12/23 - WARMER...No Wind.

Had Hank H. and Chad aboard the Jettywolf today. Specializing "also" in No Long Boat Rides, we fished all within a few miles.

Hank wanted to float-rig fish, like Ole Times. Chad, had never done it. Wew started out at the Jetties, and right away young Chad was on it. Boating the first few Trout, and a pup Black Drum.

Not bad for a "newbie" to the art of float-rigging the jetties.

We also picked up a decent sized Yellowmouth Trout, care of "Capt Dave".

The action nor the tide was all that super duper, so we moved on to fish the river.

And on the last of the falling tide is where we "boxed" I believe a 2 person limit. With Chad reeling in several 20-22 inchers!

 

Again, not bad for a "newbie"! 

 

I even played the Navy's Game, today. As we left the Jetties, I pulled over to the rocks along the base. I've told Hank all about how "our" beloved Jacksonville Navy has screwed over Jacksonville fisherman by taking away miles of shoreline from us. So I went over to where I caught my first 10 pound Trout, right along the base rocks, dropped anchor, and flipped out a float behind the boat. Handed it to Hank, and the float went down with a keeper trout on it!  The "MAN" appeared out of no where...in a car up on the bank. And chirped the siren at us. Not sure if they can hear me, I yelled....."Hey asshole, let us catch this trout first!" Hank flipped a keeper in the boat, first drift of the float, 10 feet behind the boat!!!!. So there ya have it!  Of course the fish are stacked up there, along that shoreline. They always are. BUT YOU, can't fish for them.

 

 We moved on.....The BIG trout, bit right as the tide slowed.....not unusual by winter standards. So we just hung out till the tide turned and tried to catch some more. But that produced only one more Trout and a scourge Bluefish.

 

So, Chad was slowing down. Since he had to "get up so early!" Then we headed in to clean our nice catch.

 

It was a super nice day.

 

BUT, changes are a coming folks!

 

TUESDAY NIGHT

SOUTH WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET
BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET AFTER MIDNIGHT. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE
CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

WEDNESDAY
SOUTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS BECOMING WEST IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS ROUGH. SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO
3 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY.

THURSDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET.
INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.

12/22 - LIMITS FOR FIVE!

ABSOLUTELY NO DAY ON THE ST. JOHNS RIVER IS EVER THE SAME AS THE NEXT. With that said, everyone thinks it is, and hopes I can predict exactly what, when and how we'll catch our fish.

I can answer the WHEN & HOW:

- when you book your day
- how, 80% of the time is by "float-rig" fishing.

Last day I was out, was just a few days ago and if you read that report you may have got the notion that I hate it when the Bluefish are eating our perfect live shrimp.

Today, I had a group hosted by Moe Martin. The Swisher group, as I referred to them. I pulled into the boat ramp and didn't even put the boat in the water yet.

Reasoning, that because it was blowing 20 knots and gusting even more. And really cold. I didn't want to go through "dipping the boat", and then have them say, "FORGET THIS!". I'm always thinking ahead. For me it didn't matter either way. I could go another day, or today.

So as they arrived we had a pow-wow in the parking lot. Everyone "seemed" to be dressed right. I know I was! I actually have such great pair of Grunden foul weather pants that I had my shorts on under them, and I was perfectly fine all morning.

I was wanting the tide to fall for awhile before we went float-rig fishing. So we anchored up and bottom fished. And surprisingly enough. Even though I couldn't stay anchored very well, we boxed six Yellowmouth Trout. Okay, not great, but something.......

But one thing that really caught me by surprise was how fast the west winds blew the tide on out. So by the time I wanted to float-rig fish for Specks. Where I wanted to try it, there was no current!

 

Hmmm, I guess it was time to think fast and try another spot. And when I got to the next spot, there wasn't any current there either.

 

But we anchored up and gave it a try. And it wasn't but maybe 15 minutes, the tide started to push. The guys flipped out a few Floats with live shrimp that were plenty cold and not all that sprightly. And they both hooked up.

DOUBLE-HEADER, right off the get-go!

 

The Trout were shorts, but that was just the start of what was a GREAT day. And, only 2 Bluefish. Which was even better.

 

From here on out the Trout got larger, and we even had many "double-headers". As the tide pushed, the better and better the fish chewed.

 

Here's the happy Crew.

 

Double-headers!

 

15-19 inch Trout were filling the box.

 

Everyone was catching

This fella had no less than 3 from 20 to 23 inchers

More Double-headers

Over flowing fish basket full of limits for 5 people.

The Crew, and the pile of over 30 Trout!

