Tag Archives: Fishing
Captain David’s Fishing Report
By Captain David Lifka
mail@floridanewsline.com
As the days get shorter and temperatures begin to decline, the annual southward migration of baitfish goes into full swing. One of the many varieties of fish taking part in this migration is mullet. Both fingerlings and adult mullet will congregate along the Atlantic coastline, forming schools that can seemingly last for miles, steadily pushing south till their winter destination is reached. Timing for this bait run can never be certain as weather can often speed up or slow down this event. Frequent checking at the beach this time of year should eventually reveal schooling mullet in the surf, and when the run is actually taking place.
Captain David’s Fishing Report
By Captain David Lifka
mail@floridanewsline.com
In recent years, over the summer months and into early fall, we have been fortunate enough to experience some of the best fishing and shrimping anyone could remember. Shrimp were filling cast nets with counts of more than 100 per throw. Limits of slot sized reds were being caught just about anywhere in the river where you decided to soak a live shrimp. Flounder, black drum, and yellowmouth trout were right there at your favorite croaker hole with tarpon and dolphin rolling as far south as Green Cove Springs. Yes, fishing was good.
Captain David’s Fishing Report
By Captain David Lifka
mail@floridanewsline.com
Every spring, summer, and fall, the majority of our area fishing depends greatly on the weather. Neighborhood lakes and ponds require a certain amount of rainfall to help maintain healthy water levels. Area creeks and tributaries also need a certain amount of yearly rainfall to help ward off saltwater intrusion that helps them remain as the freshwater fishery that they are. And then there is the St. Johns River. For us, it’s our favorite area fishing grounds, but in reality, it serves as a 310-mile long drain for much of the central and upper eastern half of the state of Florida.
Captain David’s Fishing Report
By Captain David Lifka
mail@floridanewsline.com
Every year at this time, white and brown shrimp larvae that have been inhabiting creeks and estuaries of the St. Johns River begin their annual journey in search of ocean waters. Now as juvenile shrimp, they leave the fresh and brackish water nursery grounds of the river behind them as they seek warm ocean waters to spawn as adults. In a matter of weeks during their journey the size of these young shrimp will increase immensely. Once the ocean spawn has taken place, a new round of shrimp larvae will find their way to the very same fresh and brackish waters for yet another new life cycle of brown and white shrimp.
Fishing Report
By Captain David Lifka
mail@floridanewsline.com
Usually the month of July is when shrimp will begin to show in the St. Johns, with their numbers and sizes growing as summer continues to advance. Weather, as always, will play a role that often determines the quality and length of our shrimping season. Too much rain is often the culprit that puts a premature slow down or end to the season.
