Arrived in JAX on Thursday evening. After a delicious dinner (THANKS Michele!) and some post dinner bourbons, the game plan was on. We spent Friday through Sunday exploring the back creeks along the intracoastal waterway from the I-10 bridge up to Mayport. Weather and tides were about as good as you could expect; temps in the 70s, sunny skies, too breezy to throw the fly rod. A front that moved through Saturday chased us off the water a little early, but it blew through by Sunday morning, offering plenty of time to finish up the trip in style.
We fished out of Curt's new 18' Maverick, about as beautiful a flats boat as you're going to find. The boat was perfect for getting into the back creeks, with plenty of room to move around. It's truly a fisherman's boat.
Friday and Saturday were pretty similar; about two dozen sea trout and a handful of schoolie redfish each day. Saturday's highlight was my successful North Florida Slam: a red, sea trout, and a 16 inch flounder that I picked up on a gulp bait at the point of a creek mouth. We fished both days with either live shrimp hooked on to jig heads, or soft plastic (gulps, etc.) baitfish and shrimp imitations.
C.C.'s rule of fishing trips is that you have to schedule three days of fishing to ensure that you get at least one day that isn't messed up by weather. Except for the breeze, Friday was near perfect. We had to leave the water early due to incoming weather, but still caught a good deal of fish. But Sunday on the front moved through fast enough to get us on the water by about 1000. Since it was still breezy, we anchored up on a cut formed by a little island on the intracoastal, just north of the Atlantic Boulevard bridge. A perfect spot, with a couple of channels that wash back and forth with the tides, and with it baitfish and predators.
We immediately started tying into trout; over the ensuing three hours we boated at least 30-40, along with a dozen or so small Mangrove Snapper. What made this last day of fishing special, though, was watching Curt fight and land a 36 inch bull redfish. Earlier Curt had caught a small pinfish, and decided to hook him up on a fish finder rig and throw him behind the boat. We went back to catching trout, when Curt had a huge strike on his shrimp rig and the fight was on. You could tell that it was a big fish, and Curt took his time fighting the red. After about 7-8 minutes of watching Curt fight his fish, I glanced up to the rig with the pinfish to see that rod bending over. What to do? It's a good problem to have. The answer? "You're on your own," I shouted and headed to the bent-over rod. Five minuted later I landed and released a nice 24 inch red, just in time to watch Curt pull his bull red out of the water. Since words can't describe that moment, I'll let the photo do the talking.
I've been fishing with Curt for almost twenty years now, and even on those trips that didn't produce a lot of fish, have had a great time. A great angler, squadron mate, and friend. Thanks Curt! And thanks to Michele for the hospitality.
Tight lines,
MikeyDFishing
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