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4/4 – 24 hrs can be the world!
Had two of my favorite guys on board today. Mike Hurt and his Dad, Gary. Been taking these two guys fishin for years, and I always enjoy seeing them, because we always have a good time no matter “what”.
Well, “the what” today was a major change in weather from 24 hrs prior, when Nick and myself fished the same areas.
Problem was…..the wind. Didn’t start out all that bad this morning at 8am as I headed to the jetties. And then anchored in what was a soup sandwich (Minestrone between rye bread). The southside of the south jetty. It was rock & roll. Nothing that “MY BIG METAL” can’t handle, but as we feed the Bluefish live shrimp on the float-rigs bouncing and swashin’ around. Mike was starting to feel the call of his breakfast, doing a re-run the opposite way! So I packed up and moved to calmer waters. Although Mike did have a big run of a large fish on the float-rig. But his leader broke. Might have been chafed from prior Bluefish attacks.
Bluefish love the soup.
The nastier and choppier the water, the more the ocean Piranhas, like it.
You can’t tell in the photo, that the swell was 4 feet, but you can surely see the nervous surface condition.
Okay, back to the calm water area inside the jetties. Well, by now the wind had built up and was a good 15-20 knot sustained from the southwest, and by the time the tide started to flow. I couldn’t stay anchored to save my life!
Between the tide and the wind, it had the boat jerking back and forth pulling the 13 pound Fluke style anchor loose. So I did what us jetty fisherman never do….go to a 7-1 scope on the anchor line. Yes, to anchor in 20 feet I paid out approximately 150 feet of anchor line! And we stuck, like a granite boulder to the bottom then. This was a personal record. I never have had to put out that much anchor line to hold in the depth of water in my life. So you can surely tell, that the conditions were far from perfect.
The Bluefish were still present, but we did bag a few Trout as the tide started to ebb. But as the New moon strength and wind got behind the water, the current was way too fast. So it was time to move on, and drag up all that dang anchor line.
We moved over a an area out of the wind, sort of and found a few small Jacks, Blues again, a Sheepshead, and another Trout, 16″ and mighty skinny but it was a Trout. Mike and I both lost a good fish, probably another sheepshead.
As the 
tide slowed on this spot I made another
move to an area that’s so hard bottomed that again, it was a miracle the anchor stuck.
Right in the Lion’s Den of wind. Knowing full well, that there probably wasn’t any Trout there. But the decent sized Blues were there and Mike and Gary hooked one after another for hours it seemed. And probably 20 hooks worth. They were either eating the hooks off, or chewing on them as we flipped them into the boat.
We ended that day there, and headed back to clean fish. And I was surprised. There was enough for a small fish fry dinner.
I really hoped for a better day. But the weather beat us. Mike comes to Jax to see his folks a few times a year, and always calls me well in advance, is always on time, and likes the float-rig fishing too. That’s why I look forward to his day. And so wanted a better one, weather and fishing wise.
So it looks like the rest of this weekend is gonna be windy, although they say Sunday is going to be 10 knots from the N.E. And we know that really means 15 knots or better probably.
I have Monday and Tuesday booked with the same two guys, and man it doesn’t look good right now:
MONDAY – NORTHEAST WINDS 15 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.TUESDAY – NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY.
So every time I have multiple days in a row, momma nature doesn’t want to cooperate. And people still want to trade me j-o-b-s. Yeah right!
OH, BY THE WAY….ask anyone who’s been with me. And they’ll tell you how safe they feel. In the same boat the US Coast Guard uses. This is one tough boat!
26′ all welded plate alloy, by Black Lab Marine. 1-4 passengers, 12 months a year. Departing from Jacksonville’s, Mayport Village.
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4/3 – Had to GO!
Yesterday (Wednesday 4/2), what was it like, 83 degrees, sunny and no wind? And I was supposed to have Jake O. aboard, who’s a single passenger charter customer. But Jake called me at 0600 hrs in the morning as I was loading rods in the boat and said he couldn’t make it. His ’sugar’ was low, and he was really weak. Holy sunburn Batnan, did we both miss a perfect day. A really perfect day. We don’t get them enough to throw them away. So I was really disappointed.
