Had Jim & Sophie on board today for a Fathers Day trip. Initially, had to weigh going early and fishing higher water, or go later in the day and possibly fish in heat and wind. I finally came up with, go earlier and deal with the high tide......so we left out at 8:30am.
It was a beautiful morning. The request was for calm inshore waters, so I started in the ICW, pitching crabs, up along the grass line. Bait stealers were incessant. And although the water was high but falling, as we fished just outside a small Redfish highway that led up into the grass.
We never got bit by anything but bait stealers. Anything on the bottom just doesn't stand a chance in the summer. In the river it's StingRays, and Sharks, at the jetties it's StingRays and Sharks and in the shallows it's Pinfish, Mangrove Snappers and tiny Jacks, that will not leave a bait alone for two seconds.
(if I had my druthers, I wouldn't even be here May thru October, since my favorite fishing days are in the fall and winter and early spring...Jax does me no favors in the heat of the summer. Any openings in the NW or NE for a 26 footer and a Croc wearing fishing guide??)
So we switched to the float rig, and still of course got bit by Pinfish galore, but end up catching a few Jacks, a Ladyfish, a Trout, and a few Reds....and even a really small Red for a really small Sophie.
It was 1/2 day trip, so there's not much wiggle room. I gave big fish a try, then fell back to action instead. Sophie did real good running her float-rig rod, drifting the live shrimp behind the boat in the current, although her hands were so very tiny, she hung in there.
And Sophie asked me, "Capt Dave, why is everything so slimey??"
which her dad and I thought was really funny.
