DECEMBER'S, Whirl wind of weather.....
Capt. Dave Sipler
December 22, 2010
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
12/16 - After the big winds of yesterday....
I just had to go see what was up. A bit of R&D ya may say. Asked friend Dr. Dick if he wanted to go, because he said something about NOT ever catching a Black Drum before. But we also wanted to Trout fish, too. And had alot to do, because Doc had to be back at the boat ramp and heading home by 1:15pm.
Well, our "live shrimp" were in a coma, from the cold temps. And with the SW wind blowin', it took a while to get the mojo going. Anchoring was a real pain. I would rather have used my block anchor and dropped it in the jetty rocks. But a SW is the direct opposite, of the normal NE winds of winter.
It took a bit of patience, but we got into them, no problem. DRUM, and small seabastards...Opps, and one Toadfish is all. No Reds.
And we never did go Trout fishing, and our "some what" live shrimp, never completely came back to life, either.
It sure feels funny doing allot of bottom fishing in this cold weather, rather than Trout fishing. But what the heck, it's fun and the fish are fat and willing to eat your dead shrimp. It's that EZ.
I slam dunked actually three but these two were the keepers.
Then, the Doc got his turn. We were really Light Tackling it. I was using a Shakespeare Ugly Stik Striper med. light rod. With a now 'Vintage" Shimano bass fishing Calyx 100 reel I got that was "new in the box" off Ebay last week. And Dick was using a light weight Shimano Calcutta rod, and small Calcutta reel. We were lucky and were able to fish with 2-3 ounce leads.
Oh yeah, it was quite chilly out there. But a double header of 8-10 pound "rubber-lips" can cure that quick.
Dick's holding mine and his. We hooked up on that "sand-bagger" bite both at the same time.
We soon decided to stick it out right where we were, and not go lookin' for Trout...maybe when we have more time some other day.
Gawd dang. I love winter fish fests. Very much worth braving the chill. But the chill ain't no thang, if you're in good foul weather clothes.
We caught at least 12 before having to head in. And Dick needed fish for family coming, I kept two smaller ones. I like sandwich size fish..."fillets".
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12/17 - A REEL good time!
Had Adam and Colby aboard today. Two young anglers. And Adam and his dad have fished with me before. Adam is a steady blog reader, too. So he knew what was up. His dad couldn't make it, so his buddy Colby filled the spot.
Oh how this day looked to be "iffy" at best. Over cast, dark, cloudy as all hell, windy, and still out on the water, quite chilly. Completely different than earlier in the week forecasts. But that ain't stoppin the Jettywolf. "Tell Adam to pack his woolies" were going, to catch us some DRUM! I told Adam's Dad on the phone last night.
Well, what does this mean?
Red sky in the morning
mariners take warning!
That's the first thing that confirmed a big "morning wind". So as Adam and Colby piled on the boat, we headed directly to the jetties.
We were in position and got bit right away. DOUBLE-HEADER!
We were doing just fine, but the cool wind blew and the big curreent came as the tide was pushed by the wind. We went from 3 oz. leads to 6 oz. leads for awhile. So the guys ate fried chicken wings, and I had a bag of chips. We swapped a ton of laughs today, also. Besides getting Adams head out of the cooler, as he and Colby too, just had to examine their fish time after time. Inbetween bites.
Adam caught a "sand bagger" Black Drum as we sat waiting for the current to slow while using those 6 oz. leads. Not really feeling the bottom at all. But while checking his bait, Adam caught a nice fryer size Drum that never even ran, after eating his bait.
We certainly didn't keep all the drum we caught. Letting go the very small and many of the larger ones. Keeping six, I think out of no less than twelve.
I have to remind people that these large keeper type Drum aren't easy to clean and take a long time to do so. Especially, if I have to clean these on the boats cutting board. Today we got a bit lucky, and got to use a real fillet table over at the local marina. But that certainly isn't the "norm". I can do some, but surely can't clean 12-15 of these fish. I don't think people want to pay that cleaning service price, after their trip.
Heck, Trout are one thing....these dudes are another.
The Drum ranged from 10" to 26". All the fish are fun as hell to catch. Because they "sandbag" you. And the bite is so distinct. Not like a "Slam and Run" that so many people are used to with Redfish of this same size.
As the day went on it got beautiful out there. The wind calmed down and the skies cleared. It got warm and the sun actually was shining. We went from all out wintery conditions with some rain even to a completely different day, all in 6 hours. of "catching".
I'm actually feeling a bit wore out on the Drum right now. I'd like to get back to my Trout chasing actually. But with the live shrimp sort of comotomose from the cold spell we just had, it was just as easy to go catch some Drum, with nothing but some dead shrimp.
That's Fall and early Winter for ya'. Lot's to do. From Trout to Reds, Drum and Sheepshead. River, jetties, and creeks. There's fish everywhere, willing to bite. You just have to be where they are and that means working the tides.
Saturday is it...and then comes the winds again on Sunday.
The forecast for the week has already flip flopped twice since yesterday.This week is looking better.
Tuesday says "Light & Variable", the words I like to read.
LET'S GO FISHIN'!!!!!!!!
Jacksonville Fishing Forecast:
WEATHER?
Make plans to have wiggle room from here on out.
Don't plan for just one day if you're looking for a charter. Have a few days open. Just incase.
Wind is our enemy. WE can easily deal with 15-20 kts. But any more it's gonna be a wash.
The fishing as you can see is thru the roof.
Call AHEAD 10 days or more to book your charters.
Target Species:
Everything......Inshore is eating.
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