 |
Jacksonville Fishing Report for Amelia Island & Mayport
Capt. Dave Sipler
August 23, 2007
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Daily Reports taken from: www.captdaves.blogspot.com
8/22 - Non-Subsistance Fishing?
Ya' know how I used to call going out by myself, a day of R&D. Meaning, research & development. Well, I think I'm gonna start calling these days during the summer, NON-SUBSISTENCE FISHING. The reason being is that summer in J-ville is really getting under my skin. If I had to fish for "subsistence", I'd be screwed.
-----------------------
Saw a documentary last night about people living above the Artic circle that were all subsistence hunters and fisherman......man they caught some seriously big fish in nets under ICE! And it got me thinking. With all our technology, rods and reels, and fancy boats, if you had to subsistence fish in Florida, you'd probably be on the best diet of your life.
----------------------
"When I actually catch a Needlefish....it's TOAST!"
Remembering as a kid, my uncle's father was our families "old man of the sea", our at least he was in my eyes. And about every time I fished with him, us kids would catch a Toadfish. He'd throw that thing up on the cutting board on top of the inboard/outboard engine cover, and put a knife through it's head, pull out our hook and sling the Toad overboard. I remember asking, "WHY YA' DOING THAT?" and he said....."there's way too many of those thing."
Well, if you're an inshore fisherman, and haven't noticed how many damned Needlefish there is everywhere. YOU ARE BLIND. What a pest. They have absolutely ran me out of one of my favorite places at Amelia Island. TROUT, DRUM, REDFISH, FLOUNDER, are damn near un-target'able at my spots up there because of them. Searching the top of the water they literally run in packs to whatever hits the surface, follow it and bite it. And the "it", is your bait. Be it a live shrimp, or a small mullet....whatever!
I had to of feed 2 dozen PRIME live shrimp to these bastards today. ANOTHER SUMMER TIME SCOURGE, and my list is getting longer. (3" Mangrove Snappers, Pinfish, tiny Ringtails, and of course those orange beaked Terns.....the bait stealers from above.) I guess I'm saying I'd trade cold weather for actual gamefish bites than go through more of this. Is it November yet?
I did catch some dinner today, (thanks to my fancy technology, and never give up attitude) Those Needlefish almost sent me packing. If I could have shot them all with a gun I would have! But I had to out smart the bastards. We had no real tide today. Yes the water rose and fell, but anything less that a 4' tide in the St. Johns is a no tide to me. So with less current to deal with the scourges were everywhere.
The first 3-fish of the day, was one that I wish ALL fish were like. GROUPER, baby Grouper. They're eating machines. Baits 3/4's as long as their entire body aren't too big to eat. Hell, they know they have a big mouth and aren't afraid to use it. This one ate a Mullet today as long as it was.
The others were bigger, at least.
Then, I got what I came for. The reason I put the boat in the water on a 97 degree day, and fished in the 88 degree surface temp water.
In between the Needlefish, I slid my float-rig down the rocks I was fishing. (I fooled them by baiting them to some dead shrimp I tossed out and away from the boat) YES, FOLKS IT'S CAME TO THAT. My Float went down and up came a big TROUT to the surface. Almost a "T-rout"....I write T-rout, when I feel they are T-rex size. This one looked a lot bigger in the water. But ended up being 2 feet long.....a 24 incher.
Still waiting on something pushing towards 10 pounds. But, I suppose I'll have to move to Texas for one of those, especially in this heat! For a guy who fishes for just Trout 12 months a year. You'd think I would have at least hooked something close to 9 pounds, wouldn't you?
Yeah, I can't believe it either.
I think there was more big Trout on this spot, and kept trying for another. Because my theory is "one is okay, two means you weren't just lucky." But the Needlefish ended up running me out of there, because I couldn't take them anymore. So I guess I was just "lucky".
I hate that! I don't like feeling Lucky...I like skill, being the reason I catch Trout.
So I ran around like a nut case looking and looking for a place there could be more Trout, and less Needles. Since the tide was so weak, I looked at places that during a normal and solid 4' 5" incoming tide the current would actually be too strong for float-rig fishing. But today, would be just right. I eventually found that spot. But more than anything, it had a flooding current that was pushing so much bait, it was unbelievable. Schools of mullet, glass minnows, and pilchards were everywhere. Birds going crazy above, and the Trout were below. Up on a submerged, but shallow shell bar.
Instantly, I hooked a Trout. One after another. If I was in Louisiana, they'd all be in the box, and if I was in Louisiana I could kept 25 of them (25 trout at 12" is the limit there) These Trout were 12-14 inches! THAT WOULD BE CALLED SUBSISTENCE FISHING, aka: making a 97 degree day worth it!! But since we can only have a measly (5) Trout in Florida, 15-20", 1 can be over 20". (while tossing back ones that probably won't make it) I weeded through them like a bag of broke potato chips, looking for good one to EAT, DAMMIT!
I caught a 15 incher, so in the box it went. And on a small mullet an fish-finder rig I tossed out, I caught an 18 incher that was just swimming around on a slack line. I only knew I had a fish on that rod when I went to check it......."Lucky again", I guess.
On this one spot I probably caught 25 Trout, and only pulled out two keepers. And I never had a single Needlefish bite, to my knowledge. I banged on those schoolies hard, for the fun of it and out of SPITE, till all I had left was some wore out or dead shrimp in the live well. So I packed it in and headed to the dock to clean my Non-Subsistence catch of the day.
When I got home I did make dinner out of these fish and had enough for tomorrow, too.
But not exactly what I wanted. I wanted my (5) Trout. Whoopee, a limit.....yeah, like five trout is a big deal.
And today it would have been.
-------
School's back in session, and I instantly feel the pinch. Next "pre-scheduled" charter is Sunday.
I'm taking reservations of course, for September and October....Please call ahead to reserve the best tidal dates. I hope things cool down sometime soon. And we could use a good storm to turn over the water, too. I hope this year isn't like last year. No storms, meant no huge rain fall. Which means, no flushing of the river to send all the shrimp out.
The St. Johns really isn't a river...it just plays one on TV. So I don't mind when a big blow comes with huge ammounts of rain. It does us all some good.
GO TO: www.captdaves.com
or Call
904-642-9546 to reserve your fall fishing trip.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