W-O-W, what a day. A fantastic crew....no fishing guide out there could ask for any better of a day. That was blistering cold and blowing 20 kts plus. My crew was cold.

 

But they never ever wavered.

 

"JUST BECAUSE IT'S COLD AND WINDY. THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN, THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A FISHLESS DAY, ESPECIALLY NOT IN THE WINTER MONTHS.

 

FLOAT-RIGGING PRODUCES FISH, SO WHEN DAYS ARE LEAN, IT'S BECAUSE THEY JUST AREN'T BITING, I KNOW THAT TO BE DEAD ON TRUE, AFTER CHARTER FISHING FOR OVER 16 YEARS .

 

SO WHEN PEOPLE CALL AND ASK ME WHAT THEY'LL BE DOING. THEY REALLY NEED TO VISIT THIS FISHING REPORTS BLOG. OR THEY JUST WON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DAY WILL AND COULD BE LIKE." 

 

 

12/21 - Tech Tip: Rods & Braided Line

 

 

 

Was supposed to be out there today with a full boat (4 guys)...sure glad we aren't out there!

 

Mayport Bar Pilot Dock:

11:24 am EST
12/21/2012
Wind: W (280°), 19.0 kt
Gust: 26.0 kt

 

12/20 - The Speckled Trout Blues..........

Had Tom O. back on the Jettywolf again. He brought his dad, this time. We departed at sun up...."I like that."

 

Problem was......."red sky in the morning, mariners take warning...and that meant W-I-N-D". And the forecast was dead on.

We hit the jetties with the float-rigs and a livewell brimming with frisky shrimp. It was the last of the falling tide. The guys caught some Yellowmouth, and Specks. IN BETWEEN THE HORDES OF SCOURGE FISH.

Small Blues!

They're back!!!!!!!  And I'll always HATE them. I've hated them for decades! Because they eat our hooks, our shrimp, and compete with the Trout that we really want.

But the guys pulled some Trout species between the hordes.

 

After feeding Bluefish one shrimp after another from right behind the boat. It was time to take our Trout and move on.

It was a move that was in another zip code, a spot that's been infiltrated by army's of ravenous Pinfish. But Tom;s dad slam-dunked into a big Redbass, but as it pulled and was too much to handle, he let Tom reel it in.

 

It was a long way to go, to feed Pinfish, and get one exact 27" Redbass. But worth the smiles.

 

So then we went back to the jetties. And things got really windy out of the south. But guess what was streaking through the Jetty rocks?

 

BONITA......aka: Little Tunny!  This one ate Tom's live shrimp, and streaked straight toward the stern of the boat. It went iunder the boat, under the motor, popped up way off the bow. Around the anchor line. Then over the anchor line. And finally to the net.

 

TALK ABOUT A SPEEDSTER ON LIGHT TACKLE!

 

 

Then, a school popped up along side the boat. And come to realize, other boats were hooking them up on light tackle too.

In all my years fishing the jetties, we've never hooked up on Bonita. I've had days years ago, when we hooked up on Almaco Jacks, a AmberJacks smaller cousin.

 

Tom hooked another one, and it streaked off so fast that it bent the hook.

 

It was really starting to get windy. So we moved off and hit another spot for just one more Speckled trout. So after getting waked by ships and Pilot boats we headed in to clean up the fish.

 

It was an exciting day.

 

(remember, to view photos in larger form, CLICK on photo, to open in a seperate window)

 

12/19 - Be Glad...?.

Heading out on Thursday with a regular customer Tom O. and his dad. I'm probably, having to move Friday's charter to Saturday....."have ya seen the wind report?"  Gust to Gale Force!

Be glad, because no matter how cold it gets in J-ville, Florida we can fish. And this goes for you that charter me on those cold days too.

But at the same time, I feel a bit like it's on the wind-down. Because after the 21st, the "days" will start to get longer again. And as a angler how loves the winter fishery. That mean's it's slowly coming to an end. 

BUT THIS COULD BE HOW WE HAVE TO FIND FISH!, RIGHT NOW!



12/18 - TECH TIP

Capt Dave's Shallow water Float-rig tech tip:  #1

(This is not a public video. This video is only for fishing report blog readers)

12/16 - SOLO GATORS!

Have a dermatology appointment on Monday. So I had to go on a Sunday amongst the gawkers. But that's "weekends" for ya......Or I would have waited till Monday to go, so I could be alone'ish.

Glad I went though. GATOR SPECKS GALORE!
Released a total of 5, after getting a 24 incher right at the start.
Largest was 27" at 8 POUNDS!

Had my limit, and released the others by 10-11am. Plus 4 Yellowmouth Trout (weakfish), and had my ass handed to me while on the phone by Brutus T. Redbass. He broke me off in a nano-second down deep.