I ended up doing neglected yard work, and planting some bushes I rescued from my dad’s house. Then went to the “club house” aka: the Mayport China Buffet, for dinner with buddy Nick…..where of course I planned an attack on the TROUT & REDS. And Nick was happy to go along, of course. So this morning we took off out to the jetties.
Not the same as yesterday’s weather by no means. Hazy, overcast, but warm then dreary, dark, and cloudy with fog in the afternoon. Here comes the next “front”.
I told Nick, we should have run offshore again. Because the ocean was slick calm.
But quickly the offshore butter fly jigging pangs went away as I set the hook on a nice Redfish on my “meat-mover” float-rig rod I use for fishing really deep swift water. If you’re a Float-rigging tackle enthusiast, you’ll soon learn one rod and reel doesn’t do it all, well. Especially if you’re a jetty fisherman, like me. The deep swifter water
has fish too. 
I’ll keep this short and sweet since I have a charter tomorrow with Mike H. a regular from Minnesota and his dad.
But we had 8 Speckled Trout to 20“, and 5 Yellowmouth Trout, and 4 Redfish, from 17″ to 30″. And this years 1st Jack Crevalle of the season, a little 12 incher. And some Bluefish. Last years first Jack was 5 pounds on March 23rd. I’ve been waiting on them, sort of with some contempt. Along with the Ladyfish and Mangrove Snappers, that’ll soon be here too. All fish I could live without, of course.
We took loads of photo’s, so I’ll let them just tell the story. Take notice of how gloomy it looked out there. Now envision how nice it was yesterday…Either way, I just had to go fishing!
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4/1 – A beautiful morning, no April fools.
After a weekend of big winds and dreary skies, this morning at 7:30am proved to be a good decision made, to get Steve Titus and his 6 year old son Reese out for a half days trip.
I was really surprised how many people I saw out today. Monday’s are usually pretty vacant, but That’s over…..cause it’s now April!
The residual of what the wind did against the start of a new moon week had the falling tide inside the jetties rocks quite sporty to say the least. So we stayed close and I taught Steve and Reese what we were gonna do.
As the tide lowered, the better the fishing got. Even though I thought it was kinda slow, I had to remind myself of what it probably looked and felt like out here this weekend in the gale force gusts.
In between spots we took a ride out the jetties and to the ocean. It was sporty. Big rolling seas from what seemed from the S.E. Reese was yipping all the way as he sat in the stern with his dad.
I saw a few intrepid folks head in from offshore, loaded to the hilt with big offshore rods. I guess these people don’t listen to the Weather radio or look at the Internet weather sites. I’m never amazed.
Reese caught a dozen Trout or more and two sheepshead. The sheeps weren’t massive, and the trout were mixed, up to 19 inches. He got proficient at saying “Get the net!”.
The water temps up, but no signs of Jacks or Spanish Mackerel yet. But in two weeks or so, I bet we’ll start seeing them. I hear the dreaded Mangrove Snapper’s are on their way too. Those shrimp eating machines are worse than small Bluefish to me. I know how to get away from Blues. But there’s no getting away from Mangrove Snappers if you are a Trout fisherman. The 4″ eating machines could fall off the face of the earth and I’d never miss them. 
I have tomorrow booked along with Friday this week. And with the seas it doesn’t look like I’ll get offshore to do any jig fishing again.
So I’ll wait for that perfect day again.
Next week I’m reserved for several days with one group.
And I think this Saturday is the Redfish spots tourney? Man, that’s a good day to get outa Dodge and head offshore. That’s one tournament that’s grown too large for my participation likes. So I’ll probably stay home.
If I had to count the days that I’d rather stay home than be on the water because of tournaments, I bet it’s up into the bakers dozen mark by now.
Like I said before, crowds are not my forte.
Click this link to see the rest
of today’s photos on my recent catch pages: http://www.captdaves.com/Catch7.htm
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3/30 & 31 – It’s over….with a BLOW!
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM EDTTONIGHT: NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS…WITH BRIEF GUSTS TO GALE FORCE POSSIBLE. SEAS 5 TO 7 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY.SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
MONDAY: NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING EAST IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY. SCATTERED SHOWERS.
