Jan. Jacksonville Fla. Fishing Report
Capt. Dave Sipler
January 21, 2009
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
All ya have to do is have friends that live & fish in the Northeast to appreciate what COLD really is and hear them complaining to appreciate what we have. And I laugh at the local-yokal TV news here in J-ville. According to them they make it sound as if life as we know it, is gonna END!!!!
Saturday 1/17, was a beautiful day. A tad windy at times, but the cold was no big deal!
Left out from the dock at 9:30am, Tim and Pedro were right on time. I was ready, and in full "Nordic garb" , and was toasty warm in my knee high insulated boots, long johns and fully insulated Dickies cover-alls.
I told Tim & Pedro that one thing I have learned over the years is to go ahead and spend the bucks to make sure I'm "all weather ready". Because no matter the days weather, I'll probably have that day booked and will be going out in it.
I call it "makin' a living", no different then the crabbers I saw taking off from the dock, before Tim & Pedro showed up.
I was going to head straight to the jetties. But the N.E. wind was howling a bit out there, and really had plans to fish the ICW, in protected waters. The same place I did the R&D, on Thursday the 14th.
The only problem after we arrived on the spot was that we'd need patience. Because we were early.....it's a high tide spot. But we gave it a try, and I went through all the Float-rigging in's & out's with them. Or as I refered to it as, "Everything you wanted to know about the float-rig and even some you didn't".
We worked two areas hard with no bites, and it's because we were way early. But then as the tide got right, the fish showed up.
A bunch of Pup Reds, pup drum, small Trout, and of course....some big Trout up to 21 inches, and a Flounder. But we never got into an absolute "way-lay". And never thought we would, either. It's just gonna be like this, sometimes.
It was pick a fish here and there.
So before noon we made a run out to the jetties. The tide was still flooding a little bit, the N.E. wind had backed off and it was nice and warm, comparatively speaking.
Once anchored up, I immediately have all my Jettywolf senses working. And I just wasn't getting a "good feeling". The current was about nothing where we were. The floats just blew with the wind. Although the water was clear, green and calm. Tim tried deep and found a small patch of small Yellowmouth Trout, while Pedro and I fished a bit shallower up on the rocks, where the Reds and Specks should have been. Tim caught a handful of Yellowmouths, and we kept two of the largest, for insurance. I even moved around a little and tried to connect with some current, but it just never happened.
We moved and changed locales. And I just had to try a really big Trout spot before heading in.
I can hardly pass this luck charm without trying it.
All three of us worked it hard, fishing for that trophy that this spot can produce. We rotated up and down the side of the boat drifting our floats just perfectly down the jetty rocks, and no bites!
So I pinned on one last frisky live shrimp and made one more attempt. I walked up to the bow, pitched close to the rocks and my float went down!
Holy crap, this fish fought. Digging for the deep water and bucking it's head, I said, "Tim, grab the net...I wanted you guys to catch this one!" and right then, the fish came unpinned from the hook. All I can say is, if it was a Trout, it was a monster! (I hardly ever catch anything on this spot other than big Trout, it's just that way.)
These are just a "sampling" of why I can't pass up this spot:
Oh well, you can't win them every time, right? But we gave the big Trout spot a try, at least.
So we headed in.
Tim sent these photos of what he left with and still needed cleaning. Looks like good eats to me!
Stoke up the frier Momma!
Even though it maybe cold in J-ville. It's always better than this:
Call 904-642-9546
or visit
www.captdaves.com
12 months a year, we fish.
Jacksonville Fishing Forecast:
As long as the winds no blowing and the sun is shining, it's not all that bad out there on the river or at the jetties, if you're properly dressed.
The jetties have slowed down, that's for sure.
But give us a week or more of good weather and we'll be back right into the way-lay.
Trout, Yellowmouths, Reds, Sheepshead and Black Drum.
Target Species:
Redfish, Trout, Drum Flounder.