 

 

FULL BELLY?

 

 

LOOKED LIKE SUMMER BY 11:00 AM

 

 

YOU MISSED IT.

Had a call for today (Sunday) but this fishing isn't "party boating". Not for large groups.
<<<<LIGHT TACKLE...2 person MAX. is BEST, always.>>>>>


-DID YOU KNOW, YOU CAN CLICK ON ALL PHOTOS TO VIEW LARGER VERSIONS, ON EVERY REPORT?

-GO AHEAD, TRY IT...DON'T BE SCARED.

Bearded Guy, a decade ago:

THEN:



Portion of my old "educational video" from Bennet Marine Video.

3/8th's oz. "plain" jighead and fiddler crab..."don't let anyone tell ya it's a new technique".

BEFORE Braided line was even invented!!
W-O-W, how time flies.



NOW:

"replay, refresher of what you'll be fishing and how aboard the Jettywolf!"

ONONEOUTDOORS:   cLICK PHOTO FOR VIDEO

12/14 - Can't hurt tryin'

Don't know why I'm expecting any more out of, "Bazzaro World Florida", but for some reason I always do. Shows that I am not a poo-poo'er. But rather a "fishing optimist"!

I talked to Doc Miller and was sooooooo glad to have such a good day yesterday with Tim and the nasty weather.

So I said, "if it's gonna be nasty again, lets go!"

So off we headed this morning to the same areas. And with an even better tide. The same areas as yesterday were,
D-E-A-D!

Bazzaro World strikes again!

So we opted to just fish some old places I haven't been too in a decade.

PUP RED BONANZA.....max fish size: 16"

Toss in a small Trout or two.......well, actually I did catch a 16 inch trout earlier. But one out of nuthin is not really killin' it. And Doc caught a throw back earlier too.

So we didn't leave fish to go find fish on a smoking incoming NEW MOON tide in the river. This was about as good as it's gonna get.

It was cold, windy, but not raining. "A good thing???"  Not sure, we did better yesterday in the super nasty.

So after a good amount of pup Redfish, I just had to fish an ancient spot that I have not fished in years. I wanted and was hoping for Black Drum on the float-rigs and a few more Trout, at least.

I GOT IT!

The next spot gave me two more Trout in the fish box and 3 pup sized Black Drum. "TARGETED SPECIES!"
That means alot. Go to a spot and target a species and catch that species. I like it!

NO they weren't huge......but they were over "legal". Which had them meeting Mr. Ice Chest.

 

Throw back Trout, a few keepers, alot of small Redfish, and three keeper drum, and one small Flounder. Not great, not yesterday's Trout action. Not Jetty sized Trout. But it was fishing on another day that was blowing and cold.

 

And I like it!

 

A FISH FRY, in the makin'. Add a few PBR's and this fisherman's happy.

 

As the afternoon went on the sun broke out as I washed the boat off at home. So the "front" has passed. And by this weekend it's supposed to be warm again.

 

Not sure if I like that.

 

It's winter! Remember? "I thrive under less that perfect weather conditions."

 

Till next time, 

 

12/13 - Rain, Wind, Cold, Overcast & Nasty..."go shallow angler man!"

Had Tim, a long time customer from St. Pete area on board today. And I just had to make a video of us. Tim was wearing an old Foul Weather suit of mine I brought for him. Because he had no "nasty weather apparel" with him.

We hit the "cove" and caught fish from the first drift of our floats to the last. Had a ball as the temp fell even more, and the wind blew like hell. PLUS, IT WAS THE DAY OF THE NEW MOON AND THE TIDE WAS MEGA HIGH.  Perfect for a 26' boat to go fish 2-3 feet of water, along the submerged marsh.

But, when dressed right, and with the right attitude. This can be just the ticket.

Personally, I thrive on adverse weather conditions. And the cold doesn't bother me what so ever. I have the gear!
I don't supply foul weather gear to everyone, like a Alaskan fishing lodge. It just happened to work that way, today.

Always dress for success!

Here's Tim's "Copper beauty" Redbass:

Here's what the Trout eat.......BIG POGIES. Plus, "our live shrimp"

Getting into the Christmas Spirit????

The MAYPORT News:

"They just needed a bigger boat!"

I heard Mrs. Claus was okay. But Santa on the other hand didn't fair that well.



Heading out with a long time customer from St. Pete on Thursday.Gonna try something a bit different. I actually want crappy weather and winds.

Cuz, they bite then, where we're going.
At least they have been.

Stay tuned!

Even 'pencil-neck' wishes

you a happy holiday.

12/9 - More of the same. A good thing!

