Capt Jim hammond Fishing report Jacksonville 7-11-
A little rain can make a difference
nice box of shallow water trout
Over the past few weeks we have gone from fires and dust to a nice lush environment. The first half of this year, we were in bad need of rain and with little to no rain, the inshore fishing was poor at best. But over the past few weeks we have returned to our normal tropical seasons with rain a few times per week.
When we go long periods of NO RAIN, the salinity in the back waters and river increases to a point where a lot of the fish, I normally target this time of the year, head way up the river, looking for that perfect mix of salt and fresh water. This year it seems the point of this perfect mix was so far up the river, I thought I was going to have to go to Lake George to catch redfish and trout. But with the good amount of rain we have had in the past few weeks the inshore fishing has almost returned to our normal condition.
Over the past week, I have seen more reds and trout in the ICW area than the past 3 months. This is a good thing.
It really sucks when you have to spend the entire day looking for a couple of red fish and trout were almost non-existent.
With the recent rains also came better catches of reds and trout. I had a few trips last week that were very promising.
Here is what I have done to get some good catches of these line stretching reds.
As soon as I put the boat in the water, I headed for a place I could throw my cast net for some frisky little finger mullet and with a few cast, I was able to fill the live well and make a BIG mess on the inside of my boat. But a couple of 5 gallon buckets of water splashed on the deck fixed the mess and I was off in search of the not so elusive redfish.
On the lower end of the tide, I like to go to a spot where I have seen big numbers of reds in shallow water, a foot or less and slowly ease the anchor over. When I send my anchor over in shallow water, I try to be as quiet as possible, not to disturb the fish. I want my boat to lay up so it is broad side to the bank so I can fish the entire 27 feet of this platform instead of only being able to fish out of the back. Sometimes it is necessary to send out an anchor from the front and back of the boat to get it to lay up just right. I also like the boat to be as far from the shoreline as I can barley cast to the edge.
Once the boat is where I want it, I get ready my rigs. I like a Carolina rig for this kind of fishing with just enough weight to hold my baits in place. Most of the time in the shallow creeks, one ounce will get the job done. For the rods, I like a 7 foot Ugly Stik with a medium spinning reel filled with 20 pound test Power Pro. I like the Power Pro because of it's abrasive resistance, castability and I can get a mile of it on the spool. My leader usually consist of 20 pond test mono and my hook is usually a Daiichi 3 to 5/0 D8. Now for the frisky little mullet that were eager to join me on this trip. I like a mullet that is about 4 to 5 inches long because by the time I cut it in half, I have about 3 inches left to put on the hook. I take the head half and run the hook under the jaw and out through the top of the head. I rarely use the tail half because it seems like the redfish like the head half so much better. Now, I cast my rig up near the shoreline, put it in a rod holder and after I have deployed several rigs along the shoreline, I sit back and wait.
If you are in a good spot, the wait will not be long before a rod is bent over and a red fish is screaming line from the reel. At this time, it is usually a good idea to get the rest of the rigs out of the water so you don't end up with several lines tangled in a big mess. After a few minutes of angling the fish, I quickly send the rigs back out and again, "hurry up and wait". If you are in a good spot and do not make a bunch of noise, you can usually sit in this spot catching a red or two every few minutes. Good spots will produce around 8 or 10 reds before you have hooked all of the fish on this spot. If you go more than about 15 minutes with out a bite, it might be time to slide down the shoe line to another spot.
Sometimes, I will send out half my rigs with mullet I have cut in half and half with little frisky live ones. But most of the time the mullet that I have cut in half will out catch the live ones.
If you are the kind of fisher person that has a hard time sitting and waiting, you can rig the same bait on a 1/4 ounce lead head and slowly ease down the bank, using your Minn Kota trolling motor to keep you far enough off of the bank as not to spook the fish and casting to the edge, have about the same success. The key to fishing in shallow water for redfish, is to be VERY quiet and stay way off of the shore line. If you go with the current or wind, you can turn your trolling motor down to low and ease slowly without making any noise.
This style of fishing should produce a few trout as I had 9 between 15 and 17 inches on my last trip. The trout were right in there with the reds in less than a foot of water.
The Mayport jetties are giving up a few big reds, a few sharks and a tarpon or two. Heavier tackle will be needed to accommodate the larger weights needed to hold bottom. You will need from 3 to 10 ounces of weight if you want your bait to hold bottom. Of course thicker leader and larger hooks are also a must. Poggies are the bait of choice but mullet will also get the job done.
If you want to catch your bait for your jetties trip, you can run out in the ocean and cruise along the beach and find all of the poggies you want. Usually one cast with your net is all you will need as these are thick right now.
As of this writing, the ocean is being hard to get along with as there is a real cold thermal cline from a little north of Brunswick to south of Daytona. These cold water thermal clines really hurt the king fishing and the network of other fisher persons I have talked to in the past week are all complaining of NO KINGS. This could and probably will change by the time this goes to print but before you head out after a king fish, you might want to check out this site for the water temperature. http://marine.rutgers.edu/mrs/sat_da...ast¬humbs=0
It is that time of the year when afternoon thunder storms can turn a flat ocean into a washing machine with big winds and waves, so those heading offshore, keep an out to the west. OR, leave early and come back early to minimize your chance of having a white knuckle day.
