Check Out the Mayport Jetties
The jetties is a place that when it is happening, you can catch almost everything that you could possibly want and right now they are about as fired up as they get.
In the past two weeks the jetties has produced some of the best fishing that they have to offer and it is only going to get better for the next several months.
Lets first talk about the newest arrival out there, Spanish Mackerel. Spanish are without a doubt a blast to catch and you can do this several ways. The old traditional way is trolling.
Here is the way that you will find to be most productive and the tackle that you will need.
We will start with the bait, there is only one bait and no other works even close to this, the Clark Spoon. I like the 00 or the 0 size and it must have the red bead in the front. To get this spoon to the fish you are going to need a Sea Striker #1 planner. Take the planner and scuff it up with some steel wool or sand paper and paint it FLAT BLACK. Go and get yourself about 3 Shakespeare 6 to 7 foot long, CAL 1100 or BWC 1100 series rods. These are bait cast style rods and that is what you will need for this type of fishing. Now for the reels. Get some Shakespeare TW 10LA reels, these are level wind with a retrieval ratio of about 3.8 to 1 and the are tough enough to put up with the saltwater environment. Almost forgot, you will need a few Sea Striker snap swivels (black ones), the 150 pound class works great.
Take the reel and fill it with 100 pound test Power Pro, from there, tie on a snap swivel using a Palomar knot, then clip the painted planner to the snap swivel. Clip another snap swivel to the back of the planner and tie to it a 3 to 4 foot piece of 30 to 40 pound monofilament and to the end of the monofilament tie a Sea Striker Clark Spoon, the 00 or 0 size with the red bead. These spoons come with and without the red bead, you need the ones with the red bead. You can also use the new Sea Striker Flash Clark Spoons. I used these this past weekend to catch over 100 spanish.
Now you are rigged up, lets see if we can catch a few (limits are, minimum size is 12 inches at the fork and you can keep 15 per licensed angler). This is the tricky part, watch out we are fixing to do brain surgery. Head to the jetties, get your boat going about 4 miles per hour, put your finger on the spool and flip the free spool lever. Let out about 50 to 75 feet of line and lock down the free spool lever, put the rod in the rod holder. If the planner has engaged as you are letting out line, you will know it because it will have so much force pulling that you can barely hold the rod. If it has not engaged, then you can lift the rod tip back towards you and quickly point it towards the planner. When the planner engages, put the rod in the rod holder. The rod should be bent pretty good, as if there was a big fish on. Do the same with one or two more outfits and you are ready to troll.
Troll around the jetties, back and forth at the tips and along the side, both inside and out. When you find these fish you can concentrate on that spot, making tight turns in and around the fish.
When a fish gets on your spoon, he will trip the planner and the rod tip will not be bent over as when the planner is engaged. The rod tip will be bouncing as the fish tries to get away from the hook. Once you have caught your limit or you catch one that is too small, you can grab the spoon and point the bend in the hook straight up and shake the spoon and the fish will come off without you having to touch him.
Another way to catch these hard fighting, toothy critters is to cast to them. I like to use a Shakespeare spinning outfit about 7 foot long. Tie a 1 ounce trout weight to the line on the reel and to that tie a Clark Spoon using about 2 feet of 30 pound test monofilament. Find the diving birds and throw the spoon as far as you can into the birds. When the spoon hits the water, give it a couple of seconds to sink and start winding as fast as you can. When you hook up you will know, as these fish strike on the move and almost pull the pole from your hands on the strike.
Then there is the fly rod. You will need a rod that you can cast a long way and a very fast sinking line. I use the Pflueger Supreme Reels and Pflueger Supreme 9', 8 wt rods. There is not a fly rod or reel on the market that throws any better than this outfit. I have several fly rods from several different companies and none throw as good as my Pflueger. The fly that will work best is the glass minnow pattern that orvis sells. You can try any pattern that resembles the glass minnow and they should work. Find the birds, make your cast, let it sink for about 4 or 5 seconds and strip the line as fast as you can.
The yellowmouth trout have also turned on strong at the jetties. To catch them you will need a rod and reel, some string, weights, swivels, hooks and what ever you want to use for bait, they are not picky. Here is my rig; a Shakespeare 7 foot long bait cast style rod, I like the light series for this. A Pflueger Trion baitcast 46 or 56 reel, spooled with 20 pound test Power Pro. From the line on the reel I tie on a Sea Striker barrel swivel and from there a 2 foot long piece of 30 pound test monofilament, then a Daiichi Bleeding Bait hook from 1/0 to 4/0 in size. The bait can be anything from shrimp, Fishbites, cutbait, squid, soft plastics like Mr. Wiffle or a jigging spoon. When you hook one of these bad boys, you will know it because they do not want to come to the boat and will give you a heck of a fight.
There are also nice red fish and they can be caught on shrimp, cut up pieces of blue fish, cigar minnows cut in pieces, cut mullet, poggies and probably several other baits. I like to get on my spot at the jetties somewhere between 28 and 55 feet of water, send out my anchor and put out as many rods as possible (usually 4) with Daiichi Circle Wide hooks and cut bait and I usually fish another rig per person using a medium size rod and reel. The medium rods, I usually hold on to, the others are in rod holders. This way, I can get away with fishing anywhere from 6 to 8 poles. With these rigs you will catch, yellow mouth trout, red fish, sheepshead, whiting and a few sharks.
There are also black drum, sheepshead and nice reds out there right now. These can all be caught on the same rig as above, modifying the bait as to the species that you are after.
The creeks are also just starting to light up with some trout action and the reds are still on one day and off another.
The flounder are in the creeks and river, but still pretty small. There are some blues in the creeks and at the jetties.
Charter Fishing Information:
Capt. Jim Hammond is a saltwater charter guide in Jacksonville, Florida and can be reached to book a trip by calling 904 757 7550.
Moms and Dads:
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. (I am not just saying this because it sounds good. I MEAN IT, YOU WON'T BE LOOKING FOR THEM.)
Television Fishing Show:
Catch some local fishing action Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 8:30 am on cable channel 7 in Jacksonville, the Beaches and Clay County.
Good Fishing
Capt. Jim Hammond
jim@hammondfishing.com
www.hammondfishing.com