Any Jax guys out there that run to the stream? - The Hull Truth

fisherman for life · 01-09-2006, 07:52 PM

A good friend lives in Jax and loves to fish with me but he usually meets me in Destin on the gulf. He's had a condo(not on the water) so I've never taken the boat down there because of lack of parking. He just bought a house so I no I could feel safer taking a 228 grady down there and not parking it on the street. I carry 147gallons of fuel but single engine 22' boat isn't much fun 60 miles+ out in 8' seas. How far out do you have to run do get to the stream and what are the typical seas in the summer? Any info is appreciated.

doeboy · 01-12-2006, 04:58 PM

I have recently gotten my first boat and haven't been to the stream yet. I did go 2 weeks a go with a local guy who is looking for crew on his 35 viking. 55 miles and the seas can be flat in the summer I am told. 55 miles to the stream that is. send me an email when you come and I will take you or buddy boat with you. there3 is a nice fishing community here. we have been catching some wahoo. Mark

fisherman for life · 01-12-2006, 09:27 PM

I appreciate the info Mark. I probably can't make it down there until at least spring but I'd love to take you up on that offer soon enough!

delmar · 01-15-2006, 08:32 PM

the seas "can" be flat but most often in the summer afternoon thunderstorms will make it exciting if you don't beat them in, possibly raising winds to 40-50 mph gusts, reducing visibility to zero, and with lots of lightning. we fished regularly out to about 17-20 mi in a 17 CC which would get us back in in less than an hour if the weather started to sour. if you're at the stream you're going to have to live with what comes. (between you and shore). the ledge is a more common goal at about 35 mi. the big cc's run this in about an hour depending on weather. course if you're really bold you can go to the "other side" where the tuna are rumored to thrive.....

Cracker · 01-16-2006, 10:31 PM

Out of ST. Augustine the "ledge or rolldown" as is other words for the edge of the stream is about 55 miles out. It is about 170 feet water and it drops fast from there. I have a 22 foot boat with a single but it doesn't see the stream much at all. I feel more comfortable in my buddies 26 footer with twins. If you go pick your days carefully. There is some good bottom bumping "generally" from 30 miles out to 40 miles.

fisherman for life · 01-17-2006, 12:34 AM

Thank you everyone for the response. So are you saying Cracker, that bottom starts rolling down +50 but you are in decent king range 30+ I guess the other side is a 100+ miles across from Jax and I'll not be doing that in a 22' boat

delmar · 01-17-2006, 08:57 PM

here's a related story http://www.bigbendsportsman.com/stor...y_capt_guy.htm

doeboy · 01-17-2006, 11:44 PM

there is plenty of structure out of Jacksonville between 15 and 30 miles if you don't want to go to the stream. go to the Strike Zone and get the fishing hotspot map when you get here or better yet have your buddy get it for you, he's using your boat

reelkeeper · 01-30-2006, 09:37 PM

I was previously from Ft. Laud where it is just a hop outside the inlet to the fish. Now, fishing from Jax/St. Aug area for the last 5 to 6 years...what a difference. You had better do your boat maint. religiously and have a solid boat to venture to the ledge here. In addition, I would not go out to the ledge from Jax/St. Aug (personally) in a single rig. I always have some 'buddy boats' within known distance. Also, emergency items are a reeeeal good idea ie...e-pirb/liferaft. I have been fishing a 32 Donzi with twins and all these rules apply....my NEW 34 YF w/ trips will be here next month and the SAME rules will still apply.

Be careful, Be smart As far as Buddy Boats...there are plenty here in NE Floria, great comraderie and always someone with the right size boat following the rules above -looking for good crew. Test the waters while learning the area -just not in a 22 cc on your own 55+ miles offshore.

As far as bottom bumping within 30ish miles...a 22 cc will be fine. I would still follow many of the rules above.

