THE 1ST TRIP OF ’09 SETS A HIGH PRECEDENT FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.
No only were the conditions awesome (75+ degrees, very few clouds, light-to-no wind with moderate high tide registering in around 3.4) the fish were turned on. We caught Redfish, Black Drum, Yellow Mouth Trout and even a Tarpon.
SIGNS WERE GOOD EVEN AT THE BOAT RAMP
Because it was already the 4th day of the new year and we hadn’t been out fishing yet, we headed for the boat ramp at Jax Beach with several pounds of dead shrimp, a great outlook on the day and virtually no expectation of what the fishing was going to be like … afterall, the water temperature was 61 degrees.
When we arrived at the boat ramp in Jax Beach, we immediately backed the boat down into the water and found ourselves launching next to a guy in a Kayak, who was just completing his fishing day. This gentleman asked if we wanted some shrimp, which we gladly and graciously accepted. During the exchange we quickly chatted about the fishing. The Kayak guy said that he caught about 25 Redfish (all Rats no keepers) and a few Flounder. He picked up the Flounder that he was keeping which was a doormat. I didn’t measure it, but it was in the 24” PLUS range – a nice, nice fish.
THE BITE WAS ON IMMEDIATELY
When we arrived at the spot, we wasted all of about 10 seconds between anchoring the boat and getting our lines in the water. I went out with a live Shrimp, mono-filament leader and a 1.5oz. egg weight. My fishing partner Tom went out with a fresh dead shrimp, mono-filament leader and a 1oz. egg weight.
Within 2 minutes my rod went off and I’m calling for the net, just to find that Tom’s rod has gone off as well and we’re looking at the possibility of a simultaneous catch on the 1st cast of the day. Unfortunately, Tom’s fish wasn’t hooked well enough and got off. However, that did work to my advantage because that freed him up to net my fish, which was a 16” Black Drum.
Not wanting to be out fished, Tom soon boated a Black Drum that was about the same size and then followed it up with a slotted Redfish that measured in about 23” inches – right in the slot.
And so the competition was on. It wasn’t long before I boated a couple of Redfish; however, they were both just a little short on one end, measuring in at about 17”. They weren’t keepers, but they sure were fun to catch.
A SURPRISE VISITOR
As the day progressed along with the number of 15” to 17” Black Drum caught, I hooked into a Tarpon. I was cranking a live shrimp in at a very fast pace (looking to re-cast for better positioning) when I got a decent hit that I felt like it was either a Bluefish or a Flounder – it demonstrated fighting characteristics of both. So you can imagine my surprise when I got it up to the boat and discovered it was a Tarpon. It was a small dude that was only about 14” long and couldn’t have weighted much more than a pound, but it was certainly an unexpected catch.
Not long after high tide hit, the action slowed and it was time to make a small move. And we were glad we did because we started catching again soon after the move. In fact the Black Drum bite continued until we pulled anchor and headed for the doc.
AN EPIC JANUARY FINISH
This fishing day would be considered a great fishing day on any day of the year, much less on January 4th. We caught a total of 13 Black Drum, 5 Redfish, 1 Tarpon and a number of Yellow Mouth Trout (all very small). Dead shrimp seemed to be the bait of choice, though we did have some action on live Shrimp. We harvested 9 vs. 10 Black Drum (thanks to a math challenge – counting fish in a box) and 1 Redfish. The rest were released and are out there waiting.
It was an amazing day all the way around!