Fishing Forecast for Jacksonville, Amelia Island and St Augustine Fl 6-7
We need rain. Now I am not asking for a flood but if I could choose the times and amount of rain I would like, it would be about 1 inch every night starting at midnight and continuing until 5am every night for a two week period. Then, about 1 inch a week (at night) through the summer. I do not want to be standing in flood waters but I would like enough rain to push all of the trout that are on their way to Lake George back to where they are supposed to be. I should be catching large numbers of nice trout in the feeder creeks and the ICW but it seems they are all so far south of this area due to the lack of rain.
Trout are a salinity specific species and when we have times like this with no rain, they continue to go up the river looking for the perfect mix of salt and fresh water. And with the little to no rain we have had this year, the big numbers of them are down around Green Cove and south.
Enough of my complaining and now for some fishing info for the species that I can get to without burning an entire tank of fuel to find.
Lets start with the ocean and what I have found there in the past few days.
Sharks, nice ready to eat anything that is tossed to them, fun to angle, hard pulling fish. On June 1, the shrimp boats were able to start dragging off of the beach here and this is a magnet for sharks. Little sharks, medium sharks and monster sharks. When a shrimp boat drags, their nets catch almost everything in their path. They catch crabs, starfish, poggies and a slew of other small fish. When the nets are dumped on the deck of the shrimp boat, the first concern of the deck hands is to pick through the pile of fish and shrimp and get the shrimp up first. After they have picked through all of the catch, they them rake over the side all of the small fish that there is no market for. This is like a rolling grocery store to almost everything that swims. Sharks, flipper (you never get a hook in flipper), cobia, bonita, king mackerel, barracuda and a bunch more. So all you have to do is follow the shrimp boat and toss a bait in behind the boat and wait for the line to stretch. This is a very easy style of catching and you will almost every time get a hook in something.
Here is how I do this with great success:
Rod and reel: You are going to need a trolling or bottom fishing rod and reel outfit that will hold a bunch of line, say 300 yards plus, a wire leader, and a hook. I do not like to use a spinning style reel because when the angler gets excited he/she will generally turn the handle while the fish is spooling out line and when you do this, the line gets twisted and this will cause a problem. I like a rod in the 30 pound class, 100 pound Power Pro on the spool, a wire leader around 30 to 50 pound test and a sharp 2/0 to 5/0 hook. Or you can use a king fish rig. I do not put a weight on this as you want the bait to slowly fall to the bottom as the bi-catch that is being raked off of the shrimp boat is doing. I drive right in behind the shrimp boat, being careful NOT TO get in the wire cables leading from the boat to the water, put my boat in neutral and send out a bait with the reel in free spool and my thumb resting over the spool. As soon as the fish eats your bait, line will start to peel off of the spool and now it is time to engage the reel (take it out of free spool) and HOLD ON TIGHT. You might also want a fighting belt and maybe a harness. The purpose of the fighting belt is to have a place to put the rod butt and the harness will go over your shoulders with two clips that can attach to the reel if you have a reel that has a place to attach a harness (see picture).
I usually fish only one rod at a time as this style of fishing is best done if you can drop a line in behind the boat and hold on to the rod until the bait is eaten and you for sure do not want two or more fish on, each going in a different direction. Sometimes you have such a large fish, you will have to put the boat in gear and chase it and if you have multiple fish on, each heading in different directions, you will probably loose all of the line on one or more of the reels.
If you intend on bringing home one of these sharks, check the rules on which species you can keep as most of them have to go back. If you do decide to bring one home to eat, you will be surprised how good they are if cooked on the grill. If you do decide you would like to keep one, be sure you have you act together as these are not like any other fish you have tried to bring on your boat and they will BITE.
The jetties are producing good numbers of redfish, sharks and a few tarpon. A day or so before I put this to paper, there were quite a few spanish mackerel at the jetties and they can be caught by either trolling a Clark Spoon or casting a weighted spoon to them. These eat reel good and a fabulous on the smoker.
If you want to target the redfish, slide around the edge of the jetties, look for the poggy pods and cast your net on some of these for bait. Then get on your favorite spot out there, send you anchor down, send out a few rods, being sure your bait is on the bottom, put the rods in the rod holders on hurry up and wait. I like to use the same rod and reel outfits as described about but with a Carolina style rig with enough weight to stay on the bottom and a Daiichi 5/0 Circle Wide hook.
The creeks are producing a few nice keeper size reds and an occasional keeper trout with a few flounder mixed in. If you want to get on the trolling motor and toss a bait, try a 1/4 ounce lead head jig with your favorite soft plastic or natural bait. You cannot go wrong with a Gotcha 4 inch trout tail in white and chartreuse. Lures that will work are Mirro Lures, Spitin Image, Zara Spooks and floating Rattle Traps, to mention a few.
The ocean is producing good numbers of king mackerel, a few cobia, nice catches of seabass and grouper.
Help stimulate the economy and hire a fishing guide.
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