ON FIRE
Those of us that fish regularly have heard
this term
used and it's got nothing to do with FIRE but the way that we perceive
the
fishing to be. That's right "ON FIRE" is the term
that I
and many of you use to describe the fishing action and that is what many
of the
places and species are doing right mow.
We have just about overcome the "I hope once
in a
lifetime bad weather" that we have had recently and the water is on it's
way to
becoming somewhat clearer and this has had an unbelievable effect on
some of the
fish.
I recently had the opportunity to fish the
jetties at
mayport and in one day had 23 redfish to about 40 pounds, 18 sheepshead
to 5
pounds and several redfish in the 8 pound class.
I started with the big reds at the tip of the
south
jetties. I used my recorder to find some bottom that looked as if it
would hold
fish and slipped my anchor over in what I hoped to be a good spot.
I then,
using my long nose pliers reached into my new Icey Tek cooler and pulled
out a
couple of live blue crabs. This is the bait of choice when targeting
these big
fish. I first pull off the claws, crush them and over the side they go.
I hope
this will act like a chum and draw some of these big bruisers close to
the boat.
I then use my scissors to trim the legs off, then pull the top of the
shell off
and using my scissors cut the crab in two pieces. I like to split him
right up
the middle.
The rig consist of a Shakespeare Tidewater 30
reel and
an Shakespeare rood. I like a 6 1/2 to 7 footer with a soft tip. On the
spool I will have 100 pound test Power Pro. My terminal tackle consist of the
new Sea Striker stainless steel barrel swivel, 50 pound test Cajun red line and
a Daiichi 5/0 Circle wide hook. The amount of lead depends on the current.
You want the bait to be ON THE BOTTOM so use what ever you need to keep it
down.
I like to fish as many poles as I can possibly
fish
(more baits in the water more fish you should hook).
I like to have one rod on each rod holder on
the console
rail that have the bait right under the boat and in the other rod
holders I
try to fish three to four rods out away from the boat. Remember we
crushed the
claws and legs and sent them down right under the boat as chum, well
let's have
some baits in that area to take advantage of the chum.
With the Circle Wide hooks the rods are best
left in the
rod holders because when most of us feel a bite we want to set the hook
and this
is the wrong thing to do with a circle type hook. Leave the rod in the
holder
and the fish will let you know when he is there. The rod will be bent so
good
that you might have trouble getting it out of the holder but this is the
way to
fish with circle hooks.
Use this technique and if you are in the right
spot at
the right time, you to can do battle with these monster reds. Remember
the slot
limit in Florida to be able to keep a redfish is 18 to 27 inches and
these big
breeders are the moms and pops of our future stocks so be sure you
revive
them.
Gary Keene with a very nice red. One of many
him and I
caught on this day.
The sheepshead can be caught on fiddler crabs
fished IN
THE ROCKS. I mean right up in the rocks. Try a 1/4 ounce jig head and
work it
GENTLY through the rocks. This will not get hung up too awful bad and
the bite
will be felt better than if you had a slip sinker rig.
These fish are generally going to be right up
tight in
the rocks and that is the area you need to target.
Offshore action is also "ON FIRE". Everybody I
speak
with is slam dunking the snapper, grouper, seabass and vermilion. Most
boats are
getting their limits of snapper and then targeting the BIGGGG seabass
that are
out there now.
My buddy Mark Williams says the best bait for
snapper is
something live like a poggy or cigar minnow but you can have great
success with
just about any smelly dead bait. Try cut up bonita, spanish sardines,
small
vermilion snapper or cut up chunks of vermilion snapper. The seabass
will eat
anything from cut bait to Exude soft plastics. For the vermilion snapper
try a
small piece of cut bait, something about an inch square is plenty big
enough.
Get out there and get you some. Over the next
few months
it's only going to get better.
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.
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Good
Fishing
