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bswiv
Posts: 8,722 Admiral
River on 5-1-22..........mixed bag...........
bswiv
Posts: 8,722 Admiral
As the crabs would have nothing to do with the bait I put in the traps off our dock all we had for bait was dead shrimp. And I do think chunks of crab would have caught us larger reds. Plus......if I'd had more gumption the net would have gotten tossed a few times in search of small croakers or shad or whatever......but....getting old.
Fished docks from Mandarin Point all the way up to the east side of the river across from Ortega. Simple old school fishing, shrimp on a fishfinder tossed along the backs of docks, in 3-5 feet of water mostly.
Had 6 reds, one of which was a keeper. Also a couple of breakoffs that acted like reds.
In addition to the reds we had 15 or so freshwater cats, a BIG BREAM from up by Epping Forrest, a nice sheepshead and a 2lb+ striper. And a few croakers.
With different bait, or maybe even dredging Rat-L-Traps or crank baits.......or grubs of some sort.......I'd say plenty of reds of a larger size are there to be had. As are flounder based on the ones showing in crabtraps.
One nice thing about the river is no real pressure, usually.
One bad thing, and this is new from the last couple of years, is the parade of RARA Boats heading to the area there south of Orange Park that has added to the idea of not fishing weekends. But.......at least they are using the river so I should not complain, just keep to the fishing on weekdays rule.
Anyway........if the rain holds off we are in for a good river year.
And tomorrow........a scaled and gilled and scored striper will join some onions, olives, artichokes and figs on the grill, it all slathered in olive oil, spice, sundried tomatoes and Worcestershire Sauce.
And trust me on the figs! Maybe even drip a little Balsamic Vinegar on each of them!
Fished docks from Mandarin Point all the way up to the east side of the river across from Ortega. Simple old school fishing, shrimp on a fishfinder tossed along the backs of docks, in 3-5 feet of water mostly.
Had 6 reds, one of which was a keeper. Also a couple of breakoffs that acted like reds.
In addition to the reds we had 15 or so freshwater cats, a BIG BREAM from up by Epping Forrest, a nice sheepshead and a 2lb+ striper. And a few croakers.
With different bait, or maybe even dredging Rat-L-Traps or crank baits.......or grubs of some sort.......I'd say plenty of reds of a larger size are there to be had. As are flounder based on the ones showing in crabtraps.
One nice thing about the river is no real pressure, usually.
One bad thing, and this is new from the last couple of years, is the parade of RARA Boats heading to the area there south of Orange Park that has added to the idea of not fishing weekends. But.......at least they are using the river so I should not complain, just keep to the fishing on weekdays rule.
Anyway........if the rain holds off we are in for a good river year.
And tomorrow........a scaled and gilled and scored striper will join some onions, olives, artichokes and figs on the grill, it all slathered in olive oil, spice, sundried tomatoes and Worcestershire Sauce.
And trust me on the figs! Maybe even drip a little Balsamic Vinegar on each of them!
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I would add........wild blueberries and figs and pecans in a cobbler!!!!
Yes.......WILD blueberries. Way better than the watery squishes that come from the grocery store. Sure, the wild ones are small, and it is a lot of work to pick them but they are free beyond that.
And when you make pancakes, with oatmeal and pecans and cinnamon, and cook them in butter where if you make them thin so that they are a little crisp around the edges those wild blueberries do not make a large wet squishy place in them but rather a burst of flavor.
Don't even need syrup with them........!