1/6 - 'Float-rigging', saves the day...again!

To my happiness, I had a phone call from Erik on Wednesday.....(phone calls are a rarity anymore) So being he and his friend Alisa wanted to go on either Friday, Saturday, or even next Saturday. The nice thing was we didn't have to play 'back and forth with e-mails. He told me what he wanted and I looked at the weather report while on the phone with him and decided......5-10kts from the S.W. and FOG, on Friday was a day not to be missed.

Alisa, did her  home work. I had noticed her name when she signed up for my reports page. And she later told me "I was chosen", because my reports were up to date, my Youtube videos were informative, and my website was right on the mark.
"I liked this gal, right away!"

Since the little Bluefish have invaded the jetties, making "float-rig fishing" not as productive. I opted to try bottom fishing, with Black Drum in mind. So we headed to the inside of the south rocks and anchored up along some massive structure on the bottom. Starting out with just fresh dead shrimp, we sat and sat and not much was happening.

I picked up, and headed to the inside of the north rocks...."Not much Current". We were hours into the falling tide, so all I could figure was that the 4.0-4.3' tide just wasn't going to all that strong.  Still not much happening.

So, it seemed the current was running pretty good out closer to the channel. So I drug up the anchor and plopped us right into tthe middle of the inside HOLE, just south of the north tip of the rocks. The anchor came tight and was holding, and we were in, 72 feet of water!!

Erik, pitched his bottom rig out, baited with dead shrimp, the bait hit the bottom down deeper than it is 10 miles offshore and instantly got slammed!

He bowed the rod up as the reel's drag pulled, and hung on for dear life!

There wasn't much he could do but keep the rod up and bent. The fish bucked and ran, he pulled and it ran some more. Unfortunately, the fish was heading "out" and "north" straight at the jetty rocks. I was freaking out, because the bait just hit the bottom and it was an instant bite from a giant........A GIANT REDBASS, no doubt.

After what seemed like a few minutes, the line finally parted against the jetty rocks some 70' feet below and all three of us felt the pain. The anchor, started to slip a bit and I didn't want to get any closer to those rocks, so I pulled up and drug and dropped the anchor to a 60' spot, and we tossed three rods rigged with fresh blue Crabs back into that 70' hole, dropped the rods in the holders and waited.

Eating sandwiches and chips, we waited, and waited....."What? Fresh Blue Crabs, out mega deep, in current, and NOTHING??" 

Yep, this jus' wasn't cutting the mustard. Something is wrong. Maybe the water on the bottom was really cold, after the last cold front and high winds. If there's no bite now, it'll only come at dead low I'm sure. But there's NO WAY, we're sittting out here all that time "starring" at these rod tips. Even though it couldn't have been more of a beautiful winter day.

(If you're dabbling in the thoughts of going on a days fishing charter......"what the heck are ya waiting on?"  Last year at this exact same time it was well below freezing each morning. And now, it's perfection! Now is the time to go!)

By now Jackets were off, I was outa my foul weather pants and in shorts and a long sleeve T-shirt. It just doesn't get much better this time of year.

So, with a back up plan. A live well full of frisky shrimp, I pulled anchor and bid that "bazzaro" bottom fishing at the jetties farewell. I blasted my way up river at 5,000 RPM's and headed to a Trout spot. The sun was bright, the temp was perfect, I had a great crew, and my mind was full of dancing fat Speckled Trout, on the end of my light tackle float-rig rods.

And, still we had to wait till the trout decided that the tide was right, "for them" to start biting. But it didn't take tooo long. I had a time-line in mind, and had it planned out. But we still had to fish about 45 minutes to an hour, before the first BIG FATTIE T-rout, took down a float........and Erik slamm dunked the first one.

It was a beautiful (as you can see) 22 incher. Not bad at all for the first trout bite.
I knew that all we had to do is "hang loose" and they would come.

-Always have a plan.....plan A-B-C, at least.
-Get to know your spots, and show up prior to when they are gonna bite.
-Don't second guess what you know and what your "gut" tells ya.
-And don't ever leave fish to go find fish.

