing real shallow and letting the wind and the current drift the live shrimp around a tight cove and across the front of a small patch of oyster bed.

Again, it was Trout after Trout. REALLY nice fish.  Figure that, the Jettywolf fishing up in a creek!! And everyone was wacking them on almost every drift, on the spinning gear.

I came back here to spot #2, because I wanted them to catch Redbass. But the action was so good it almost didn't matter. A slight adjustment, and while studying the banks contour, I told Brian, get you float to drift that section of the bank. So he re-cast his Clicker Float, let it drift perfectly and I said "RIGHT THERE!". And like clock work, his float went down and he set the hook.

The drag was peeling on the light tackle and here comes the first keeper Redbass! 

Hmmmm, I haven't lost it completely!  I've spent my share of time shallow water fishing in all these creek on two of my "past" 'glass" inshore boats. Only difference now is if I pay a bit more attention, in my 26 footer now...."she floats WAY higher than any Glass boat of her size". Which is why I had her built, she does everything I ask of her.

Then it was Kelly's turn. She got to the right spot, the hooked herself a nice Redbass too!

A good portion of the rising tide was Red after Red, and Trout after Trout!  Kelly even had a whopper trout hooked up that came off the edge of a oyster bed, that she lost at the side of the boat, and that fish went at least 5 pounds!!!!

We finished up the day of this addictive fishing with no less than 30 Trout, boxed our 3 person limit easily. And at least 10 Redbass, keeping two for my mom.  Brain and Kelly weren't keeping fish, so I cleaned them all up and have many a debt to pay to my Momma. And fresh fillets usually helps pay it off.

It was a great day, not even a mile and a half from the boat ramp!


Sunday, I'll mix it up and the three of us will head to the Jetties for some Float-riggin' and bottom fishing.

This is the way to do it. Brian and Kelly came down here for Brian's Birthday (Sunday) and booked two days in a row. By the time they head home, they will have fished the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR, and seen all what the Jettywolf does.

11/18 - the weekend

SATURDAY
EAST WINDS 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS
A MODERATE CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

SATURDAY NIGHT
EAST WINDS 10 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND
WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

SUNDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET. INLAND
WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

I know today, "Friday" seems to be reminding me of weekends past where it was blowing a gale. B-U-T, at least Sunday's forecast isn't all that bad.

I'll be out Saturday and Sunday with the same crew from the Chicago area, I believe. Yeah EAST, sucks for this Jetty-Jockey. But as the saying goes here in J-ville, Fla.

"you must remain, rigidly flexible!  There isn't a single constant"  That's what makes it interesting, huh?

Check back, reports to follow I'm sure.......

Learning to tell her....."off"

NUMBER 1 METHOD:



NUMBER 2 METHOD


SUPER FUNNY STUFF.....I LAUGH EVERY TIME I WATCH THIS.

TRY THIS WITTY BUT CALM AND NON CONFRONTATIONAL STYLE, WITH YOUR WIFE AND SEE IF IT WORKS OR NOT, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

11/17 - MORE info on new Redfish & Trout regs.

Additional info pertaining to the latest FWC meeting in Key Largo:  (see other posts further down my blog page.)


On its first of two days of meetings in Key Largo, the seven-member Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted on three marine fisheries topics that drew plenty of interest from the angling public, professional fishing guides and commercial fishermen, as well.

"What we are trying to do is be fair in a fishery that is in abundance, and in some cases, way in abundance," said FWC Chairman Kathy Barco. "We are dealing with a success story."

Touting robust stock assessment numbers for spotted seatrout, the FWC voted to make six changes in trout rules, upping the take for recreational and commercial fishing sectors.

Beginning in February, there will no longer be closed seasons for harvest for recreational anglers and anglers in northeast Florida will have a bag limit of six per person instead of five.

The state will be divided into four management zones for trout — instead of three.
Commercial fishermen will have a trip limit of 150 trout caught by hook and line if two licensed fishermen are on board.
They also will be able to sell trout for 30 days following a closed season, not throughout the year as was one proposal considered.