MONDAY NIGHT: SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. March, is blowing away. And I’ve rescheduled both today (Sunday) and Monday’s charters.
Will I be able to get Tuesday & Wednesday’s clients out? I hope so.Between yesterday and today (Sunday), it’s almost hard to believe that this is the same planet, huh? Saturday, no wind, sunny, clear skies, and 80 degrees. By Sunday morning; cold, gale force winds, overcast and dreary. I found it really funny while out fishing both Friday and Saturday, that all my buddies I ran into out on the river asked, “so…..you been catchin’ them?” And my response was, “well considering this is the first day I’ve been out, that it hasn’t been blowing a gale. I guess not!”
MONDAY: NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING EAST IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS CHOPPY. SCATTERED SHOWERS.
MONDAY NIGHT: SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET. INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. March, is blowing away. And I’ve rescheduled both today (Sunday) and Monday’s charters.
Will I be able to get Tuesday & Wednesday’s clients out? I hope so.Between yesterday and today (Sunday), it’s almost hard to believe that this is the same planet, huh? Saturday, no wind, sunny, clear skies, and 80 degrees. By Sunday morning; cold, gale force winds, overcast and dreary. I found it really funny while out fishing both Friday and Saturday, that all my buddies I ran into out on the river asked, “so…..you been catchin’ them?” And my response was, “well considering this is the first day I’ve been out, that it hasn’t been blowing a gale. I guess not!”
The average weekend fisherman, probably doesn’t keep up with every detail of the weather that I do, surely out of “survival instinct”. I also reminded these same guys that just last week (Easter week, Spring break week….etc) It was blowing just about every single day, besides last Saturday. And of course, I had no reservations for Saturday.
If you are new here, or just found these daily single sided conversations. You may not realize I’m what some friends have called a micro-manager. I think that’s a bit overboard. I just call it, easily obsessed.
Like Float-rig fishing, my new obsession has lots of detail and technique, a lot of fine-tune-ability, and parts and pieces. And besides being completely new to me. Which has a lot to do with the excitement…….I am just dieing to get out and do it.
I’m talking about vertical jigging!! Call it butterfly jigging or free style jigging, or whatever. It’s my newest quest. I just can’t wait till the next flat calm day, so I can get offshore over a reef and jig my arms off, again. I experimented last Wednesday. While attempting to multi-task my butt off; helping friend Nick who was also a sea sick offshore rookie, work on learning my GPS, finding a reef or two to actually catch some fish, and of course run the boat, and then try out my new sea anchor for drift fishing. 
As you may recall, I never had a bite that I knew about while jigging to my best ability. But then again, I’m not sure if I want someone on the other side of the boat bombing cut pieces of Boston Mackerel to the bottom while I’m working for that one aggresive fish on the reef that might hit my metal jig.
Since today was pretty crappy outside, I’ve spent the whole day doing research. But not yet found anyone say Yeah or Neah, on sharing the boat with stinky bait going over the side.
On the Shimano videos they say, “Leave the bait at home”, and that leads me to believe three things. #1 – You’ll never catch a fish on a jig if you have bait on the boat. Kinda like a Fly Fisherman taking his spinning rod and some live bait with him on a so-called Fly fishing trip. Or #2 – that bait on the bottom or drifting around will not help that aggressive fish eat a jig, instead. Or #3 – taking just your jig rods and tackle bag full or expensive jigs, hooks and leaders, at least makes you feel like, “this was all worth it” somehow.
Either way, I’m hooked and will succeed.
I always do!
I’m really looking forward to a Kingfish, Cuda, Spanish Mackerel or Bonita, more than a Snapper or Grouper. Because I think Pelagic species are naturally the first fish in which to “cut my jigging teeth” on.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about going offshore for anything. And if it wasn’t for getting interested in the whole jig concept, I’d probably never have the want to go offshore ever. I’ve happily worked and played in the river and at the inlet now exclusively for many, many years. And never gave one minutes thought to going out there again. It’s not that I’m bored….it’s all about mastering a technique that probably doesn’t catch a ton of fish, especially here on our Party Grounds (local reefs within 8-25 miles). This isn’t Key West by no means. I’m reminded of that almost daily, 12 months a year. So the challenge is….what the challenge is……No changing that.