Let us know when your in town -lets go fishing!

delmar · 02-01-2006, 06:49 PM

nice website reelkeeper

fisherman for life · 02-01-2006, 07:24 PM

On a separate note does anyone know if or do the charter's run far enough to get the tuna bite? I thought I read somewhere that bluefin and yellowfin's were caught this time of year but you had to run 80 to 100 miles to get them. I obviously would need to do the charter thing to go 100 miles out but when I ran this past my buddy in Jax. he called a charter and they told him they'd never heard of bluefin out of Jax. and yellowfin was extremely rare. With him living in Jax and me living in Atl. any where else probably wouldn't work this winter because of time and expense but if it's possible to charter out of Jax. (even at 1500 to 2000) for an 18 hr , lodging would be free and I can make Jax in 6 hrs where as the OBX is 12hrs+. Any info is appreciated.

delmar · 02-03-2006, 08:13 PM

http://www.conchhousesportfishing.com/

that's a long ride, charter one with a comfortable cabin

slickster · 02-18-2006, 11:44 PM

What do you want to catch...if it's kings in the summer they are about 300 ft from the beach, slow trolling pogies....decent bottom bumping out of mayport.....ledge starts about 42 miles out of st auggie, snaps and grouper....hoo bite slow right now...not heard of any tuna around either......was at the ledge this past wednesday....decent red grouper and a LARGE shark....great fun.....summer around here can be very flat, the sun can ruin your day also....twins are nice but I see lots of singles out 30-45 miles on nice days....can you be more specific of what you want to hook-up?...happy boating...Mick

fisherman for life · 02-19-2006, 12:46 AM

I'm not as much into the bottom bumping as I am the trolling. Kings are nice but more interested in hoo's, dolphin, sails, tuna, ETC. I've been told they are all there once you get to the stream. Hopefully in the next month or two one of you guys wouldn't mind buddy boating with me some saturday and making a run out to the stream on a calm day if all works out well!

mturnerb · 02-19-2006, 06:06 PM

If you run out of St. Augustine, you will hit the "21 fathom line" about 35-40 miles out (about 45-50 from Mayport). This is where the bottom starts to drop a little faster and water is typically blue and clear. I have caught plenty of dolphin and blackfin tuna in this area, and an occasional wahoo. Many days in May/June/July there will be some "eddys" from the stream with weedlines and small termperature breaks that will hold fish. The "drydock" area (look on chart) and the "Tuna patch" are often great fishing areas. On one trip from Mayport, we were heading for the ledge - spotted birds about 1/2 mile from the drydock and found a school of dophin. When we got tired of catching from that school, we moved on toward the ledge, and kept finding more schools and catching a few from each. We reached our limit of dolphin wihin a couple of hours and NEVER made it to the ledge.

At the ledge (55 miles from St. Augustine) the bottom suddenly drops from 180 to 200 and then rapidly drops off. This is where the edge of the gulfstream typically lies. The combination of the dropoff, current, and associated weedlines makes this a great fishing area. Also, because of the distance, the number of boats is less than you see in South Florida. Yellowfin are typically found on the far side of the ledge. I have hooked a marlin at the ledge, which stripped my 30W in about 30 seconds and was gone after a few spectacular jumps.

fisherman for life · 02-21-2006, 10:31 PM

I really appreciate the info mturnerb and every one else. I planned a trip to Destin in April which will in all likelyhood be my first trip of the year (unless one of you needs a "crew member or two, I can run downrigger's, outrigger's, bait hooks, gaff fish, catch fish, etc, but I CANNOT throw a cast net to save my life though I've tried" but I'll definately be bringing my boat to Jax. a few times this summer and would like to hook up and run or fish with or around you guys in a buddy boat system if anyone is going out when I'll be down! P.S. mturnerb I'm jealous as Heall about the marlin hookup, the only time I've been biatched like that I saw the fish as well but it wasn't jumping like marlin it swam past me close to the boat and a 12' tiger shark inhaled my 2# mullet on his way to cuba! HaHaHa. The only thing I had going for me on that hookup was a bad knot. Within a minute that fish had stripped 500 of my 600yds of line and I cranked down on the drag. When I did the knot broke and I was fortunate enough to get all of my line back!

SeaBoss Kid · 03-07-2006, 04:31 PM

I have been going to the ledge and beyond in a 26' Twin Vee that a friend owns in south Jax. We always put out of Sebastian Inlet. I just bought a 23'6" Sailfish, single 225 4stroke and intend to start working towards heading out further and further, with a buddy boat of course. I'm figuring another 2/3 weeks of Confidence in the new boat, her first oil change and i'm gonna start on the closest reefs and start working my way towards the ledges. I'll be running out of St. Marys, Ga inlet though. Good luck, hope to see people out there!