That's a few of the general rules I live by out on that river. And from my experience, I knew like a light switch thrown on, that when the current got to where the trout like it....."They'd show up."

I just didn't know, they all were gonna be OVER 20 INCHES!!!!!  What a problem to have, huh??

Well it actually is a HUGE problem. With the wacko "tree hugger" rules we have in this state. I've been out fishing by myself before and had my 5 trout all on one spot, and each one is well over 20", and I went home with only one fish in the box for my efforts and expense.

Trout rules:  (5) per person, 15-20", with one of your (5) being able to be over 20"

So you can see, if all the fish are over 20"....you're in the position to try and catch smaller fish. WHO FISHES FOR SMALL ONES???

EDITORIAL, COMMENTARY:  Personally, all Trout fishing rules and fishing rules in general in this state ought to be regionalized into small sections, because of the wide differences from one area to another. Trout for example; should be NO over 20" all summer, because that's when they are spawning. But come November 1st, through May 1st. Trout limit's should be more open and the rule of only one over 20" trout should be dropped.  Other states do not have such stupid rules. To be really fair, this area is not like East Central Florida, or South Florida. Because of the St. Johns River and it's tributaries, we have our own "regional-enviroment" going on here with our saltwater species, inshore.

Okay, back to the report.
The bites weren't thick, but a saying I live by is...."If you can't catch one after another, then they need to be really big."
And today, that saying really fit the way things were going. The action wasn't a barn burner. But let me tell ya, when you have to release Trout over 20 inches, because the first three caught were big fatties, and ended up in the fish box. "then they need to be big", is what ya want!

Alisa, with here 23 incher.

A "double" whammy!

"yeah, this beats sitting starring at the rod tips while bottom fishing.....Any day!!"

"Yes, sir...may I catch another, FATTIE!"

Even toss in one of these "exotic" species.
This was also a double header, with Erik catching a pup Redbass, that never got his picture taken.

Finally, we added a few more under 20" to the fish box, but just barely. A couple 19 inchers. It was getting late, the tide was slowing, so we headed back to the dock so "I could make the donuts", aka: clean the fish.

So as the title of this report reads, "Float-riggging saves the day again."  Not feeling all that keen on bottom fishing much, after a day like today. Especially, when the Trout are big, fat and full of spunk.

So if you'd like to try what you see here. Then call me. So I can get you out there.

BEST QUALITY TRIPS:  2- passengers, maybe 3. This is highly active fishing. Not just sitting and waiting, but up and moving and paying attention.

And I love it! You will too.
 

1/3 - Very interesting r-e-a-d.....

"Is that boat of yours made from recycled beer cans?"  that kind of comment usually comes from some so called "high end" boat owner who believes he's superior to "all".

My answer is usually...... "what's yours made from? recycled milk jugs?"

I'm very familiar with this company. And have had the pleasure of riding in this exact 34' RockSalt "plate alloy boat" all day long here in J-ville, when the sales rep friend of mine brought one here.

That same sales rep. used to be the east coast sales rep. for the company who built my boat. And we stay in touch.

The Miami boat show is just around the corner in February. I've been there many, many times.  So, being that this blog is about more than local people looking to see where I'm fishing. I felt that this was a good time to post something different, being that it's soon to be Boat Show time, once again.

Before you ever go to Miami and think you're going to buy a high end "go fast" fishing boat, or really any other boat that you plan on fishing hard and working really hard,  I advise people to read this:
http://www.rocksaltboats.com/education/the-book-introduction - At RockSalt Boats, they just like myself, are going to educate you about aluminum alloy plate boats.

Chapter one is, "The intro." Then there's chapter #2, called "YOU."  and so on.  Each Chapter is listed down the side bar of the page, to continue.

You don't have to be a high end boat buyer to gain from "this" boat education, that's for sure.

The men who own and build RockSalt boats forgot more about about building, designing and fabrication of alloy boats than most people will "ever" know. Their resume is quite impressive to say the least.


NOT YOUR STYLE or BUDGET? Can't convince the wife you want a 200K high speed Gulf Stream boat to catch Wahoo and Marlin out of?