There will be no allowance for using beach seines or haul seines to catch trout commercially nor will there be a 75-fish bycatch allowance.

The choices were praised by groups such as the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida. Recreational anglers were concerned ambiguity in proposals would open the door for future regulation changes that might allow drift gill nets in state waters.


The FWC also voted to double the bag limit for redfish in north Florida from one to two per person per day.

(personally, I was hoping for a change in the keeper sizes, for NE Florida to more like Georgia and have multiple Redfish, just smaller as in 16" to 23". Larger Redfish aren't worth keeping in my book.)

Tiger sharks and three species of hammerhead sharks also received protection from harvest in state waters. The state now prohibits the harvest of 25 species of sharks.

------------------------------------------
-want to read more about Florida's Speckled Sea Trout stocks, and more?

Here's the latest edition of "SEA WATCH" pulished by the CCA (Coastal Conservation Assoc.) in a pdf.
http://www.ccaflorida.org/seawatch/Seawatch_Spring_11.pdf

11/16 - Float-rig building & tips

11/16 - NO SEINE NETS! Thank goodness...

Wow, the ruling came thru via this email from the CCA. 


 CCA FLORIDA COMMENDS FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION'S ACTION TO NOT ALLOW A DIRECTED  SEATROUT NET FISHERY 

     The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) discussed the very controversal proposed seatrout rules during their Wednesday meeting in Key Largo.

The Commission voted to remove the closed months in the recreational sector and extend the commercial fishery while not allowing beach and haul seine nets.

The action taken by the Commissioners keeps good conservation measures on the fishery while providing additional access to the recreational fisherman.

“It was extremely important to keep the by-catch and the beach and haul seine nets out the seatrout fishery” said Don Roberts, CCA Florida Chairman.

"The impact from the regulations that were adopted by the Commissioners will be great for the jobs and economic value associated with the recreational fishery."

Your son or daughter may still be able to catch one of these!!
This smile is "worth" how much. More than $1.90 per pound, I'll tell ya that!


Throughout the process CCA Florida has worked with the Commission and their staff to help develop proposed rules for the Commissioners consideration to help this fishery thrive.  We applaud their efforts in their work with the stakeholders and continued success in managing the state fisheries.

     “We greatly appreciate all the work that the Commissioner’s and their staff have done” said Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida's Executive Director. "It is great for fisheries conservation of seatrout and the recreational fisherman."

Horray!!!!!!

11/12 - Brrrrr....chilly morning Trout.

Had me a "solo" angler today, Jason C. from up in Georgia.  Jason's usually an offshore angler, but this time wanted to dabble in some river fishing.  We left out early, and it was quite chilly. But there wasn't hardly a breeze, so it wasn't all that bad.

I'll take what we had over GALE FORCE winds on a weekend any day! With this being the first Saturday without GALE FORCE winds in the last two weeks. The boats/fisherman were out in force.

My idea was to take advantage of the early morning 9:30am high tide and go hit some shallow areas. Areas that in the GALE FORCE winds, we even caught Trout in past weeks.

(A "gale" as defined by the National weather service is 34–47 knots, or 39–54 miles/hour of sustained surface winds.)

But, it's really unusual that the Trout bite was better when the winds were honking. So bad I couldn't stay anchored in 3 feet of water.....compared to today, and this past Wednesday at high tide. With light to no wind.

Go figure, huh?  Must be a barametric pressure thing....

Between Jason and I we caught Trout. And many were small ones. Little skinny "buck" males.

The nice ones caught were beautiful fish:

As the tide flood tide slowed, we headed straight for the jetties. In search of a Black Drum or over sized Redbass.

I have not seen the end of the jetties for weeks, because of the winds. So I was really excited to get anchored up and fish hard out there. This should be the time when my Drum friends start showing up really good.

Well, Jason and I were in for a BIG suprise. Anchored up perfectly, in a great spot (at least it used to be) we fished "cut ladyfish" on the bottom for a big Redbass, and also fished LIVE shrimp at the edge of the rocks looking for a fat Black Drum.

