03-21-2003, 03:44 PM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Ahoy there Anglers,
I usually talk about new laws, new rules, happenings, etc. that affect our fishery in this first section of my Reports. I'd like to take just a moment of your time and tell you about a Fishing Tournament that I'm honored to "Sponsor". You all know that I love to 'talk fishing' so much that I enjoy turning people on to angling. Shoot, it allows me to 'talk fishing' even more, (as if I need an excuse).
A High School buddy of mine, named Horace Lafavor, (I won't bother telling you how long ago that was) has started a club. It's called the Dog River Carp Fishing Association or the DRCFA located near Atlanta, Georgia. A great group of anglers just like our own Inshore Saltwater Angler's Club, (ISA) right here in Jacksonville. I'm honored because the caliber of people these two clubs draw are the caliber of people/anglers that I like being associated with. Nothing can take the place of good fellowship with good people. The DRCFA fishes for carp or as they sometimes call them 'golden ghosts'. The tournament is for crowning the "Carp King 2003" for the Dog River area. They have a 'revolving trophy' which changes hands every time a larger carp is boated. Their's is also a catch, weigh and release tournament, just my kind! The angler who has the largest reported catch by the End of the Year Banquet just after Thanksgiving is crowned Carp King 2003 and gets the trophy for keeps along with several prizes that I'm donating to this group. The trophy has 'Carp King 2003 Sponsored by Vic2Fish & Adventures, Inc. Jax., Fl.' engraved on it. If you'd like your Web Site, Tackle Shop or Company's name spread around this great group of anglers, please consider donating any new items, (it doesn't have to be fishing items) to the DRCFA's Carp King 2003 Tournament. Be a part of it and let's make this a tournament like North Georgia has never seen!
If you anglers right here in Jacksonville want to learn more about fishing our local waters. Learn from the best! Come 'talk fishing' with us at our next ISA meeting. Come early and mingle with our members. Let them know you're a guest and would like more info on fishing our inshore waters. Everyone there is helpful and considerate. You'll enjoy the friendly, family atmosphere. Good people! The first Monday of every month at the Mudville Grille, 3105 Beach Blvd. right in the St. Nicholas Shopping Center. Meeting starts at 7:00PM.
JETTIES:
The best bet right now are sheepshead. Sheepshead are fired up and chewing fiddlers and live shrimp out at the rocks. There are catches of 10 to 35 of those striped bandits for each boat working all along the big rocks. Usually while catching these light biting, hard fighting fish, as a bonus you can catch redfish, black drum, spot-tail porgies and sea bass on the same rigs and baits.
Whiting and yellow mouth trout are hiting dead shrimp again out in the sandy areas around the rocks also. The black drum have started biting again since the water temp has risen now to 67 - 69 degrees. Redfish, some legal size but mostly oversized are biting there again now also.
The giant drum have not been in yet even though it's now after March's full moon due to the water temp being so low for so long but looking at the water temperature, the way it's rising, I'm looking for them in about 2 weeks. When it gets to be around 70 to 72 degrees they'll be here. PLEASE, take good care of these monsters and release everything over about 25 pounds. They aren't any good to eat over that size but they are great for re-stocking our drum fishery. It's such a shame to see people cleaning drum 60 to 70 pounds at the docks and when they see the parasites/worms in them then they just throw them in the garbage. What a waste.
In a couple of weeks the Spanish mackerel will start to show in numbers. Last year they showed up a little early. It was March 29th and boom, we caught 48 of them. The first run is usually the smaller males and then a couple of weeks later the thicker, longer females will appear. It's usually pretty easy to catch 30 to 60 of them in a short period using planers and Clark Spoons. Remember the size limit goes to the 'fork' of the tail, not overall length.
Early next month I'll also be looking for the 'carpet flounder'. That's what I call them when they first come in from offshore. You can usually catch 15 to 25 of these good eating fish each trip for about 2 weeks when they first come to the rocks. That's the first structure they come to and they'll be laying on and around the rocks like a carpet feeding like I do at a buffet table.
CREEKS:
Redfish have been schooling up all in the shallows for weeks now but they have been reluctant to bite very much. The water temperature has really been up and down so often that even they don't know what time of the year it is. Every time our water gets to about 70 degrees in the creeks we get loads of rain and right back down to 63 - 64 degrees. And dirty,,, all this rain, even 150 miles south of us is effecting the water clarity here. It all has to come out of the river right here. Yesterday we were casting lures and the trash, (sticks, plastic bags, grass) was getting on the lures constantly but like the cat that got his tail cut off said, " It won't be long now".
Speckled trout are affected by the water clarity also. Last week we were catching 15 to 26 speckled trout on my 'lures only' trips but this week the numbers have fallen quite a bit. They are still around and will start biting again in about a week or so.
There's still a lost flounder or two in the creeks but you really have to hunt for them. About the middle to the end of April they'll be back in good numbers. Usually you can catch them at the jetties pretty good when they first come in from the offshore wrecks before they get spread around in the hundreds of creeks around here.
RIVERS:
About the best bet in the rivers right now are whiting. Nassau River, Sawpit Creek, Ft. George Inlet, St. Johns River and the best place at this writing is St. Augustine Inlet and North River. Dead shrimp is the bait of choice. Yellow mouth trout and a few black drum are chewing around the Dames Point Bridge and we caught a few keeper reds there the other day also on the last of the falling tide. Grass banks just after high tide with floater/divers have been producing trout to 6 pounds and reds to 33" in the rivers too. The water clarity in the creeks has moved the trout into the main rivers and the early morning tides have been better than the afternoon ones. Mill Cove is an excellent location for trout and reds right now. There isn't enough flow to stir the water up or draw the dirty water from the river and I think the fish have found some cleaner water in there and stuck around. Last 2 hours of the incoming and the first couple of hours of the outgoing tides have been the best.
SURF:
My 'surf fishing buddy' has been telling me that he's beginning to catch 35 to 60 whiting a trip again now in the surf. He said, "Tell your guys they have to have patience. If you get a spot in a runout before someone else does, stick with it. When they come through you'll get em". He's catching small blues and a couple of real small sharks in the surf too. Soon, the Spanish mackerel will show up and he should do good on them too.
That's about it for another Report. Sorry it's been a little while since my last one but when the rain finally slowed down, I've been staying in "my office". You all know where that is,,, on the water.
Remember to take a trash bag out on the boat with you so you can pick up that piece of trash you see floating by. If WE ALL pick up a couple of pieces that's not ours we can really make a difference as much as we're out on the water. What better way to teach our kids that we care about "their future"![/size][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][#000000][size 2]
[/size][/#000000][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][#000000][size 4]As always I'm,,,,, pulling drags,
[/size][/#000000][/font][font "Script MT Bold"][#0000ff][size 6]Captain Vic Tison
[/size][/#0000ff][/font][font "Arial"][#0000ff][size 4][url "http://vic2fish.com/"][#606420]VIC2FISH & ADVENTURES, INC.[/#606420][/url]
web site http://vic2fish.com
P.O. Box 122
Jacksonville, Fl. 32219-0122[/size][/#0000ff][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][#000000][size 4]
(904) 765-4936
To unsubscribe to this Report mailing list, just e-mail Capt. Vic and I'll remove you from my lists.[/size][/#000000][/font]
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