Well, if you picked last week to go fishing with me, you did a good job for once in your charter fishing day selection.
Because yesterday was really bad, and today was okay, seeing it was "THE DAY AFTER", but unless you were really "salty" you wouldn't have liked it much.
To start off, FOG. I mean Pea Soup thick fog. As I drove out the jetties the seas were at least 6 foot and put a plus on that at times. Confused, folding over and as a friend put it, "ass puckering".
Add in the Fog and the seas, it wasn't for the faint hearted. But I didn't mind. I like getting "sporty" in the new boat. It's a feeling I cannot describe to ya. It's what the pilot boat drivers must feel like as they blast thru the seas in any weather. They just do it drier and faster than I. But the seaworthiness of this boat is incredible. I'm sure it'll be tested at some point, but nothing has even come close to making me feel like, "I shouldn't be here".
So as I anchored up and pitched a live river cricket (local Georgia Giganticus shrimp, again) I set the hook on a nice fat 19-3/4 inch Speckled Trout. Then, a few minutes later after making a move around a set of clue-less wonders, I caught a Yellowmouth the same size.
"I'M IN THE MEAT", I thought.
Man, like a drag on a foot long cigarette, for the smoker ship wrecked on a deserted island.
I really wanted to catch me some Big Specks....Jetty Size Specks.
Dang, that foot long cigarette was just a 1/4" butt! Because it was all a tease.
The water was dirty, rough, with a huge swell. Foamy, and nasty too.
So I moved around a lot.
Picked up one more keeper, but not big.
So I moved again. There was no way I was hanging it up, I was sticking to my game plan. Hell, I had 3 dozen shrimp that were 4-8 inches, and another 5 dozen small ones building a condo complex in my live well. I was fishing them. And as many as I could, as fast as I could.
With the next move, I sat spinning around in the froth as the waves poured over the jetties and my first two casts up to the rocks with my new WHOOP-ASS rod and reel (my new G. Loomis, 9 footer!!!) I finally leveraged a big time hook set on a good fish, and the drag sang.
A Big Float & 2 oz. Trout lead, 30 pound leader, 50 pound Power Pro main-line, and a heavy hook on a 9 foot Loomis Pelagic trigger stick, and a Shimano Tekota. The exactly 27" Redbass came flying to the boat. (FISH IN PHOTO) AHHH, this combo is gonna put a BIG fish in it's place, this summer. Tarpon, Cobia, Shark...I do not care. I wanna kick it's azz and kick it hard!
Then on my second cast I got another 27 incher. Then, came the Jacks....about 5 pounds. They were everywhere. I held a hooked one over the side and the whole school came up and swam circles around the struggling one.
(Personal Note: I love me some light tackle. And own many of it. But I'm not all that into extreme light tackle BS any more. I have light tackle, but then again......I have the whoop-ass Float-rigging rod and reels too. When I hook a really big fish, I want that fish caught. I've done 6 & 8 pound IGFA rated mono doubled and tied straight to a fine wire jig head with a live shrimp for years, at the jetties. 6 pound can almost not be done. 8 pound is do-able jigging the jetties, but be prepared to loose a lot of fish. 10 pound mono doubled and tied straight to the jig is do-able, but watch the hell out. In my video's that's what we're using and busting big Reds no problem. Largest Red on 8 pound IGFA doubled, no leader at all was 12 pounds. Sheepshead 6 pounds, Flounder 5 pounds, Black Drum 10 pounds. So I've been there, got that T-shirt.
Now, I wanna bust some tail. So I always bring my big gun just in case.)
Back to the fishing.
Well, I re-achored again I got another small speck and another keeper. So I had 3 in the box and one Redbass.
It took a long time to catch these fish, and I sat thru the tide change. Things really slowed, so I pulled up and went inshore. I don't do anything, because the tide was so strong and still flooding. So I went and cleaned my catch and got home early for once.
I'll probably have to go again tomorrow, too. Seeing that I guess I have the whole week off. And no pre-reserved charters this week. But I do have my good customer Andre coming on Monday. And Monday looks fish-able. But the tournament players Saturday (Redfish spots tournament) may have a bit of bad weather to contend with.
Yeah, I may just have to go tomorrow and burn the rest of these jumbo shrimp.
So stay hooked up!
Capt. Dave Sipler's Sport Fishing
www.captdaves.com
Daily Reports & photos - www.captdaves.blogspot.com
904-642-9546