Of course because of the full moon tide conditions, we had to be patient and wait it out till the brown water at least flushed on through. Hours went by, and we never had as much as a SNIFF!  Yeah, Jason caught a few small Seabass. But right there was a "HERE'S YER SIGN".  When you're not even getting bit by small Sea Biscuits, SOMETHING is w-r-o-n-g!!

I believe that the quick drop in water temps, the extreme winds, and water roughness of the last two weeks has had the jetties all messed up. About every boat that was even near the end of the rocks, left after awhile. We used the power of observation to determine, they were probably having the same action we were. And that was NIL to NONE.

I've experienced this before after weeks of 10 foot seas out at the inlet. So after waiting for the brown water, and fishing really hard for a few hours. We also took off, and headed up river. Back to Float-rig fishing for Trout.

We pulled up on a spot, and right away the Trout had Jason's shrimp jumping across the surface. Trout were jumping out of the water for his shrimp. Then he caught two nice 17 inchers back to back.

But, that quickly ended. It became a "flats boat" parade coming by us, as the sun got low in the sky and the tide became dead low. It must have been a parking lot of boats up in the marsh behind where we were with all these little boats coming by. And as they did.....our bite of Trout stopped as fast as it started.

I've never ever seen a bite of Trout start so good, and end so abruptly, because of boat traffic. The Trout were jumping out of the water, chasing Jason's shrimp on his float-rig. He and I looked at eachother and thought..."we're in the meat!!!"  And then after two nice fish it ended.

So we too packed it in. Jason had a 4 hr. drive home ahead of him.  And I think I may have a new and future "Float Freak". Jason enjoyed the ANGLING aspect of fishing a live shrimp on the float-rig. As most people do. No having to feel a bite, just pay attention to that float, and it'll talk to ya.


NEXT UP, PRE-BOOKED:

Saturday and Sunday with the same husband and wife fishing team from Chicago.

So that means "weekdays" are wide open. And hopefully devoid of heavy winds.
Let's go Float-riggin'.

11/11 - These people are nuts!

The rule makers are out of their minds!!!!!!!!!!

You might want to email to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the spotted seatrout haul seine netting fishery and the proposed rule amendments. The Commission values public comment about Florida’s fisheries.
We have already seen a decrease in our Sheepshead fishing because of seine netting here, this would impact our local Seatrout fishing.  With the SAMFC arbitrarily closing our offshore fishing for various species, there is now increased fishing pressure on our inshore fisheries, this would be a bad time to allow Seine fishing commercally.

LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE!
The Commission considers the spotted seatrout population in Florida a success story. (REALLY??) Over the past twenty years, the regulations in place helped spotted seatrout rebuild from low population levels to abundant and healthy levels. The most recent spotted seatrout stock assessment showed that the stocks are exceeding the Commission’s seatrout management goal. (REALLY??)Because of this, the Commission is looking into relaxing both commercial and recreational regulations in order to increase fishing opportunities for fishers in Florida.

The proposed regulations could expand the commercial and recreational fishery and therefore will likely increase the number of spotted seatrout harvested in Florida. However, the proposals are made after careful considerations of many aspects of the seatrout fishery, such as projected changes in fishing effort and harvest levels. One aspect considered is that commercial landings of spotted seatrout in Florida are very small relative to the recreational landings. For example, in 2009, the commercial harvest made up only 2% of the entire spotted seatrout harvest in Florida. (BOO-HOO)

Although our scientific data and the models we use in the stock assessment cannot predict fishing behavior, based on calculations by scientists at FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, we believe that the proposed regulations are precautionary and should not harm the overall spotted seatrout population in Florida. In addition, a new spotted seatrout stock assessment is planned for 2014 and if it shows reasons for concern, regulations can be adjusted at that time. (LEAVE IT ALONE.....N.E. Florida doesn't have enough to scoop up with nets)

The proposed regulations will be discussed in a final public hearing at the November Commission meeting. You can see more details about the spotted seatrout recommendations that will be discussed as they are added to the meeting website: http://www.myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/2011/november/16/november-16-17,-2011/.

