Jacksonville Fishing Report Capt Daves Jan

Back on December 3rd, we did a show with the crew of On One Outdoors. It was a breezy, cold Saturday. We wanted to get out to the big Jetties, but the wind was pretty stiff. With camera crew tagging along in a bass tracker aluminum boat, lots of footage was shot, as myself and friend Doc Miller plied the St. Johns, putting Trout and Redbass in the boat. Staying out of the wind, waiting on the tide to switch.......all the things we do on a daily basis as fisherman out there on the river.

Plus having a really good time, no matter WHAT!

We caught a box of fish to boot. My friend Clay and his crew patiently worked around us, anchored up, tied off, and jumped back and forth on and off the Jettywolf to produce what I think was one heck of a nice episode for the on-line show website.

Now, that this one is done, we will be doing more!

On One Outdoors, is all about hunting and fishing. Real enthusiasts having fun with friends and family in the great outdoors.

Here's the show we did, aptly called (click link). "CAPT DAVE'S FLOAT-RIGS" enjoy for a change, professionally done footage. Clay is alot better than I am, when it comes to filming, editing and getting that shot "of the float disappearing!"

< style="top: -9999em; width: 10px; height: 10px; : ;" id="twttrHub" ="0" ="http://plat.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1326407570." Border="0" allowTransparency="" name="twttrHub" scrolling="no">Heading to Louisiana on Feb. 4th. It's about time I go do some looking around over there. Everyone else I know has either fished there or at least walked down famed Boubon street, at least once.

But in this business, it keeps you beat down just enough, where vacations or even a few days here and there going somewhere else is not something that I can practice. I believe it's just a Jacksonville thing....

So, with no boat in tow (that would cost too much) my Pops and I are heading there in his new SUV. I should be towing my boat over there given the new 2500 Dodge Ram "tuned" turbo diesel is now pumping out 420 HP and 800 pounds of boat pulling and cruising torque. "Yeah I know... she doesn't look like it. But she's a sleeper!" I would need $800 worth of new tires, first. To even think of a trip like that. "See what I mean..."

One of my first stops over there is right off I-10 at the Slidell exit. Do some looping around Eden Isles, a water front community filled with miles of canals right off of Lake Pontchartrain,and at the marina basin there's Dockside bait & tackle.

Already, this looks like PURE heaven to me: http://www.docksidela.com/dockside/Services.html

Ya' mean no ships, no current, no Navy, and loads of dock space? You gotta be kidding!!

I just have to see how the other half lives. So, yep I'll be dragging Pops to yet another (as he see's it) boring bait shop!

We've booked 3 night at what has to be the coolest place to stay, versus a fishing lodge with 10 rigged bay boats. And it's this place.

Pontchartrain Landing RV Park.


And loop back on the land bridge between the west side of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, and see some "swampy'ness".

Other areas I'd like to just see is Venice, aka; "the end of the world", Hopedale/Shell beach, and of course Bourbon Street.

I'm sure I'll find more marinas, bait shops and boat ramps that'll have me screaming in jelousy.

Not 100% sure at the moment, but I've talked to the host of Louisiana Sportsman TV show, Sam B. and he said we'll get together and fish one day while I'm there and possibly even do filming for an upcoming show! Now that's a dream come true.

Got a call from my buddy Nick yesterday and he and his friend Colin from Scotland. A fellow drummer in Scottish Band touring the U.S. They were up in the river catching Yellowmouth's and a Speck here and there.

I hadn't been all weekend. Problems with my ankle so I was nursing it after a doctors visit on Sunday.

So I said, "Got me plenty of drugs now and the ankle is all better....let me take you and Colin to the jetties tomarrow."
Nick said, "That's great, I didn't want to go out there in my smallish boat, anyhow."

We met up at the bait shop and were at the boat ramp pulling away around 8:00am. The tide would be high at 9:30 so we'd be on time for that. Colin needed to be yanked by a big Redbass. Ya just can't come here, all the way from Scotland, and fish and not be yanked by Brutus T. Redbass!!

So that was my goal. But when we arrived on location, there really wasn't any strong current. The rising tide was a 5 footer, so I expected a bit more than what we got. Of course, there was fellow Blog readers out there trying their luck and of course thought that the big reds were gonna make their appearence just as they did in my Friday report. But no one was catching any.....I know I wasn't! And like my dad always says, "If Dave ain't catching them, how am I supposed to?" Meaning, I've fished these spots a time or two, before.

So after just one Speck at 15" I put in the box, we made a move to reposition, then another reposition. And it was all too apparent those big "RB's" jus' weren't around. So we moved on.

We made our way up into the river and caught lots of Bluefish, and small Trout, boxing one more keeper Trout. In between eating 3 tastey Publix Sub's and bags of potato chips, shooting the bull, tossing back a few more trout. Boxing one more keeper. We ended up on a "Hail Mary" spot.

By now Nick had 25 backlashes, 14 knots in his line, and was as heated as a Irishman can be, at his tackle. So he gave up. While Colin and I continued fishing.

(And my goodness the live shrimp today were OUTA THIS WORLD, perfection!)

My float goes down, I set the hook and it's a drag taker! So I hand my rod to Colin, and he finally gets that Redbass I told him all about. I let him reel it in against the now ebbing tide that was New Moon strength. And he does really good. The Red throws up the white flag, and into the net it goes!

It's a perfect keeper at 25 inches. The weird thing was that this Redbass is now the second one caught on my boat in a year or so with what looked like a broken back.

Take a close look just at the end of the dorsal fin, see how it just doesn't look streamlined? The fish had some kind of injury in it's earlier life. And on top of that looked to be blind in it's right eye! Holy smokes......I told Colin, "even a half blind crippled Redfish can find an acorn every once in awhile.

We'd had enough so we headed back to the dock. And that was my day with two guys that make their living keeping the beat going, banging on the drums. Which is alot different than the life I lead, for sure.

OH......and by the way.
IT HAD TO BE 80 DEGREES OUT THERE THIS AFTERNOON. IT WAS ACTUALLY HOT!

Ya' think the "snow birds" would be eating this up? Where are they?

I'll be heading to Sportsmans Paradise, LOUISIANA, Feb. 4th..."hope to get lost and have to send for my boat!"  

Then after the first over legal keeper size Red was caught it was a "way-lay session" of fish hooked, and fish lost.

 

From 29" and 9 pounders up to fish weighing in at 16 pounds. On my light "float-rig" rods, this is a test in light tackle whoop ass! Who's got Who??

Double-headers were coming almost back to back! I was laying one fish on the deck and scooping another out of the water!

"""""LOOK""""" at the stern rail behind them in this photo! That's the angle of the boat, as it sloshed back and forth. But this is where the action was!

The shrimp were so dang small and weak that if you put two on a hook, the reds could maybe see them.

All in all, I'm not sure how many the guys hooked, caught and or lost during the waylay of Redbass. But as the boat swung the bite about fell off, a few Specks were caught and another Redbass or so. I was wore out, and I'm sure they were too.

It was WORLD CLASS winter jetty light tackle action. But ya had to be tough enough to actually do it. And Paul was never seasick once!

We used every shrimp that seemed to still have some life in it, and then I pulled anchor and headed back and cleaned our box of trout. I believe we kept around 8 or 10.

Again, I talked to several buddies back at the ramp and everyone was struggling in the river today, no matter if you were Sheepshead fishing or Trout fishing. I'm glad I gave up on the river and had the capability to go where I did. Because we were ALL alone where we sat. Just being spied upon by not so capable boats on the slick inside of the jetty rocks.