And as far as offshore chartering this summer? The jury’s still out on that. We’ll see. And if so, it’ll be via this Captains discretion.
If you’ve got an offshore jiggin’ story, or have found a trick or two while doing the butterfly jigging offshore of the First Coast and don’t mind sharing, (as I do each day). Send me an e-mail.
I always enjoy hearing from Blog readers. I have found out over the years, there’s alot of you out there. So we might as well, network a little.
And hopefully the next time ya’ll see jig photos, it’ll be one of my new jigs hanging out of a fishes mouth.
REMEMBER, This is just a report Blog. Use the address below this photo, to visit my web site. Which includes, recent catch pics, directions, News, Video’s and much more.
www.captdaves.com
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3/28 & 29 – Busy, Busy, Busy!
Well will I get out all my charters, I have reserved? That’s my thoughts right now. I got Friday and Saturday done, and with good success. But as usual when I have booking day after day, I’m rescheduling or cancelling at least a few due to the weather. So Sunday and Monday will be those days.
jetties and tried some quick jigging for Redfish,
3/28 – I had regulars Don Hudson and his father-in-law Ralph out to the jetties. The forecast was south wind 5-10 knots. But it wasn’t. More like 10-15 knots with mucho residual Southeast swell. We tried doing some Float-rig fishing for Trout first thing, but my gut was telling me it wasn’t gonna happen for us. So we packed it up and headed in the river and did some bottom fishing. The action was slow, but did manage 2 big Whiting, a large Seabass, and a 5 pound Black Drum. We kept working the cut clam strips and shrimp combo meals wanting either more Drum, a Sheepshead or Redfish. But it never happened. 
But I wasn’t out of tricks. Ralph and Don are Float-riggers, so we headed back to a certain area and pitched our floats out with live shrimp and were in an absolute waylay of Yellowmouth Trout. To quote Ralph, a soft spoken man, “I’m all for action!”
And we had action. So much that I never took any photos, because I didn’t have any time too.
Plus, we were being “stalked” by another fishing guide too. But that’s another story.
The yellowmouths weren’t huge, just normal size. There was just so many! We easily boxed out limit of 12 fish, and released just as many. Sometimes it just doesn’t matter how big the fish are, it’s just so much fun catching them. And Ralph and Don had a good time. 
3/29 – The Mayport boat ramp was an absolute ZOO from 0600 hrs. till whenever…we didn’t stick around long enough to see the rest. There were so many boats, so many trucks, and so many people everywhere!
It looked like the opening day of boating season, up north somewhere. And gas was FREE, bait was FREE and the fish were jumping in boats! It’s funny, I’m in the people business I know. But crowds make me very nervous and anxious…..I hate them! Because many times my j-o-b gets alot harder with a lot of boats around. But thank goodness most of the masses were heading offshore, so it seemed.
Right on time, Martin Combs and his mother Joan and son Bradly came down to the ramp, and we quickly left. We went float-rig fishing and caught plenty of yellowmouth Trout, but many were small, so we didn’t keep them. But they were quickly getting acquainted with the ways and means of what I do. So we left that spot and headed to where I hoped to find some Speckled Trout. And Joan was the first to hook up a really nice one.
Then after that it was pretty much…….GAME ON!
More Trout, 18-20″ and some small ones too. Then Sheepshead, then a Bluefish, then more Trout. Just where, and just what my GUT FEELING, told me. We sat in one spot for a long time, having a ball. And Bradly even hooked a Sea Turtle. Not all that uncommon, they like shrimp too. So we unhooked it, no worse for the wear.
As the tide slowed, we moved to the end of the
jetties and tried some quick jigging for Redfish,but never had a bite. Then moved again and tried for some more Yellowmouth trout, but the current wasn’t correct for that either. We had a really slow incoming tide this weekend, less than 4 feet. So it was the falling tide or nothing for us Float freaks.
The weather was so perfect, that the tide conditions almost didn’t matter. Martin, Joan and Bradly went home with a big bag of fillets, stories to tell, and I saw myself in 14 year old Bradly. He was a fisherman! So I referred to him as a “mini-me” .