Again, thank you for your interest in one of Florida’s premier fisheries. Your input is very important to the Commission and has been added to the public testimony we have gathered. If you have any further questions you can either contact Carly Canion by email at carly.canion@myfwc.com or by calling (850)487-0554 (850)487-0554    

This will open NET/SEINE fishing again for Trout. Have ya seen the Sheephead slaughters out of Nassua Sound with seine nets? If not, you'll wanna PUKE, because I have.

I know this alot to read but if you want to learn, it's worth it.


ECONOMIC REPORT SUPPORTS CCA FLORIDA’S OPPOSITION TO ANY INCREASE IN THE COMMERCIAL SEATROUT FISHERY

The long awaited arrival of seatrout to reach its minimum management goal of 35% Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR), due in large measure to the support of the angling public and its voluntary adherence to size and bag limits, is to be celebrated. But it should not be taken as a green light to expand the fishery, additional take must be done with caution in mind. Increasing the commercial take of seatrout with large increases in the number of months of the commercial season, the use of beach and haul seines, the allowance of huge amounts of seatrout take as “by-catch”, and the rest of the amendments being proposed for the commercial fishermen are all simply bad ideas, not only from an economic/jobs perspective but also from a policy perspective.

From an economic/jobs/recreational viewpoint, the better course in the long term would be to expand the allowable season for seatrout - and perhaps expand size and bag limits – for the angling public, rather than allowing increased significant take and sale by commercial fishermen.

CCA Florida has received an economic study that compares the value of the commercial seatrout fishery to the recreational seatrout fishery here in Florida. This study provides substantial evidence using MRFSS, NMFS, and FWC data that shows that CCA’s concerns over a directed commercial fishery on seatrout are valid. The value that the recreational directed fishery brings to Florida is just over $81 million compared to the value of the commercial fishery brings which is less than $300 thousand. The numbers of jobs and economic value associated with recreational seatrout fishing in Florida – from guides, to bait and tackle shops, to hotels, restaurants and gas stations – clearly indicate that promoting more recreational angling for seatrout, and not more commercial take of seatrout, is the wiser course.

Next week, on November 16th in Key Largo, FL the FWC Commissioners will have the opportunity to vote on several proposals that would expand the commercial seatrout fishery. These include, but are not limited to the possibility of adding beach and haul seine nets for a “by-catch” fishery and allowing year around sale of seatrout. CCA believes the FWC Commissioners should take the better course of action and do the right thing for the fish and the economy and keep the seatrout fishery as is. To view the full economic report, please see the attached document from the Gentner Consulting Group.
###

For more information or if you would like to attend the FWC meeting please contact –
Trip Aukeman, Deputy Director Advocacy CCA Florida at (850)559-0060  (850)559-0060 or email taukeman@ccaflorida.org

11/9 - ONLY TROUT FISHING.

NICE DAY, and by the looks of the traffic and boats around, it looked like a Saturday morning!

Guess, day after day of 20kt to gale force winds, makes people not go to work.

Oh, the Mayport Jetties were nasty. The north side of the north rocks were "Kawabunga", with monster waves breaking, and pouring over the rocks.

Had Chris M. aboard, a "Jettywolf" veteran. I quickly said, "damn I'm getting too old to fish the jetties on days like this." So I turned around and we headed for dead calm waters and no wind, instead.

The action was kinda steady, but amazingly enough I had better action on the first spot about two weeks ago when the wind was blowing GALE FORCE, then today.

LOTS of dinker Trout. Had to sort through them, and even the keepers were just 15-16". No big whopper Trout, or "kicker fish", IE: Sheepshead, Drum or Redbass.

But we did have around 20 plus Trout caught on just a few quality spots.

So after Trout fishing and weeding through them to get some in the "box", we tried some bottom fishing at a Croaker hole. Boxed one big one, and the rest were small. Moved on.....

The full moon mid-ebb tide had no current in places I wanted to try Trout fishing again, and plenty where we ended up trying some more bottom fishing. But still didn't find a Redbass or Drum, which is what we were wanting.

