For the better part of the last decade every Wednesday I have had the same reminder set, “Submit fishing column.” It feels a bit strange on this cold January morning writing the report with no actual deadline looming, instead just a sad realization settling in of how many readers will no longer enjoy the paper every week in their mailboxes. Generations of beaches residents relied on the Leader for their local news, yet in hindsight it’s amazing how long we managed to persist into this new era of digital media and 10 second attention spans.
It’s been a cold start to the year and our water temperatures are nearing their annual lows. Inshore the fishing has been good for the time of year. Capt. Roland Bell has been on a good Sheepshead bite this week seeing some larger fish moving in around the inlet. I haven’t been out much inshore this week but did catch a fun Trout bite in the river by running and gunning under packs of working birds. This time of year the Jacks and other warmer water predators have largely moved out and you’ll often find schools of Sea Trout if you fish around diving birds in the river or the ICW. We used a mix of paddle tails and diving hard baits, the fish didn’t mind and readily ate both. The paddle tail may have edged out the plug simply because of how much faster you can unhook the fish and recast.
The shallow water Redfish bite is great especially on the full sun days where you can take advantage of the clean water for sight fishing opportunities. In the winter as it cools down the water cleans up and the windows for seeing these fish stretch farther into the tide cycle. Usually we can only really sight fish on low tides due to dirty water, right now around Vilano on mid to full tides you can see a few feet down with really clean water and the right sun conditions. Look for schools of fish over oyster bars or cruising grass edges. The afternoon incoming can be very good on warmer days the fish will get more active in the shallows.
Offshore we’re in the thick of Wahoo season and it’s been a hot start. After last weekends charter went 7/11 I thought it would be hard to top that this year. Happy to report I was wrong about that. Sunday we had a wide open Wahoo bite that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Our team on the Beaudacious decided to declare for the Don Combs and we had lines in at 7am. The day really started around 8 when the Tiagras start to sing, the short gets ripped, the long cooks off, the crew is clearing lines when the shotgun growls. We’re trippled up. Everything goes smoothly and we put all 3 in the boat, the ice is bloody and vibes are high. I set the shotgun back out and before the rest of the spread is set it’s howling again. Fish on. Another Wahoo on the deck and we’ve got 4 fish before breakfast. The next few hours were nothing but reeling and laughing as we never went more than 20 minutes without action. The kind of day you talk about for years when the bites slow or the weathers bad and you can't fish.
By noon we had a pile of fish in the box and had marked up a few areas of good bait. With only a few left for our limit and nothing big enough to even come close to the money in a North Florida Wahoo tournament we decided to put the trolling gear away and start live baiting. It didn’t take long to get a few baits and a bonus Blackfin on the jig while catching Bonita and blue runners between a constant stream of jacks. The first Bonita we sent back was a frisky one and before long the clicker was ringing while mono raced off the reel as a Wahoo smashed the bait behind the boat. Somehow I ended up the rod man on that one and got to enjoy actually fighting the fish instead of driving the boat. When it came up tail hooked we had a little panic but a good gaff shot saved the day. I got back in the shade and behind the helm right as the crew gets back to throwing jigs for bait. Soon enough Tyler’s 6k size spinning reel starts melting, initially we think another Tuna has eaten the jig but this runs more extreme and no tail pumps just all gas. We start to run the fish down trying to keep from getting spooled when I hear the clicker on the long with a blue runner getting dumped, Christian shouts he's on. We've got another double. Our lucky streak continues and the fish went the same direction for their initial runs, as we got closer there was some dip duck dive dodge back and forth until we were able to gaff the fish that ate the jig and then run the other down. 2 more Wahoo in the boat put as at a limit and with a stiff west wind we had a messy ride ahead for the first 40 miles.
As always wishing y’all tight lines, fair winds, and following seas going into the weekend! If you’re looking to book a charter, submit a photo, or have a report to share reach out to me directly at chris@fishjax.org or visit www.fishjaxcharters.com.




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