It seems so long ago, when I was just like him. Ate up with catching fish. learning, casting, and everything else that comes with becoming an accomplished angler. And I’m lucky to be able to take a young man like him and remember back when I was just like him.
See the rest of todays catch pics on my “recent catches” pages:
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3/26 – 3 – Fold Trip…R&D on a beautiful day
Okay, I’ll admit. I’m always excited by new tackle and techniques. So I’m sort of fascinated by a system that’s all the rage. You can call it Butterfly jigging, or Free style jigging. Actually it’s nothing new as I discussed before. But I have never done it. It’s nothing more than vertical jigging with long thin shaped heavy jigs. Letting them go straight to the bottom and then jig them, so you basically “walk the dog” with them as you reel them to the surface.
Here’s a link with video’s that will explain it: http://www.spanishflytv.com/theater/sponsors-butterfly-jigs-1.php
So not expecting to catch anything in March with 65 degree water at Montgomery’s reef, I still wanted to head out and try my new jigs and technique. While there, I had to learn how to use my RayMarine C-120 Chartplotter/GPS/Sounder, I use it every day in the river. But in the year and a half I’ve owned my boat and the electronics, I have yet used the GPS/Plotter to head offshore, find a reef area, and go from spot to spot. You may say, “so whats…the big deal.” But let me tell ya, the more dollars you spend on electronics, the more you need to learn to get the most out of them. And going from one waypoint to another is something I haven’t yet done. No need to do that when your in the river all the time.
And then there’s the third thing I wanted to play with, and it’s my parachute size sea anchor that I picked up at Strike Zone, at their side walk sale last week. Where I paid literally pennies on the dollar for it. And actually went there, hoping to see one for sale. Because this summer when I go offshore, there won’t be any trolling. Spending big dollars on fuel driving around. I’ll be slow drift fishing instead, and wanted a parachute type sea anchor to slow me down during high current or wind conditions.
So Nick Watson and I got to Montgomery’s reef, in the residual from yesterday’s small craft caution conditions. The swell this morning was big and close, but not a huge deal. First spot was all small Triggerfish and small Red Snappers at first using cut Boston Mackerel for bait. Nick did most of the bait fishing as I practiced with my jig rod and technique. 
I had to keep my cool as Nick was working on the fish and I had my eyes on figuring out all my Chart plotter/sounder/ GPS had to offer. Nothing like learning with no instruction manual, I left that at home! And cussing every time I hear Nick set the hook on another fish, even though the first spot didn’t produce any keepers.
We didn’t anchor, that would have just been more work, so we just drift fished. And as Nick said on the way out…”We may need the luck of the Irish” Being lucky and Irish, he ended up with a 21″ Gag Grouper.
Nicks the drummer for the Celtic Rock Band, RATHKELTAIR, and originator of the now 2nd annual Jacksonville Irish Music Festival at the fair grounds down town April 26th. Here’s the link to his band http://www.rathkeltair.com/ and the festival http://www.jaxirishfest.com/ I hope to See you there, if you’re tired of what you hear on the radio these days.
I figured a lot that I didn’t know about my RayMarine electronics pretty quickly. Learned I probably wasn’t gonna catch any Snapper or Grouper like Capt Jose Wejebe in Key West on my economy versions of the butterfly jig. So we moved on to another reef area that I always fished with success back in my offshore days.
So after a quick 5 mile run in now almost slick calm seas, I ran over a big ledge on the way to a spot I had punched in to the GPS. I quickly stopped, spun around and went to take a look.
“Ahhhh, this has to be the south breaks”, I told Nick. Every since going to GPS latitude and longitude, I have no real waypoints. I never converted all my 1000 offshore fishing spots over from LORAN numbers. So we were kinda flying by the seat of my pants today. But this 10′ relief lime rock ledge had to be my old Snapper spot. I baited up and played “catch up”. And they were home. I got slammed on my first drop. And caught the first legal Red Snapper. 
It’s been a long, long time since I had caught a Snapper, let alone a legal over 20 incher. It wasn’t much over 20 inches, but I didn’t care. We had a Snapper in the fish box!
