Last Fishing Trip of 2011 And First Trip Of 2012

Mike and his grandson Chris were my last clients of 2011 and put a good whoop’n on some redfish. We fished the creeks and deeper troughs just off the flats with live shrimp and Slayer inc. jigheads.

 

My first trip of the year was with Scott and his boys Jacob and Josh. We had the cold front move in and bring the wind so fishing the shallows was tuff although we did manage some nice upper slot redfish before loosing the school. Jacob was aslo able to put a nice flounder in the boat which was invited back for lunch at JT’s seafood shack.

 

 

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com

386-437-2545

 

Great Day To Fly Fish St. Augustine

Carl could not have asked for a better day to cross redfish on fly off his angling list. We had perfect tides, weather and cooperating redfish which makes for an epic day. I had not turned off the big motor before spotting our first school of redfish that were pushing wakes in the glassed out water. I quickly climbed to the poling platform and Carl on the bow equipped with the long rod ready to cast as the school approached. Carl was using one of my favorite flies, an olive flats bunny that did not disappoint as he stuck this nice redfish.

Once the school settled down and began to feed again we quietly approached with stealth and actually watched them for a bit as the redfish were tailing, backs coming out of the water and slurping mullet off the surface. Carl put another great cast on the outskirts of the school and stretched his line once again.

 

This scenario went on for a few more fish before moving to another pond where Carl caught one more and called it a day.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com

386-503-6338

Michelle’s First Day Back On The Water

It has been a long two months since Dave and Michelle hit the water so they were ready to catch some fish. Our first spot had some redfish but we were looking for flounder and managed one so we moved on to another spot that produced another that was lost boat side. Our last spot put a quick 4 more in the boat which two were invited back to dinner along with this nice redfish.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.palmcoastfishing.com

386-503-6338

Another Great 80 Degree Winter Fishing Trip

I cannot believe we are still wearing t-shirts and shorts in December as we left the ramp for a half day of fishing Palm Coast. I had the pleasure of having Joe, Sarah and Martha as my fishing guest today. We started with shrimp on a 1/4 ounce Slayer inc. Destroyer jig head and fished the creeks for reds and drum where Martha was first up with a nice keeper redfish. Sarah got her first drum and Joe his first redfish before we made a move to another creek hole where we got into a great bite of redfish and a few flounder came into the skiff as well. It was a great day today with steady action and great company, could not ask for more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com

386-503-6338

Great Day Fishing St. Augustine

What a great morning we had fishing St. Augustine as Peter, Ken and myself hit the shallow creeks looking for redfish. Our first spot had exactly what we were looking for, a school of redfish. Ken was first up with this guy who pounced on a live shrimp and 1/4 ounce Slayer inc. jighead. We had to make a move where we had another school of redfish and Ken again got the first bite which ended up being a spotted sea trout. Our next hook up was a double header with both Ken and Peter hooking up on some nice redfish and thats when the batteries died on my camera, go figure.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com

386-437-2545

The Wind has finally settled, for now

Well finally a day of light winds which made for a great day of fishing for redfish. Capt. Tommy and I went out scouting for some redfish and found plenty. We started catching some lower slot fish but after our 4 or 5 fish they started to grow. We ended up sight fishing some nice upper slot redfish with fishbites extreme paddle tails and slayer inc. 1/8 ounce jig heads. We tried for trout and Capt. Tommy got one but the blue fish were relentless and we finally gave up after getting a blue fish on every cast.

Went Flounder Pounding And Ended Up With Trout…….

With the mullet running it is a great time to hit the inlet for that door mat flounder as I thought but go figure the trout would not let me get our baits to the bottom. I had the pleasure of fishing with Terry who wanted to catch flounder but like previously mentioned the trout were so thick we couldn’t make it to the bottom. Every cast with a Slayer inc.  Destroyer 3/8 jighead and a live mullet resulted a hook up with trout that averaged 3 lbs. I finally wised up and told terry to save the mullet and throw a fishbites extreme paddle tail with same results, trout after trout. I did not get any pictures as the action was too fast to stop for photo opportunities.

After the bite finally slowed down we headed to a drop off ledge for flounder where I found Bryan who said the bite was a bit slow for flounder but made the slow bite with this nice flounder.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.Palmcoastfishing.com

386-503-6338 cell

386-437-2545

Redfish, Flounder Pounding And The Chill…..

I had the opportunity to take a few weeks off this month to spend some quiet time hanging from a tree with a bow in hand waiting for something to walk by but like the saying goes “all good things must come to an end”. It was time for me to get back to work and my first charter was with Scott and John who slayed some nice redfish. We had some great catches but the best one was when Johns rod broke but still got his redfish in.

Here is Scott’s fish of the day

The following day was a canceled trip due to the big storm the weather man predicted but when I woke up I was greeted  by low winds and sunny skies. I called my charter Phil and Don and we met later that morning where the guys got a nice redfish and flounder that were invited back for lunch. (no pics forgot camera in the truck)

Wednesdays charter was with Jacques and John who wanted dinner for 10 so we hit the inlet and came back with flounder for everyone. John took top honors with this 6lb. flounder but was almost outdone by Jacques who had the bad luck of losing a double-digit flounder boat side.

Today I invited my good bud AJ for a day of flounder fishing but with this chilly weather that moved in the bite was a lot slower than yesterday. We made a move for redfish which we found in the back of a shallow creek on a full on feeding frenzy. We had tails and backs breaking water as the reds were on a major feed. We had some great hook ups including one kamikaze fish who made his escape by jumping out of the water and onto an oyster bed cut the line and wiggled back into the water.

All fish were caught on live or cut mullet rigged on a Daiichi 3/0 circle hook or Slayer inc. jighead.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com

The Calm Before The Storm

What a great morning of fishing Palm Coast! I almost canceled this charter with repeat clients Peter and Eric as the weather forecast called for 50% thunderstorms and winds in the 20mph plus. Instead of blustery weather we were greeted by light winds and cloudy skies that make for a great cooler morning of catching! Our first spot produced lunch right away as both Eric and Peter hooked up some nice upper slot redfish on cut bait. We made a move to another hot spot that kept putting fish in the boat! Great day and plenty to eat for lunch and dinner.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com

 

RedBone Oldest City Red/Trout Classic Report

This past weekend we had the annual Red/Trout Classic hosted by Redbone to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. We had a great two days of fishing St Augustine with all of the top guides of North East Florida and their two anglers. We started off with a redfish bite at our first spot which helped my angler Bill Harris clinch a win with first runner up angler. I had a great time fishing with both Bill and Doug and already looking forward to winning it all next year.

Capt. Chris Herrera

www.PalmCoastFishing.com