DID THEY VISIT YOU TOO?

Every year, without fail the Robin redbreasts show up poking around in all the leaves in my "Au Naturel", front yard. Then, they are gone! Heading north bound.

The Ides of March are upon us. Well, I don't even know what that really means except the year is flying by and March is here again. This year has been a particularly warm winter, even for NE Florida standards. Living on the Northside near the airport I can only remember a couple days of scraping windshields, ok maybe four or five but that is awesome for the fishing.

Florida is growing so fast and many of the people want to be on the water. There is a lot to talk about safety and rules of using our water ways and ocean. This article is about something many do not pay attention to and that is marine weather flags.

The big report this month is black sea bass.

Getting a limit of black bass almost each time we get to go offshore and the fish are good.

It's still Winter!

Yep, those 80 degree days come along in the middle of the week and just have you freaking out to get on the water. Then, Saturday comes and it's blowing a gale.

So what's a fisherman to do?

Once again, the wind has kept us off the ocean for most of the winter, so far.  But when we do get out the fishing is great.

Water temps are still mid 60’s and the bottom fish respond well at that temperature.

When the wind subsides, it will be great fishing... best time of the year to “catch’em is right now through April!

TRULY THE BEST OF WHAT WE HAVE!

What do I mean by the "best we have?"

The best inshore fishing of the entire year is right now through April and I don't have to tell you what happens after that.....or do I?

It’s a great time to fish in North Florida right now.

Both inshore and offshore are as hot as it gets to bend a rod right now.

Fishing the St. Johns River
By Chris Cockerham

 Cooler Weather means a Hot Bite!

Are we on our way to cooler weather?  Well, we are in Florida so that's subject to change at any minute, right? The winds are picking up out of the North East and the days have become much shorter.

It's dead, and everyone eats it!

Lately, every time I want to move on and "not" catch more Bull Redfish in the river and at the jetties it seems that's just what happens....again.

Hook It, Cook It!

It has been a great year for the shrimp run in Northeast Florida.  These tasty little crustaceans start upriver around Palatka and head their way North, up the St. Johns river on their way to the ocean.

The ocean has been pretty much off limits since the first of September with only a few days where we were able to get offshore.

We’ve had to fall back and punt many times and catch the Bull Redfish in the river because the ocean was just too rough to enjoy yourself.

Boy there sure are tons of people preparing for deer season.  I'm sure you've all seen the tree stands being hauled north.  That gets me excited because I know the cooler weather is coming or at least we hope, right?  Not sure  about you but I'm ready for some relief from this heat regardless!

MY BROKEN RECORD

As I understand it Jax Boat Club has a lot of family folks. Looking for an enjoyable day on the water and they do not want to dive into boat ownership, boat storage, boat maintenance, towing, insurance, etc.  They just want to have fun.

Since Hurricane Dorian ripped up our coast, the fish haven’t responded well.

All the kingfish we were catching have disappeared and are nowhere to be found.

The bottom fishing has definitely slowed down too, but there are still plenty of Red Snapper and a few Cobia around.

Higher high tides & lower low tides than the ''mean average'', especially on the new moons during the summer. 

Your day, is all about the tides.  And add in the effect of “which tides” and “when you fish” can really make a difference in your success.

Tight Lines and Screaming Reels 

News for Public Participation by John Nooney