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Jacksonville Fishing Report for Amelia Island & Mayport
Capt. Dave Sipler
October 3, 2003
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
INSHORE CHUMMING, HUH???
Over the years I have fished offshore, and inshore.
But after getting heel spurs, broken t-tops, and prematurely worn out engines from long runs and endless days of trolling. I've found that fishing the St. Johns River, and the inlet and up and down the coastal waters more to my client lists liking. And mine too.
Huge fish are just not 50-100 miles offshore, but inshore as well. But the some of the tactics can be the same.
And one tactic that isn't utilized very much in the N.E. Florida area is chumming.
But off S. Florida, and the Keys, a fishing guides inshore and offshore trips many times start with procuring baits and enough to do either live or dead bait chumming.
Here in N. E. Florida the reason chumming that same way isn't popular is because people say there isn't enough bait, and it's hard to find.
Well when it is easy to get, a tough day of fishing can turn around rather quickly.
Here's an example of what I mean.
Summer time in N. E. Florida means "bait on the beach". Pogies aka: Menhaden, school up right behind the surf zone, and just outside inlets.
These are perfect live baits and make for even better chum.
One day when the fishing was slow and the tides had the current at the inlet moving abnormally slow, we needed an act of God to get bites, when just soaking live pogies on the bottom for Redfish.
But as soon as I threw a hand full of crippled pogies over the transom and used my 'Braid' chum chopper that is mounted on my stern, and chopped up some dead pogies, the action lit right off. We caught Redfish, and had some blistering Sharks hooked up too.
Dennis Braid, of "Stand-up big game fishing fame", devised the perfect small or big boat chum chopper. It's human powered, easy to use, and takes up no space in the boat. Nothing more than a half round plastic bucket with many holes in it, that's about 20" long, mounts to the transom of any boat. (as long as you can work from the transom) Then there's a 30" long fiberglass pole about 1" round with Stainless Steel blades on the bottom. "Like churning butter", the freshest chum in the world can be easily made. Especially, when you have availible buckets full of soft oily baitfish.
But you don't have to own a Braid Chum Chopper. Just by cutting a handful of baits in pieces will work too. Heck, when I know the fishing will be tough, and I'm heading to the inlet for Big Reds, Tarpon and Sharks, I often do the freezer clean-out thing. Freinds always say, "you gonna keep that old bait?" I say "yea, you never know when it'll come in handy."
Old shrimp, cuttlefish, squid, cigar minnows, sardines, mullet, crabs......it all can get chopped in the Braid Chum Chopper!
NOW THAT'S ONE KIND OF CHUMMING, BUT HOW ABOUT LIVE CHUMMING?
Yep, that diffently works inshore in the St. Johns River as well, and worked for me just yesterday, as a matter of fact.
While most people never think of having multiple cast nets aboard the boat, or varying sizes. You need to have them.
A pogie net won't work for small mullet, cause they'll gill themselves in the large mesh. And a small mesh bait net won't sink fast enough to catch pogies. (I see people using them, and they will catch pogies, UNTIL the going gets tough.)
I carry a 5/8ths inch mesh Pogie net of 8' and 10', and this time of year, I'll carry my 7'- 1/4 inch mesh net also.
The 1/4 inch mesh net is perfect for all the small baits in shallow water. The net is more delicate and small baits like finger Mullet, and Pilchards, mud minnows don't gill themselves.
Yesterday before I left the dock, I saw thousands of small baits in the water. I call them Pilchards, like Pogies they gather together so one toss of the net means hundreds caught.
I quickly get them to the live well in the boat, cause these baits need circulating water to survive. About three or four throws of the net provided a guess-tament of 500 hundred in my bait well.
Later that day I was catching Redfish in the river, and saw some Jacks come into the area chacing baitfish. I quickly dipped a baitnet full of the Pilchards and slammed them against the side of the well to stun them and tossed handfulls into the water behind the boat, and casted my hooked Pilchards into the same area. This meant an instant hook up! And I had a blast, landing one of the Jack Crevalles at 13 pounds on Light tackle.
As bites slowed on the structure I was casting to, I'd do the same thing. Dip up a net full of Pilchards and stun them, toss handfuls out and cast into them. Within seconds I'd be hooked with more Redfish! The action at this spot was already hot when I got there, but the live chumming just helped it along, and I totalled 15 Redfish, the 13 pound Jack, and a 2.5 pound Flounder on that one spot in about 2-1/2 hours.
I may have never caught that Jack if I waited for it to find my baits, as it hurassed the mullet it was pursuing. Instead I brought it my way, with the shower of crippled slivery bait snacks.
Trout, Jacks, Redfish, Flounder, Bluefish, King Mackeral, and Tarpon and Sharks, all find chum either chopped or live very tempting. Sheepshead, Black Drum and other Mollusk eaters can be also put into a frenzy, by tossing Fresh Clam shells and bits, barnackles, and chopped oyster shells into the water.
Some chumming requires a different technique, and selection than others.
Just remember....It's all good. It may take some more time getting the chum, but don't hestitate. It means more bent rods, guarrenteed!
Till next tide.........Feeesh On!
Capt. Dave Sipler's Sport Fishing
www.captdaves.com &
www.captdavetackle.com
904-642-9546
2-boats/ 12 months a year
G. Loomis-Pro-staff
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