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Jacksonville Fishing Report for Amelia Island & Mayport
Capt. Dave Sipler
October 3, 2006
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Dave Sipler's Sport Fishing - Jacksonville, St. Johns River/Inlet & near-coastal waters to Amelia Island Florida. Updated: 10/2/06
Fall into great fishing
We've already had a few fall like fronts come through. And enjoyed some cooler weather, but this time of year they pass quickly. As a friend of mine always says, "it's the length of days, Dave" and he's right. Shorter days has bait on the move. Mullet, Shrimp, and other local baitfish come swimming out of all there hiding places. Myself like many other local fisherman find ourselves saying 10 times a day, "Holy Cow, look at all those bait fish!"
Another thing I pay very close attention too is the tides in October. Overall, the high tides are higher and so are the lows. So for me, there's a bit of extra planning. Especially when the success of our day is dependent on water movement. Not all days on the river are created equal. We're at the mercy of Mother Nature, so understanding it or at least trying to sets a good angler apart from the rest of the pack.
Speckled Trout. Since these fish literally are at the for-front of my mind many hours of the day, if I'm on the water or not. It felt really good when I had the Hudson crew on board the other day. We pulled up on the first spot, and Don Hudson caught the first 3 pounder on his first drift of his float. Then, caught a clone on his second drift of a live shrimp!
It was kind of neat how it all went. I first pulled up to the area we were going to fish and could tell the current was still too strong, so I moved away and anchored up along a dock. His brother-in-law was new to this kind of fishing so I took a moment to go over what we were going to do that day. Then went back to my spot, and the current was perfect so I anchored up. And in the next 3 minutes Don put two beauties in the box. I love it when it works that way. And it often does.
The Intra-coastal waterway which I rarely fish because of the boat traffic, has been yielding some good Trout and Redfish action. Although many of the Trout and Reds are small and in my opinion, and the trout a bit anorexic looking. But at the same time people keep telling me about all the shrimp they are catching in the ICW south of the river. So I wonder why they look so skinny. It's been a different kind of summer, though. No storms, depressions, or hurricanes, kind of un-common for us. So who says the fish haven't suffered a bit too. But that doesn't keep me from the hunt. In the last month, we've had Trout in the over 20" category in the ICW, too.
With a decent tide, the float rig fishing has been what I've been doing mostly. It turns out to be an addiction and a fishing philosophy, for me. Rather than bottom fishing, I find it more fun for my customers to stay busy and active while on the hunt, rather than just sitting waiting on a bite. It's more interesting getting up close and personal with the river structure; Docks, rocks, pilings and shoreline. Throw in a little bottom fishing, and we've had Redfish, Black Drum and of course a September-October staple.....Croakers.
Of course, this is the time of year for the big Spawning Redfish. But as of this writing, I haven't heard or seen what I've experienced in past years. And that's an all out Red -Riot. Haven't heard any gossip yet about catches of 40 fish, all 40 inches, yet. And certainly do not have the patience to wait for them either. The no rain, and the summer's high salinity in the river, I'm sure has affected them too. South on the St. Johns river is where many have been targeting them, far from the inlet. Maybe things are just going to be late this year. They already are!!
The most asked question I've been asked in the last few months is, "Capt Dave, when ya' getting your new boat?" Well, I just received word today that on Thursday Oct 5th it'll be going on to the truck, heading for Florida, after a stop at the East coast dealer in Maine.........UHG!!!
It's been a long wait, with the anticipation very high. All the preparation, planning, phone calls and dealing with trying to sell my 23' MayCraft has made buying and selling a house seem easy. I'm still looking for a dedicated fisherman for my Maycraft, by the way. But my new "girl" will be all worth it when she gets here. And since she's got a life-time hull, I'll be glad I'll never have to go through this again. If I wasn't in the business of using a boat to make a living, it would have been a different matter all together. And a bit less stressful. When she gets here, it's going be an all out assault on Specks', Spots, and Striped ones, for sure. A new romance......is there anything else like it?
NOPE!
Check my NEWS page on my web site for updates on new things going on, and to really get the "meat and potatoes" of what's going on, visit my Daily Reports Forum at: http://captdaves.8.forumer.com here is where you can track each days catches, conditions and editorials.
Till next tide,
Capt. Dave Sipler's Sport Fishing
904-642-9546
www.captdaves.com
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