Ahoy there Anglers,
RIVERS:
About the best thing going in the rivers right now are the croakers and whiting. The croakers in the St. Johns River still aren't as big as they're going to get but some real nice sized ones are biting along with bunches of small ones. Two more weeks!
The whiting have been doing alright in the Nassau River but not as fired up as they should be. Some things have been off this year and not as normal as usual but I'm still looking to see what the sheepshead season is going to offer us this year. It won't be long now. That's why I'm already full for October and over half of November.
There has been a couple of black drum caught along rock piles and drop offs in the St. Johns but they're few and far between. When we do catch them they're 5 to 8 pounders so that's nice.
Bull redfish have been off and on this season. I think it's the warmer water temperature that's got them confused. The water temperature should be 78 to 80 degrees instead of what it is now, 85 to 87. The reds probably don't know it's time to start schooling up to feed before going offshore to spawn. Hopefully this 'cold front' and wind will help the temperatures somewhat. Some mangrove snapper to 2.5 pounds are being caught along rocks and pilings. Great eating!
The spotted trout are just not showing up like they should. During the middle of September we're usually doing real good on those guys.
Yellow mouth trout are in the river along with some nice sized whiting too.
JETTIES:
Sharks are what's mostly happening out at the rocks at this time. There have been reports of some nice flounder catches along the South jetties but everyone I know say they can't find them. The tarpon are here one day and not the next. If the pogies would show up so would all the tarpon and bull redfish. Why aren't the pogies here this year like they usually are? Like I mentioned earlier, some things are sure different this year but other things like the reds in the creeks and the croakers in the river getting bigger aren't. Check that out. Nice sized mangrove snapper to 2.5 pounds are being caught this year. Those are some real nice mangroves. Remember I said different. 2 pound mangroves inshore are great! They've been caught from the Mayport rocks to up river a few miles. Yellow mouth trout and whiting in the sandier areas around the rocks too. Won't be long for the sheepshead. Should be doing good in my next report. Friday when we were out at the North rocks there were schools of Spanish tearing up the small minnows at the surface. They were splashing water two feet high and 75 feet across.
CREEKS:
Redfish in the creeks and in the shallow flats doing good again. Also, during September, October and November we have those 5.6 to 6.3 high tides where the spartina grass flats flood and the reds go tailing for those fiddler crabs. That's fun and if you've never tried it you should. It's pretty exciting to see that triangle of redfish tail just slowly fanning in the shallows looking like they're waving to you.
Flounder at the creeks mouths on the outgoing, on the flats, sloping banks and even along grass edges during the higher tides. Spotted trout real slow. There are a few nice ones around but very few. Some days we don't even see one. Come on cooler water, please hurry.
MILL COVE:
Redfish, flounder and yellow mouth trout are your best bet in the Cove right now. We usually catch one to two black drum in there from 14" to 20" but that seems to be only when the tide is higher. A couple spotted trout here and there but most are shorties. Some croakers are in the deeper areas too.
RIVERS:
About the best thing going in the rivers right now are the croakers and whiting. The croakers in the St. Johns River still aren't as big as they're going to get but some real nice sized ones are biting along with bunches of small ones. Two more weeks!
The whiting have been doing alright in the Nassau River but not as fired up as they should be. Some things have been off this year and not as normal as usual but I'm still looking to see what the sheepshead season is going to offer us this year. It won't be long now. That's why I'm already full for October and over half of November.
There has been a couple of black drum caught along rock piles and drop offs in the St. Johns but they're few and far between. When we do catch them they're 5 to 8 pounders so that's nice.
Bull redfish have been off and on this season. I think it's the warmer water temperature that's got them confused. The water temperature should be 78 to 80 degrees instead of what it is now, 85 to 87. The reds probably don't know it's time to start schooling up to feed before going offshore to spawn. Hopefully this 'cold front' and wind will help the temperatures somewhat. Some mangrove snapper to 2.5 pounds are being caught along rocks and pilings. Great eating!
The spotted trout are just not showing up like they should. During the middle of September we're usually doing real good on those guys.
Yellow mouth trout are in the river along with some nice sized whiting too.
JETTIES:
Sharks are what's mostly happening out at the rocks at this time. There have been reports of some nice flounder catches along the South jetties but everyone I know say they can't find them. The tarpon are here one day and not the next. If the pogies would show up so would all the tarpon and bull redfish. Why aren't the pogies here this year like they usually are? Like I mentioned earlier, some things are sure different this year but other things like the reds in the creeks and the croakers in the river getting bigger aren't. Check that out. Nice sized mangrove snapper to 2.5 pounds are being caught this year. Those are some real nice mangroves. Remember I said different. 2 pound mangroves inshore are great! They've been caught from the Mayport rocks to up river a few miles. Yellow mouth trout and whiting in the sandier areas around the rocks too. Won't be long for the sheepshead. Should be doing good in my next report. Friday when we were out at the North rocks there were schools of Spanish tearing up the small minnows at the surface. They were splashing water two feet high and 75 feet across.
CREEKS:
Redfish in the creeks and in the shallow flats doing good again. Also, during September, October and November we have those 5.6 to 6.3 high tides where the spartina grass flats flood and the reds go tailing for those fiddler crabs. That's fun and if you've never tried it you should. It's pretty exciting to see that triangle of redfish tail just slowly fanning in the shallows looking like they're waving to you.
Flounder at the creeks mouths on the outgoing, on the flats, sloping banks and even along grass edges during the higher tides. Spotted trout real slow. There are a few nice ones around but very few. Some days we don't even see one. Come on cooler water, please hurry.
MILL COVE:
Redfish, flounder and yellow mouth trout are your best bet in the Cove right now. We usually catch one to two black drum in there from 14" to 20" but that seems to be only when the tide is higher. A couple spotted trout here and there but most are shorties. Some croakers are in the deeper areas too.
SURF:
As far as surf fishing goes, my surf fishing buddy tells me he's doing really good on the whiting and has caught a couple real big redfish. He also told me the Spanish moves in and out real fast but he's been catching some fair-sized Spanish right from the surf. There were 3 or 4 kings caught right off the Jax. Beach pier this past week too along with some black drum, whiting and flounder.
I want to mention that I saw a couple come back to the Palms Ramp last week with a bag of trash they picked up while fishing that day. I asked them where did they get that much trash and they said "just floating in the river and creeks". I told them how much I appreciated them doing that and that every angler and boater should appreciate people "like you". I could tell they enjoyed knowing that someone appreciated them doing that. We could all do that.
Good fishing & tight lines to you all,
Capt. Vic Tison
Web site: http://vic2fish.com/
904-699-2285
P.O. Box 28208
Jax., Fl. 32226-8208
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