We end up fishing this spot for hours, and I even
got to mark the whole length of the ledge on my GPS. My own spots, on my own plotter! I believe this is the same area I fished for years. And have pulled a thousand pounds of Snapper off of years ago. So I was excited.
Nick and I caught a bunch of small Seabass, 3- Sharks, and probably 10 Snapper off these set of ledges, and caught 5 keepers. Which we could keep 2 each, for supper.
We finished up the day, that had us drifting really fast all the time due to the ground swell and breeze, using my big parachute sea-anchor, which I was dieing to try. And it worked like a dream slowing our drift, which led to easier catching, of more Snapper.
I can’t even remember when my last offshore trip was. It should be memorable, but isn’t. I vowed to not mix inshore and offshore trips while doing charters. It’s too much work doing one day offshore, and then the next in the river. Especially when I have day after day reserved.
But this summer I may do some mixed trips, for King Mackerel, Cuda’s, and whatever bites. As long as I have my electronics mastered, working flawlessly and can remember what button to push to do what!
I never caught anything on my jig rod and nock-off butterfly jigs. But I think when summer gets here, I’ll get my chance then.
Snapper dinner tomorrow, and then time to get ready for Friday through Monday charters. Good reports came from the Trout chasers today, even though I heard the current was very weak. Yep, don’t expect any incoming tide current this weekend. Check your tide books…after the full moon is over, comes really weak tides. Believe me, all it’s gonna do is make my job harder this weekend.
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Had a trip booked back on last Thursday with Dave K. Who wanted to fish in gale force winds? Not me. So we rescheduled for today. Well, an incoming tide against a 20+ knot N.W. wind, and “small craft advisory”, made for an early morning decision, to bag it one mo’ time!
Luckily for me, Dave comes to J-ville each month and we rain checked his trip to a date in April, that he’ll get back with me on. But at the same time, I’m getting really full for the month of April already. This could get interesting.
So, what will this week bring? The long range forecast (right now) looks doable. I hope so, because it’s a busy week. I have reserved Friday straight through to next Monday. A 4 day run. And what happens when I have trips day after day? That’s right…..”the winds blow hard”.
It was exactly like this last year. So already, I have made a note for 2009, starting the week of 15th of March to expect; “winds from hell”.
On another note, if you missed Strike Zones side walk sale on Friday & Saturday you surely missed one of their best. Dave, is the king of the tent sale. And under dark clouds on Saturday, in front of the store their were deals for literally pennies on the dollar.
I even bumped into two BLOG readers there. Always nice to meet the folks that frequent my ramblings, that go on here.
Myself and a buddy were in all out bargain heaven. I had plans of looking for some heavy metal jigs, because I want to try the offshore vertical jigging this year. Ya’ know, “butterfly jigging”, or as some refer to it as “free style jigging”.
I’ve watched all of Jose Wejebe’s – Spanish Fly video’s, Shimano video’s, and Youtube video’s. Trying to learn the system. Of course Shimano wants you to buy all their stuff, from $60.00 pliers to $16.00 jigs without any hooks!! It’s sounds like a lot of hype, but I know many fisherman that say it’s for real, and it works. The key is drifting over a reef, covering the water column above it, and provoking “reaction strikes” from aggressive fish. Be it a Snapper, Cuda, AJ, or a Cobia???
The key word for me, that I quickly picked up on was DRIFT. “Hmm, turn engine off, and drift. Saving fuel, not trolling, and vertical jigging around a reef?? I’m in!”
Being that I have a light boat for it’s size, (that is also very fuel efficient.) But, I can drift faster than some 10,000 pound 26′ fiberglass hulk. So I was thinking about hunting up a big sea anchor, something like a Para-tech sea brake, for those windy days. Then as I walked up to Strike Zone, and started looking around I spotted a giant 84″ super high quality sea anchor. Originally, $160, marked down to $80, then side walks sale priced down to $40. I grabbed that thing and held on to it like a frisky 10 pound Speckled Trout!
Then, of course I found all the jig’s I’d ever need and leader material too. One stop for all my new summer time jigging needs. Remember, I’m just trying this out for fun. If I can catch me a Cuda, or a Kingfish, or a big Spanish Mackerel I’ll be happy.