Here's the Carolina Skiff version of Heavy Duty commercially built boats. But don't be mistaken...."these ain't no Carolina Skiff!" Most are built for commercial purposes in Louisiana, but just take off the push knees, and make a few adjustments, even add paint:  http://lobellsboats.com/boat-types/patriot-line-of-utility-work-boats/p2684/





Just remember this:  ******for the purposes of this "web links" we are not discussing the low-end and small freshwater recreational marketplace for jonboats, Lunds, pontoon boats and such. These are considered to be “sheet” metal boats and are a whole different category of boats…*****






NEXT UP:  Two person, river inlet charter Friday 1/6


FRIDAY:
SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND
WATERS MOSTLY SMOOTH.

1/1 - A New Year, unlike any others....

Today was B&M bait & tackle's New Years Day Party. Where the B&M crew does a seemingly endless fish fry. It's held each year, and I'm there. And afterwards, I usually say, "where were ya? You sure missed a great spread", and then I add a few pictures that I took of the event.

But today, I was booked for a 6 hr. charter. Yep, booked it last night at 6:30pm. But only after two additional calls of people who thought they wanted to go, but talked themselves out of it.

Then, there was the call of a guy while he was driving down I-95 on Friday from N.C. requesting a Saturday morning trip with his son.  He strung me out till 10:00pm at night, waiting for his deposit, that never came. Then, the next morning he just ignored my 6am call.

Holidays, they just don't much crazier. 

So, today we headed out to float-rig fish, with the same groups relatives in another boat..."following along". I had 3 kids and one adult, then 3 kids and just me. Then, I ended up with 4 kids and one adult. They swapped people back and forth.

There wasn't any tide today, and the dang "little Green scourge fish" are in full out-break at the jetties.  Yep, last year it was late November, when they arrived.  They can sure eat alot of bait, and the last two trips have been a genuine nuisance. It was nice for awhile. Remember, the video I made when I was out with Doc miller on his boat??  It was solid GAMEFISH, and fish after fish. The Jetties have thier good side and thier bad.

Today we caught, hard earned Specks, Yellowmouth and a small Sheepshead. And I mean "hard earned". It was for me, I know that. But for the crew it didn't matter, the kids were in full competition from the start. And not knowing all the in's & out's, Like I do. They didn't care. They just had fun. The problem is sometimes, I know too much. I knmow what I want. But hell, it's just fishin, right?

Oh, the tide......there was a serious, ""lack of it"".

We departed at 10:00 to fish the incoming. But never saw it, and fished all day at the jetties in mostly "currentless" waters. If I wasn't doing a trip like this one today, I normally would have switched gears and left the jetties. But, with the kids, the action is all we needed.

The rising tide was 3.8' with a west wind pushing against it. "What is the general rule? 

ANSWER:   Less than 4.0 ft. = no current in the St. Johns." 

EVERYTHING HAS TO DO WITH WATER MOVEMENT, period!

12/30 - TIMING......?

ANOTHER, beautiful December Friday, again just passed by.  Nearly "windless". Just like Thursday was.

(THURSDAY'S CREW...notice, T-shirts and slick calm water??)

It's all about....TIMING.

But never fear, if you like change.

It's a comin'!!

SUNDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET.
INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

MONDAY
WEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND
WATERS CHOPPY.

MONDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 25 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET.
INLAND WATERS ROUGH.

TUESDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET.
INLAND WATERS CHOPPY.

-And with the BREEZE will come winter air temps.

12/29 - Indiana & Texas, crew

Yes, RIGHT NOW is always Jacksonville's best time of year for inshore light tackle fishing.

Want to fill the box for a family holiday fish fry? Well, you're missing it!!

-Speckled Trout by the limits
-Redfish, all sizes
-Sheepshead, all sizes
-Black Drum, all sizes

All while going on NO long boat ride. Believe me, that's the reason I git out of the "offshore" fishing business. Too long, too rough, and days were always limited this time of year.

Here's an example of what I did yesterday with a group of four, with one experienced fisherman;

2.5 miles to the inlet....slick dead calm, no wind, incoming tide. Anchored up along our massive jetty rocks. We sat hammering limit after limit of Speckled Trout, yellowmouth Trout, and picked up a Sheepshead, too.

