Well, here we are in the time of the year where a lot starts happening quickly. We were wearing jackets one week and now it's getting into the 90's all of a sudden. The winds have been a lot calmer and the water temperatures are rising at a steady pace. I'm sure glad our winter is over. I don't know about this "global warming" thing as this past winter was full of cold fronts and record cold temperatures, even early on. I have never seen our water temperatures drop into the 50's here in Northeast Florida in November much less the middle 50's in November like they did this past fall. I hate to see the sheepshead go but I was pretty sick of the fronts and winds we've had.
CREEKS:
The creeks have fired up with redfish and trout lately and am looking forward to the flounder getting thick again. Redfish up to 31" in the shallows have been eating our baits and I'm sure with all the reds we're seeing this spring it's going to be a great year. I can't wait to catch some monster reds on top waters before the water gets really warm. Spotted trout have really been thick in the creeks but of course there are a lot of shorts but if you keep searching you can find some real nice sized ones too. You can catch trout on slip-float rigs and Cajun Thunders with live shrimp or Sure Catch Jigs with Gulp baits, various plastics, live shrimp and mud minnows or hard lures, (some of my favorite trout fishing) like top waters, suspending, crank baits and my favorite the Bomber Long A's. The flounder are showing up more and more and I like targeting them in the creeks with live mud minnows or live shrimp on 1/4 oz. Sure Catch Jigs. I'll be looking for some real drag-screaming fun with some jack crevalles anytime now. I love seeing the surface turn up when a jack exploades on a top water lure.
JETTIES:
Bull redfish, black drum and whiting are the main players going on at the rocks right now. Look for the flounder to show up any day now too. I searched for them just Friday out at the rocks but with no luck yet. Any day now though. Bull sharks should show up in about a week or two at the rocks and if you like a strong fight, you sure ought to tackle one of these guys for a while. The black tips will show up right after the bulls then you'll have plenty of rod action with various species of sharks and tarpon about then. The black drum should stick around for about another month or so too but the bull reds should be there the rest of the year with a few slot-sized mixed in with them now and then. There have been some real nice sea bass caught out there but most are too small. Ring tail porgies are good eating also but most people don't realize it so they don't target them very often. That's OK, leaves more for the people who do know how good they are. We also saw a school of cobia, about 8 to 10 pounds apiece, hanging around the boat last Sunday on the inside of the North jetty on the incoming tide. They wouldn't hit anything I cast to them but that's a great sign of thing to come anyway. They were even 15' from the boat at times.
RIVER:
Black drum, a few huge sheepshead, whiting and yellow mouth trout will probably be your best bet in the river system for a while now. Bull redfish will be all up and down the river in the usual places and I love searching for those larger jacks that school up now and then. Small, and I mean small, croakers will eat your shrimp up if you get into a school of them. These are really bait-sized now but the larger ones will drift in here come September then in October and November it's on for these guys. If you catch some though put one back down on a larger hook for some real rod bending action. Spotted trout along the grass edges and rock banks and the Bombers work real good in those areas. They'll hit em like a freight train. Just work them slow.
MILL COVE:
I just could not believe how many pogies were all over the place around the bridge in the Cove last Friday. Thousands of them all over the surface. Now that's redfish candy, tarpon and sharks too. If the tarpon were in already that'd would've been the place to be Friday. Spotted trout along the grass edges on the higher tides and if you know where some submerged oysters are along the grass that'd be the location to concentrate on. Redfish along the same areas and also in the shallows on the calmer days during the lower tides. Yellow mouth trout in the deeper areas along with a couple of black drum.
SURF:
Whiting, bluefish and Spanish are still being caught in the surf along with a few black drum. The pompano really haven't shown up as good as I thought they would by now. I hear the Jacksonville Beach Pier is fired up right now so get out there and catch them while it's happening. They've even had their first kingfish of the season caught on the pier already this past week.
OFFSHORE:
My friend Captain Chad Starling is telling me the dolphin has shown up at the ledge real good now. They're catching some huge ones also. He said the trigger fish were so fired up about 50 miles offshore this week that they're catching them with snapper hooks while snapper fishing. Cobia have shown up now and then out there and I think they'll be pretty good this year from what I've already seen and heard about. Kingfish should be caught more and more now. Beeliners are so thick you can catch your limit pretty quick.
Please remember to take a trash bag with you to be sure your trash makes it back to the dock's trash cans and doesn't blow out into our beautiful waterways. Mother Nature needs all the help she can get.
The fishing is getting better and better so get out there and get em when you can. They won't wait on you.
You can say what you want about the South but,
you never hear of anyone retiring and moving up North,,,
Captain Vic Tison
Co-Host of WOKV's 'Just Fishing' Radio Show, Saturdays 6:00am to 8:00am
United States Coast Guard Licensed Captain
International Game Fish Assoc. Certified Captain
Regional Director for the Florida Guides Assoc.
Member of the National Assoc. of Charterboat Operators
Member of the American Professional Captain's Association
Sponsor of The Inshore Saltwater Anglers Club
Vic2Fish & Adventures, Inc.
P O Box 28208
Jax., Fl. 32226
904-699-2285
Web Site http://vic2fish.com
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