Left out early....because it was a weekend. I call it my "default departure time" 7:00am on ALL WEEKENDS!
Being that the slow down of persons on the river has not happened yet.

Evidence is the jetties lined with "sheepherders". Bow to stern, those "all bones a head" fish, don't stand a chance.

If they only knew what was swimming under their boat. But it's great that they don't care.

Had Micheal and son Matt aboard today. Leaving early didn't match up with the proper float-rig fishing tide. So we bottom bumped around. Not alot of action.

Then I had a chance to get a slot in the row of boats, per buddy Doc Miller. He had his limit and was going home. So we slid in and Matt had action on his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th drifts with nice "sweetheart" sized Trout!

The boy, was now officially "SPOILED".

Between Matt and dad, they quickly put limits in the boat. And we finished our day, cleaning a pile of Trout, and one big Yellowmouth , a few Croakers and just for the heck of it a mutant sized Pinfish.

12/8 - Tis' the season for limits!!!!!!!!

The bottom bite at the inlet and in the river seems to have really fell off since last tuesday. As I just like to fish some shrimp on the bottom during a falling tide and maybe get Drum, Reds, Yellowmouth Trout etc.

But the last two days have had me watching my 12" sounder screen and seeing no life down deep. So that meant ONE thing. Wait for the ripp, roaring tide to slow down (gawd how I'm over that current!) then bust out the float-rigs and send some live shrimp out behind the boat.

And when done properly.....(IE: getting a good day, and working hard) "THIS IS WHAT YA GET!"

Had Robert, Scott & Ed aboard on Saturday. And the guys had to work hard, for the first few. Because the current was so ripping.
But when it slowed.

Mayhem, insued!

One after another came to the net.

Even Ed's good sized Yellowmouth trout. But it was wierd. The Trout waited to go nuts, when the current died. I guess they're as over the hassles as much as I am.

Sure, Ed put some to the boat while the tide was freakishly blazing along in 10' of water. And they were small Trout.

Then, Robert caught up. But Scott....he wasn't feeling the same love.

But as we fished, it all worked out and limits as I said, came to the net and went into the fish box. Trout to 21-22".

It was F-U-N.

 

 Box starting to fill by the minute.....

 

 

 

12/4 - Oh those nice December days....

It's like we hit December, and the days just get so nice. It's happened year before. Usually with dense fog mornings and sunny calm afternoons.

Well, no fog this morning. But also NO WIND either.

Had Kathy, John and Joe aboard the Jettywolf today. We had a chance to hit the absolute last of the falling tide and were looking for a big fish.

Kathy got it!

Pulling it up from the "deep"......like a pro!

18 POUND REDBASS!

 

Kathy said she wanted to catch a Redfish. That's a sure nice FIRST REDFISH!

 

We continued bottom fishing after the tide changed and slide into a new spot. Target Species:  Black Drum

 

Kathy caught one of those, too!

 

 

This was happened as I had Joe & John on the float-rigs flipping back to the jetties rocks and they were hooking up big Specks and a few yellowmouth and 5 small pups Redfish. A little bit of mayhem was insueing!

 

Dropping Specks in the box....

The bite slowed, so we moved on. The next spot was dead and had a large swell pushing. That might have been the problem. So we headed back to where we came from and continued catching a few more specks for the box, a couple small non-keeper Redfish. Then Joe set the hook.......

He came to catch Reds too, like Kathy. But after a few too small, now he caught one too big at 32", to keep.

But between the 8- Trout and the Drum, the crew had planty for a fish fry dinner.

 

 

Wonderful weather day...so good I'm heading out again with Tom O. from last week.

 

Here's those "L & V" words we love to read in a marine forecast:

 

WEDNESDAY
LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS BECOMING EAST
5 KNOTS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET. INLAND WATERS
SMOOTH. AREAS OF DENSE FOG WITH VISIBILITY 1 NM OR LESS IN THE
MORNING.

He and I are gonna try it together. A one man trip. And a good one I hope. So stand by. More report to come. 

Dec 6th - Free Seminar and Chowda???? YEP.

DEC. 6 th 7:00pm

at Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing Club
Mayport Boat Ramp...

 

"It's Chowder cook-off night!!"
And seminar via "ME" on Float-rig fishing for "ALL" species, EZ.

Take it to the next level, come visit the "Home of the El Cheapo Sheepshead Tourney"

"Free seminar. Free chowder, what could be more fun on a Thursday evening......don't answer that!"

Win the El Cheapo Sheepshead Tournament and never ever buy a FIDDLER CRAB, or loose a rig.

 

10 pounder's smoke ya' on the float

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It could be done!