No long boat ride, easy fishing for my crew from Indiana and Texas, yesterday.

These are just a few of what was caught 12/29, with the group of four. We still had abunch in the box.
I taught my crew the how-to of the float-rig, and they commenced to "catchin." We had ACTION, all day long.

Unlike last year at this time, we're experiencing wonderfully warm days, sunny skies and low winds.

Winter of 2010 and early 2011, being one of the coldest in a hundred years made it one of the tougher winter's I've seen in my 28 years of fishing the area.

It took awhile for our Trout fishing to bounce back during the rest of 2011. And now, being that the water's are cool and comfortable the Speckled trout are on fire!








Here's a few VIDEO links of slick calm, warm December days.

-Solo day: http://youtu.be/Xp7xA35ENR8
-With Doc: http://youtu.be/6o_HFK66Cgs

When in the Jacksonville to Amelia Island Florida area, there's on charter service to call for your light tackle fishing vacation.


Many charter customers in November booked two days in a row to get the best of the best. That's a good idea, because we can try a few different angling techniques.


www.captdaves.com - full-time guide since 1996, fishing aboard the 26' Jettywolf.

12/22 - ANOTHER wonderful December day.

Who remembers last winter??

-MOST CALENDAR DAY FREEZES IN THE MONTH OF DECEMBER...
JACKSONVILLE...2010...14 FREEZES...OLD RECORD...12 IN 2000

I sure do, and let me tell ya it was far from this warm and nice at this same time last year. (you're missing it?)

The fishing was great last winter, but the cold was tough to work through many days. I was out in a T-shirt today, and shorts as usual, jus' wacking and stackin the fattie Trout.

This is what I live for and am wishing I could do 12 months a year. But that doesn't happen around here. Nov. thru May is Trout time.

It won't last forever.. Ya'll who have fished aboard the Jettywolf know how much fun this is.  "I have my trusty float-rigs always handy."  And for the fun of it. My "clicker corks".


You'll see.....just watch.

12/18 - DID YOU KNOW....you're missing it???

Sunday: 12/18 - Another """"WINDLESS""""" Light & Variable winds.....aka: "hardly a breeze" day.

CHRISTMAS MARKS THE MIDDLE POINT OF THE BEST INSHORE LIGHT TACKLE FISHING THIS AREA HAS TO OFFER.  SO RIGHT NOW, IT'S HALF GONE!  OR THE OTHER WAY AROUND IS, "IT'S ONLY HALF WAY OVER!"

Don't ask for days like this come July, August, Sept. or even October.

-Bright skies
-Cool air & water temps
-Super frisky live shrimp (baits)
-Trout on the feed bag
-No limits on Yellowmouth Trout
-Keeper sized Redfish on light tackle
-Heavy Sheepshead on the Float-rig
-No reason to sweat profusely

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

Gift ideas?

Here's three:

Park to park tours via the St. Johns River - up to 6 persons:

-Depart the Mayport Boat ramp, head northward on the ICW to the historic Kingsley Plantation.
-Depart boat and walk around and view the still present N.E. Florida plantation remains; Houses, and quarters.
-Get back on boat and head back south to the St. Johns River, passing the local port facilities.
-Depart boat at the Ft. Caroline National Park, head to visitors center where you can see artifacts and learn about local history. This visitors center is loaded with things most people don't even know about the river's banks. Walk the replica "fort" that's adjacent the visitors center.
-Head back to Mayport......tour time: 4 hours.
- $350 with a $100 deposit in advance




Two hour "kids trip", for the youngsters:

- Two hours..."not too long, not to short", for kids under 6 years of age, usually.
- Max. three kids, and one adult, or two kids, and two adults, or less.
- Trip is intended to give the kids a "thrill". Fish an hour, tour and hour.
- Boat ride and see Dolphins and bird life, the inlet, (when calm) & Big Ships!
- Anchor up and catch a few fish for the kids.
- Dock to dock, 2 hours, with $50 for additional hour.  
- $200 with $100 deposit in advance.






