Jacksonville Fishing Report for Amelia Island & Mayport
Capt. Dave Sipler
April 8, 2004
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
The "FLOAT FREAK", is at it again.
(do you wanna be a freak too)
Float Freak here, signing in to let ya all know....."IT'S GOIN OFF" like no tomarrow!
Don't know what "float-fishing" is all about, then maybe get ole Fish-tails off his can to set up a seminar series, and I'll show you. Cause it's a blast. It's the best bait presentation around, period.
But one thing is for sure, the newest generations of anglers don't float fish at the jetties. And that's too bad. Cause they are missing out.
I've strived to master every concievable way of catching good fish along those boulders that line our legendary St. Johns River inlet, and all are productive. But knowing when to do what, is the key to success.
Many fisherman, are seeing that "the float rig works". Cause when they are anchored near me and chunking tourist rigs into the rocks, and catching nothing but granite grouper, they see me and my clients just killin' the fish on the float, and in a matter of minutes I look around and see everything from ski boats to flats boats with floats drifting behind them.
But monkey see, monkey do, only works when you know how to fish the float. And it's more than just pitching it on out there, and hoping for the best. Tides, structure, transitional areas in the bottom, the lay of the rocks, all play a huge part.
Either way; that's what I observed again yesterday. But lets get to what the For Reelin was doin'... What a great day it was. I had Dave Hamrock out with his three boys. The morning was slow on the bottom fishing, cause the wind was howling ...AGAIN, and it was an incoming tide. "I call an incoming tide and high winds, the K.O.D. aka: Kiss Of Death" But as soon as the wind died off on my spot, I was on the spot anchored up. Nothing was gonna drive me out of there! Not even people anchoring next to me, not even the wind if it started to blow again. Cause this certain spot is what I've call, the "FUN FACTORY", this spring.
Redfish, Sheepshead, Speckled Trout, Yellowmouth Trout, Black Drum, Bluefish, are the norm this time of year. You just let that float drift and you don't know what your gonna catch. That's why it's so much fun. You don't even know how big the fish could be. Hell, I've caught 12 and 15 pound Redfish here on the "float-rig". Eight pound Sheepshead, 6 pound Drum, 4 pound Trout......like I said, "it's going off!!"
But yesterday took the cake. Dave and his boys took turns on the float rods. Two at a time, catch a fish, pass on the rod to the next guy. And the rally was on! The three boys were from 10-16 years old and were ready to catch fish. And from the first drift to the last, the boys had action.
Then came an unusual fight. The drag on the Garcia 6500 screamed as my brand new G. Loomis float fishing rod bent in a beautiful arch. To the boat, then away from the boat...."Dang, is it a Jack?" I said to the boys. Moved too fast to be a Jack. This fish was kickin some serious butt. Then it swam past the boat..........."POMPANO...POMPANO", I yelled!
I scooped the fish into the net, grabbed the boga-grip and there we had a 4 pound Pomp. And on the float rig...the fish killer, at the jetties.
Not your usual jetty catch.
We continued fishing with the boys trading up the rods as they caught one fish after another. When the drag peeled again, another Pompano! A 3 pounder.
Then again we continued catching Trout, Reds and Sheepshead. Then another Pompano! A 2 pounder.
This just doesn't get no better. Period.
We finished up the day with the 3 pompano, 14 speckled Trout to 3 pounds, 4 sheepshead to 6.5, 7 Redfish from 18" to 27", 6 bluefish to 2 pounds, and 2 Yellowmouth Trout that went 2 pounds and 4 pounds. All at the "fun factory" spot. The boys had a blast and dad got some great photos and memories while on vacation with his sons.
This was just one short afternoon.
All week I've been into that kind of action. On April 5th the wind was howling from the N.E at 20-25 kts. But it didn't matter. I had Alan Shaw on the For Reelin II and just him and I had a great day trout fishing on the float rig with a few surprises. After 20 trout and two sheepshead on the float rig, Alan said, "before we pack it in, can we try for a Redfish, Dave", I said sure.
So we moved from our Speckled Trout spot, 50 feet. Dropped down to the bottom a cut in half Sand Perch, on two rods with 5/0 circle hooks and in less than 10 minutes had a 12 pound Redfish screaming away in 38 foot of water. Alan was breathing heavy after that heavy current battle, and caught his biggest fish ever, and had the makings for a great Trout dinner, too.
We never let the high winds get us down, I just worked with it instead of fighting it.
This "Float Freak" has many tricks......Super quality fish on light tackle, that anyone can catch. Any age, any sex, any skill level. It doesn't matter.
No stress, just a fun day on the water. Watching the float go down.
The Big Redfish are starting to appear, reports of 18-25 pounders are coming from the river and inlet, plus I've been getting my sgare of "teen size" ones too.
Proper advanced planning gets you the best dates with the best tides for Big Redfish, as well as Trout fishing. But one thing my folks really seem to enjoys as much as I do is the variety of species, sizes, and fight styles on both light tackle and super bottom fishing gear.
This weeks "Best Catch" goes to Don Hudson from Jacksonville and his Father in law, Ralph for sharing the battle of a 26 pound Black Drum in 45 feet of water on a falling tide using my mini-Accurate twin drag B-197 reel, and a 7'6" G. Loomis back bounce rod. It was by far the largest fish they've ever caught. And there's alot bigger ones out there too.
Folks, "The Best Is Yet To Come".......cause this is just the beggining of a great season!
Capt. Dave Sipler's Sport Fishing
Jacksonville-Mayport-Amelia Island, Florida
www.captdaves.com
(9043) 642-9546
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