Have You Had Enough
 
Last week I was watching one of the local news channels and the weather person came on and said he/she was going to give us some nice weather for the next couple of days. What did this person mean by this?  Did this person mean that they were able to control the weather and out of the goodness of their heart, they were going to give us some nice weather? Do the weather persons have the ability to control the weather? This one sure acted as if they could.  If this is the case, I have a suggestion. Now, keep in mind this is the opinion of just me and only me.
The current local weather persons need to be fired and we need to get new ones that would like to give us nice weather year round. Have it rain at night when most of us were in bed asleep, make the temperature a pleasant 85 degrees year round, eliminate the threat of any bad or harmful weather and surely get rid of these unbearable cold and windy days that the current weather persons have bestowed on us.
 
If the case is that the weather persons actually have no control of the weather and this person was just being funny, then maybe we should keep the ones that we have, especially the pretty one. 
 
I do have one request, for all of the local weather persons. This year and all following years, try to be more accurate with the marine forecast. Without a doubt the marine forecast is wrong way too many times and for the persons like me that depend on an accurate forecast, getting an incorrect one, really messes things up, especially when I try to go offshore. So Tim, Betsy and George, please try to get the marine forecast right most of the time this year.
 
Now for some fishing information:
 
The inshore fishing is on one day and off the next. Maybe it has something to do with all of the fronts that have passed through this area in the past few months. There seem to be plenty of nice reds in the shallows, but getting them to bite on a consistent basis is tough. There are a few rat reds and if you fish your baits slow, very slow, you can enjoy them tugging on your string.
 
The trout have seemed to slow up a bunch. There is still some nice trout fishing in some of the creeks and around some of the inlets and you can take advantage of these nice fish, if you fish SLOWWW. If you are fishing a jig and what ever (soft plastic like the Sea Striker Trout Killer or Sea Striker trout curly tail or a Jaw Jacker Jig with a shrimp), fish it slow. Almost let the current or boat movement move the bait and for sure, stay in contact with the bottom. Right now the water temperature is around 50 degrees and these fish are one step before being frozen. When the water gets this cold, the fish are very slow to eat anything. I see many people fish WAY TOO FAST this when the water is this cold. They come to an area toss out their baits, work them way too fast and after a few minutes they move off to another spot thinking that there are no fish there when there are fish there, they were just fishing too fast.
 
We are currently experiencing water temperatures that we generally DO NOT see. When the water temperature gets this cold, all of the fish are in slow motion and you have to fish them knowing that they are not very aggressive.
 
We are starting to have good numbers of whiting in and around the inlets, St. Augustine, being the best right now. For these fish you will need to soak a fresh dead shrimp or a small piece of Fishbites on the bottom. Look for the boats at anchor and slip in around them.
 
IMPORTANT FACT: When you ease in around other boats that are fishing and you have decided that you want to fish around them, ease your anchor over the side and to the bottom. DO NOT throw your anchor or toss it in the water and let it slam into the bottom. When you let your anchor slam into the bottom, it is just like if someone were to put a metal trash can on your head and beat on it. It scars the fish. Even though we cannot hear the anchor hit bottom, the fish can and react negatively to this.
 
If you have a problem getting your anchor to hold, here are a few tips that make anchoring a little easier. Number one, have an anchor that is at least large enough for your boat. Most anchors have some sort of boat size printed on the sticker on them. The amount of chain that you will need is going to be at least 1/2 the length of your boat. If your boat is 16 feet long then you need 8 feet of chain. You will need at least 5 times as much anchor rope as the deepest water that you are going to anchor in. If you are going to anchor in 10 feet of water then you will need at least 50 feet of rope. For those of you with internet capability, you can go to
http://www.fortressanchors.com/ and get some helpful information on anchors and anchoring. I am like most of you out there in thinking that you need a heavy anchor to get the anchor to hold. I was WRONG. For the past few years, I have been using a Fortress anchor and it holds better than the big heavy ones that I used for so many years. These anchors hold better and are about one tenth the weight of the one that it replaced on my boat. This sure makes it nice when it is time to pull up anchor. These things are so light that the first time I pulled it up, I thought it had come off of the chain. If you do not have a Fortress, you might want to check them out.
 
The jetties are producing fair catches of sheepshead along the edges of the rocks.  Try a small live shrimp, a fiddler crab, a piece of blue crab, a piece of clam or oyster or maybe a piece of Fishbites in the crab or clam flavor.
I like a small live shrimp threaded on a Daiichi D16Z Bleeding Bait Octopus Wide, Reversed  hook, in size # 4 or # 2. From there, I slip a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce egg or bullet weight on the line. I fish this rig by tossing it in the rocks and letting the current bounce it along the edge. When the fish picks it up, he sort of moves off with it and then you need to rare back and set the hook. I have found that this rig works best for me with a Shakespeare Tidewater spinning reel, spooled with 20 or 30 pound test PowerPro and attached to a 6 foot long original Ugly Stik. Here is what you have with this rig. A rod and reel outfit that is short enough to work in tight places yet strong enough to catch any sheepshead that you hook, a hook that is strong enough to horse the fish yet sharp enough to get a good hook set and a line that is abrasive resistant and sensitive enough to feel the slightest bite. And best of all when you get one on, the rod tip doubles over to the water and you think you have hooked a monster.
 
There are also a few black drum still at the jetties and they can be caught along the rocks or at the tips. For them you can use shrimp, clams, oysters, squid or Fishbites. Once again your bait needs to be on the bottom. You might also catch a few nice reds out there. Last week I fished the jetties to produce 5 reds between 32 and 39 inches, 5 black drum from 4 to 8 pounds, a few decent sea bass, 2 sea bass that were pushing 1 1/2 to 2 pounds and a 21 inch red grouper and off course a few of everyone's favorite, toadfish.
 
When you can get out the offshore bottom fishing is pretty good. Good numbers of snapper, sea bass and several other species.
 
You are going to be hearing a lot more about offshore form me now that I have my new 27 foot Carolina Skiff with a new Honda 225. I now have the ability to run out on decent days and have the power to get back in a hurry if the weather starts to get bad.
 

How would you like to go fishing with Capt. Jim?

For charter information please call me at 904 757 7550 or email me at jim@fishingwithjim.com. Don't forget to watch my TV show, every Tuesday at 7pm and Sundays at 8:30am on cable channel 7 in Jacksonville, Clay County and the Beaches and Thursdays at 7:30, Saturdays at 1:30 p.m., Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m pm on channel 22 and 2 in St. Augustine and St. Johns County.

Remember mom and dad, spend some time with your sons and daughters taking them fishing and you will not be looking for them come Friday and Saturday nights, as they will be home in bed waiting to go the next day.

Don't forget to check out my website for other information on fishing this area, the products that I use and charter info at www.fishingwithjim.com/  or www.hammondfishing.com.

 
Good Fishing
 
Capt. Jim Hammond
904 757 7550
jim@fishingwithjim.com 
http://www.fishingwithjim.com
http://www.hammondfishing.com
 

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