Private, personal fishing charters:                                                              

- Your personal, private light tackle fishing trip.
- Just your party, no split trips with strangers.
- Compared to "party boats", you get way more fishing time.
- No long seemingly endless boat riding
- Too rough for ya? We "move".
- Want calm waters only, no problem.
- Light tackle fishing...really, the tackle is lighter and easier to fish.
- NEW to the area?  Then this is for you!
- Good eating fish, filleted, skinned and de-boned for you.
- Coolers, Ice, tackle, Licenses, EZ booking, directions, and.......
- Most of all, your own special report, with either video or photos taken.
- Usually 6 hrs. FISHING THE TIDE. add $50 for 8 hrs.  
- starting at $400 with $100 deposit in advance. 


-Visa, M/C, Amex, Discover accepted via secure Google Check-out.

12/16 - The NEED to go CATCHING is strong.

Well, after yesterdays absolute "wack & stack session" aboard Doc's Century. I had to go fishing again. The weather couldn't get much nicer. So Doc Miller headed out with me again, this time we took my Jettywolf.  Overcast, warm and as the weatherman says........LIGHT & VARIABLE. Yes, the two favorite weather words in the winter time is Light and Variable....meaning the WIND.  And L&V usually means the LACK of!!

One spot, a livewell full of frisky river crickets (shrimp), have "float-rigs" will travel, we headed due east. And that's where we "wacked & stacked" all over again.  Just like yesterday, my first four drifts of my float-rig produced fish.

IT WAS INSANE!

I had a Redbass and a Trout in the frst two drifts of my float, I know that. Cause I was as giddy as a teenage girl, on her sweet sixteen, and I couldn't help it.

As I'll keep repeating till winter's over and the heat starts pouring on again......"IT JUS' DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN RIGHT NOW!   I LIVE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR." 

Today, last year (2010) at sun-up it was 24 degrees in Mayport. It was a record cold year, if you remember. And live and breath in J-ville, Florida. And even then, I recorded and remember heading out with my buddy Doc Miller this same week and we caught no less than 50 big fat Trout along that "stinkin eye sore " called the Mayport Navy Base, where you are not allowed to fish near....this year.

So, nothings changed so far. Except last year by late January the "inshore fishing" became almost futile we had so many record cold mornings below freezing.

Every morning I listen to the NOAA weather radio broadcast, and that's where they'll tell you the temp last year on today's date.

So, needless to say we killed the big fat Trout, with Doc and I both getting Specks over 22 inches each, some Redbass, a whole lot of fat Yellowmouths, and Sheepshead.

JUST FLOAT-RIG FISHING, ONE SPOT.....WE WERE DONE AND FILLED A 98QT. COOLER BY NOON.

BUT WE DIDN'T EVEN LEAVE THE DOCK TILL 9:30AM.......WHICH WAS THE KICKER.

Here's the pics I took.

First Hour......"I said they were on fire".

12/15 - When the wind's LOW, it's time to go!

If you're wondering when the best "inshore, light tackle fishing" in Jacksonville Florida is. 

It's RIGHT NOW!

When the wind isn't blowing, it's time to go!

Here's just a small sample:


You can bet, I'm not missing it. I live for this ALL YEAR!!!

My winter fishing partner Doc Miller took me in his boat today, and we had a BALL!

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

BOOKED SATURDAY.

MAYPORT MARINE WEATHER FORECAST:

FRIDAY
LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS BECOMING SOUTHEAST 5 TO 10 KNOTS
IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS SMOOTH. PATCHY
DENSE FOG WITH VISIBILITY 1 NM OR LESS IN THE MORNING.

FRIDAY NIGHT
SOUTH WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS BECOMING WEST AFTER
MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET. INLAND WATERS MOSTLY SMOOTH.

SATURDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND
WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

SATURDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO
4 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

SUNDAY
NORTH WINDS 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND
WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

SUNDAY NIGHT
EAST WINDS 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET.
INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

MONDAY
SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND
WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

MONDAY NIGHT
SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET.
INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.

TUESDAY
SOUTHWEST WINDS 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND
WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS.

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.