I haven't fished my "beloved" Jetties in weeks, because of the high winds and seas.

The Black Drum have to be out there!

And of course the Flounder is all anyone is talking about....But, I want (personally) Monster Trout, cause it's also that time of year. Or should be!!!

Guess, I'll have to give in and get me some damn mud minnows.

Hope I can hit the jetties Saturday. I have one "solo" angler, aboard.

11/7 - FROM THE PAST..."ye ole back when"

Remembering this past week 2009......

(I kinda miss those lit'l Snappa's. But now, they've went away. Either all died, or hauled ass, during the mega-winter freezes of 2010. When water temps locally got down to 42 degrees. Just like any Snook populations we had built-up over the years of warmer winters. The smaller Mangrove Snappers were a real irritant up in the river, but as fall approached and they headed out to sea. We'd catch big one's up to 16" along the jetties rocks, along with a rare but super cool fish called a Black Margate. Also a fish that we built up populations of over the years of warmer winters.  The winter of 2010 is when we had alot of below 32 degree temps. And several absolute bone chilling mornings. I actually recorded 17 degrees at 8am one Feb. morning as me and a buddy headed out to fish from his Kayaks. Wow, we were crazy!! And we only lasted 3 hrs. Hopefully, no more winters like that for a long time.)

 

Saturday, October 31, 2009

10/30 - Is this really two days before November?

Had John G. and Jay aboard today. From Ohio and N.Y. They came down to J-ville for just a bit of messin' around and for a day of fishing. Well, we fished alright. Fished our tails off. Especially float-rigging, looking for some Speckley bastards....that's what I call them Trout when they're making me mad.


We fished and fished, moved around, sat in monster current, you name it. And never got the first Trout bite or Trout to the boat. It wasn't for a lack of trying or working hard. I know I worked hard on my end. I pulled my Achilles tendon behind my heel and it was throbbing with each step I took, and each time I yanked and cranked my giant length of chain and anchor back into the boat.


I swear it was noon or later, and we couldn't even give away a live shrimp to anything more than a Pinfish or tiny Jack. Which, this all started back last Tuesday when I was out with George and Tom, progressively got worse on Wednesday, with Mike and Phil, so it was no shock, that now by Friday, with the due east breeze and up coming full moon, that it may be a bit of a struggle finding quality Trout like species.


So I basically had to just give up. I was at the end of my line, by 1:00pm. So we sat on a spot, using 1 oz. egg sinkers, a real long leader, tiny hooks and light rods and the smallest live shrimp and pitched out behind the boat as it swung back and forth and caught about 20 Mangrove Snappers. With some really decent ones going into the fish box. We boxed 13 good fryers, 2 shy of our boat limit, before they shut off as the tide changed. Along with a Sheepshead and a small Black Drum adolescent Ladyfish.

I didn't want to attempt the jetties this morning, with the east wind and I'm sure, sloppy seas. But now as the tide changed and the wind laid down, I had no choice, but go look at it out there.


So we saved just enough live shrimp to go give a spot a try. We soft peddled our way out there. And once on the spot, it seemed we could easily fish.

With not a whole lot of sea legs, John and Jay could at least lean into the boat as we rolled in the swell, and froth. On the second anchor attempt, I was dead on where I need to be. We pitched out float rigs up to the rocks, and it didn't take long before John was hooked into something really nice.


Turned out to be a good size Redbass, that ran him straight to the bow. After a long day of no big pullers. Just the twitch, twitch of one pound Mangroves under his belt, he was a bit taken by the slam dunk and "see ya" attitude of the jetty junk yard dawg he had hooked up. It looked to be a Red anywhere from 26-30", it was hard to tell as it came near the surface....ONCE! Then, pop the hook let go and we had to quickly chock this one up to a "fishing experience".


Back at it we went. And again, it didn't take long before John was hooked up again. This time the fish went toward the stern, and then under the boat a few times. Coaching as much as I could, we really needed this one, "in the boat!"