So I’m all ready for calm seas, or windy seas. And in the year and six months I’ve owned my big metal boat, with the giant 12″ Raymarine display unit, GPS and plotter I have not yet entered a waypoint for offshore and utilized the GPS to get me there. Hey, I’ve been die hard inshore for a long time.
I used to fish offshore 12 months a year, years ago. So I suppose I better get crackin’ and dust off the ole LORAN/GPS book, and start punching in some areas offshore, huh? 
What’s killing me right now is that the big TROUTZ are out there, and I can’t get to them. And if I can, I haven’t been able to properly fish for them.
I have only one pack of Trout left in my freezer!
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3/21 – I can’t get away from it!
Left out at 11am on Friday, I guess a lot of people had off work because it looked like a Saturday out there. I thought it was, I had to ask Jack Neal, my charter what day it was. I usually work by “dates” rather than days of the week.
The reason for the late departure with Jack Neal, his son Bruce and daughter Alexandria? It was the full moon, forecast was for EAST winds over 15 knots, and an incoming tide. It had me a little spooked. Plus, I think they appreciated the fact they didn’t have to get up at the crack o’ dawn.
I wanted a falling tide. But even at 11am we were about at slack water when we left.
Come to find out that the East winds were holding the tide up in the river, and if we did leave at the crack o’ dawn, the wind was a lot less. Per my buddy Jeff S. who fished the jetties for Sheepshead (of course) and told me that it wasn’t all that bad out there, until 11am or so when he packed it in.
So as we left, I went left out of the boat ramp, rather than right towards the jetties. The wind was strong enough that Float-rig fishing was pretty much out of the question, as it’s been all week long.
On spot #2 after the tide finally started to fall, we picked up one Sheepshead. “Targeted species” in the boat! The lines were going one way, the boat was laying another, and the current was going another. As the EAST wind whipped around. Unfortunately, it was a spot where we were also waked every 5 minutes too. We fed our bottom lines back to an under water ledge covered with an sunken oyster bar. And this was the only decent fish we pulled out of there.
Presentation, even when bottom fishing is important I told them. And we were barely doing that. The same spot can be float-rig fished, but the wind kept us from attempting that, too.
I think the group (from the Chesapeake bay area) thought that it was going to be a all out fish fest. And it might have been, if I could have fished the jetties and the wind was absent! And quickly were ready to bag the day, just a few hours into the trip. We just started to get some good current at this time. I said, “C’mon, let’s give it a chance!”
So I made a move down towards the Dames Point bridge….the “wind tunnel”. I dropped anchor and saw a bunch of what was probably Croakers piled up on the bottom. The tide wasn’t even close top low yet. And I explained that on a full moon, 90% of the time we’ll get bit by a big Red or Drum, when the tide is really low. Although the East wind was really pushing against the tide, which and was the monkey wrench thrown in to the equation. (the same monkey wrench I’ve had on every trip this week.)
We were getting bit by the Croakers, and if I was alone on this spot I would have just sat through the tide the best I could and worked all three rods, keeping bait on them till I hopefully a good fish….the same thing we did on this trip ( photo of 4 guys) the first week of April a few years ago on a very similar day. When we caught this 45 pound Redfish, and a few Black Drum. 
It was all about
“WAITING”.
Although we didn’t have 20 knot east winds this day. We did have to wait out the full moon falling tide.
We were anchored up and all was fine, and we just had to work the low water, but Jack said they’d had enough and were ready to go…..
Alexandria said, “you get to go home early today.” But if she knew me better she would know, I don’t give up so easily.
So we packed it up, called it a half day and I took off towards the boat ramp against the 20 knot east wind, falling tide white capping and choppy river “seas”…blasting along in water that has my METAL really shining, in it’s element. No turning away or slowing down in the super slop, just straight into the soup sandwich. Damn, I love it when it’s that rough!
Next up: Monday, a rescheduled trip that we were supposed to go on back on Thursday. Forecast is for N.E. 15 knots of wind. I’ll take N.E. over due East, any day.
I’m really aching to do some Float-rig fishing. Since I’ve gone a whole week with out being able to do it…….properly.