After a good slug fest, John guided the Red to my waiting dip net. Unfortunately, depending on how ya look at it, the fish was 28-1/2 inches long. And a real beaut, with loads of spots.




Not a keeper, but a good catch none the less. Jay was ready to pack it in, or was a bit uncomfortable with the seas out there...."it was undetermined".

So we headed back to the dock to clean the Sheepshead and Mangroves.

Because John and Jay's fish had a date with the fryer at Singletons Seafood Shack. With 28 fillets they had almost 4 pounds of cleaned fish. And in my opinion, I'll take them nice small crunchy along the edge's fried fillets of Mangrove Snapper over a Redbass, any day!



So, the higher water falling tide in the morning has been a genuine struggle all week long. It's still so damn warm, and this weekend isn't going to help. Be it the backside of an El Nino year, no hurricanes, no tropical storms, or whatever it was that "didn't" happen this year. I'll take the latter, any day.



Because there's no way I should be out tracking Trout all week in the last days of October and not be able to find them where we fished. Last year at this time sure was a totally different story.

But no matter what, if you're willing to stick with me. We'll put fish in the boat, even if I have to anchor us up in the chop & slop, or take up Mangrove Snapper fishing.

11/5 - More wind.

Damn, what's going on with this wind? This is now weekend #2, with gusts to gale force. Was out on Saturday morning. Had a "two hour kids trip". Had Sean, his wife, his 4 year old son, and his 6 year old daughter. Who looked to be the future angler of the group. From what I saw at the boat ramp, I was the only "charter" out there, today.

We deaparted at 9am. Yeah it was windy, cold and as the tide fell against the N.E. winds the river got good and choppy. The kids caught some Croakers, Seabass, Pinfish, and Piggy Perch at the first spot. But the wind was whipping the boat back and forth really good. So we ran to Atlantic ship yard to get out of the wind, and and there we couldn't get a single bite, with just plain ole dead shrimp on small hooks.......which seemed impossible.  So I moved around quickly, as time is of the essence with these trips. Still nothing. So we finished up the trip driving by the mega-yachts that are sitting along the docks there. The kids jus' made it, before starting to whine.

My biggest worry was for Sunday. Have had it booked with folks from out of town for weeks now. And of course they had one day and one day only to fish.

I watched the NOAA forecast intensely.......and yeah it changed from N.E. 20K for Sunday, back to what it was earlier in the week. Morning rain, and gusts to gale force!  Given the chance, my Sunday clients decided to postpone the trip to a later date.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING
NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO
GALE FORCE. SEAS 10 TO 15 FEET SUBSIDING TO 9 TO 12 FEET DURING THE
AFTERNOON. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

I keep looking ahead for a day during the week that I can go up to the St. Marys river jetties and trout fish. I certainly don't want to go to a new area with any wind over 10 knots. I want a decent day with the only challenge being "fish a new area".

 

11/1 - Gale Force Gusts?.....are back!

I'm almost thinking that today, the wind is worse than when I was out with two folks on Sunday, actually catching Trout.

With not much to do in this weather. I've been checking out Moore Boats. And yes, I'm in love. Not to say I don't love my boat. But the things that you can do with aluminum boats is just so vast. That's why I love them!

Either way, here's another installment of education about aluminum alloy boats. If you have been a frequent visitor to this blog, you know I have a real facination with JET BOATS.

But the problem has always been, they're usually low to the water, having not much freeboard, are not all that large, and if they are they're made to run rivers in Idaho.

And they look it!

My friend Jay who I bought my boat from, found this new company in Maryland that's building large East Coast style hulls. Aluminum of course, adding Jet Drives coupled to none other than, DIESEL ENGINES.


If I was able to do it all over again, this would be the boat for me. A 28 footer like the patrol boat shown below. A single jet, connected to a diesel engine, configured for coastal fishing! No sand bar, no mud bar, would stop me. Plus, a turning ability second to none.

Watch this boat "slip" right into it's "lift" after coming to a real fast stop.

JETS, plus diesel, plus 5086 aluminum..... Holy smokes!

Look at that innovative bow design!