If you go over the Wonderwood bridge on I 295 headed North take the Heckscher Dr. exit and turn right. If you are headed South on I-295 take the Heckscher Dr. exit and turn left. At the light turn left (North) on New Berlin Rd. and you will go about 3 ½ miles and you will come to Cedar Point Rd. Turn right and stay on Cedar Point Rd. for about 7 miles and the entrance of the ramp is on your left. The ramp is in a remote area if you have never been their before. At one point you will have to turn right to stay on Cedar Point Rd.
GPS settings 9023 Cedar Point Rd. Jacksonville, Fl. then drive on .3 miles to the ramp. Google Maps link is here
Breakfast will be severed from 8 a.m. till 9:30 a.m. We will have coffee, donuts and sausage biscuits.
If you launch by 10:00 a.m. this will give you 3 hours of outgoing tide and a few hours of incoming tide before it get dark. As the tide is going out the reds will move from the back of the creeks and stay close to the mouths of the creeks. Some of these spots will be the mouth of the creek at the intracoastal and some of these spots will be at the creek mouths inside the larger creeks. Any small creek that dumps into a larger creek can be a good spot to check out and wait for the reds come to you. The lower the tide gets the easier it will be to see the reds moving around. I have not fished this winter but the reds should be in schools when you find them. If you want to blind cast then cast to the base of oyster beds or to points or any other structure you see in the creeks. Also cast to choke points between oyster beds.
All crab patterns and bait fish patterns should be good to use. A black clouser is always a good fly to use. When you cast to a moving fish, do not look at the fish, look 4-6 feet in front of the fish in the direction they are moving. If you look at the fish and want to cast ahead of them, in most cases you will cast right on top of the fish because you are looking at the fish. Got that piece of info from an article in a magazine article years ago and it is true.
The sun will set about 6:20 so keep that in mind because there is no lights at Cedar Point. The moon will be almost full so that may help. The weather forecast is mid 40’s to 60 during the day.
Going to launch at GS Lee boat ramp off of highway 46. From 210 truck stop (Pilot Travel Center, 1625 County Road 210 West, Jax) on I-95 it is a little over 2 hour drive. I will be leaving the truck stop at 5:30 AM. You can have breakfast at the Waffle House if you get their early. The direction are easy. I-95 South to Highway 46 just North of Titusville. From I-95 it is about 11 miles to the ramp. The ramp is at the Jolly Gator Fish Camp ( CS Lee Boat Ramp) Canoes, Kayaks and most fishing boats all can be used. When the river is really low there is a sand bar that can be hard to get over for larger boats, but as of now it looks to be O.K. A good spot to start is South of the boat ramp. You can fish from a boat, the shore or if you bring waders you can wade fish if the water is not too high.
Equipment: 5-6 or 7 wt. Rods will get the job done. If the water is high a sinking line is good (high water means faster flow). The faster the water flow, the faster sinking line will do better. Weight Forward lines can also be used in lower water conditions. When using a WF floating line use a longer leader. 10 to 12 lb fluorocarbon tippet is a good size to use.
A landing net is very helpful.
While shad fish you may catch a variety of fish. Shad, Bass, Sunshine bass, Bluegills, Armored catfish,
Blue Tilapia, Bowfin, Gar, Crappie and Bream and I once caught a flounder.
We will have a shore lunch a 1 PM. We will set up near the intersection of the St. Johns and the Econlockhatchee (Econ) River. This is only about ¼ mile South of the ramp. It is easy to find because this is where you will see most of us fishing.
Flies: There are many flies that will catch Shad. The following is just a few you can use. If you are not a tier then Bonefish flies like the Crazy Charlies and Gotcha and small Clouser’s will do or bream flies that are similar to the ones below.
Red chenille head, lead eyes, pearl mylar body, pearl Krystal Flash skirt. From
Charlie Chapman, Backcountry Flyfishing Association (club), Orlando, FL.
Black chenille body over lead-wrapped hook shank. Tail is orange marabou
and gold flash, body has gold mylar tubing overwrap, wing is gold Flashabou.
Tied with black thread. From Charlie Chapman.
Same as A, but with hot pink ice chenille (or Estaz or cactus chenille).
Purple marabou tail, silver tinsel rib, purple chenille over
chrome-plated lead eyes, black thread. Tied by Capt. Dick Martin,
Melbourne, FL
Hot pink antron (or similar) tail, fine blue and fuchsia Flashabou (or
similar) – mixed and wrapped to make body (not weighted), fuchsia
Flashabou wing. Tied by David Olson, Manager, The FlyFisherman, Orlando, FL.
Orange marabou tail, pearl mylar tubing over hook, black thread (unweighted)
Dick Michaelson
904/631-8091
dicknkitty12@gmail.com
American Shad. Image: Raver, Duane – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
There will be no meeting February 3rd because of the Rendezvous scheduled for this Saturday February 8. Next, we would like to thank everyone that submitted their Rendezvous registration by the January 31st deadline. We tallied up the reservations and we have a few spots left. So, if you haven’t submitted your reservation yet, this is your absolute last chance! If you would like to attend the Rendezvous and have not already submitted or mailed your reservation, you must reply to this email by 6 PM Wednesday February 5th. Send an email to fcffoutings@gmail.com and confirm that you plan to attend Saturday’s Rendezvous. When you respond we need to know who you are and how many people will be attending. Do not mail your reservation because we won’t receive it in time. As a reminder, you must be a member in order to attend the Rendezvous. For you last minute Charlies, we will allow you to pay for your reservation (and membership) at the door. However, if you do not sent a confirmation email by Wednesday the 5th, don’t bother showing up on Saturday, we will turn you away. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.
Under docks and shoreline fishing should be good. Wade fish will also be a possibility. This is a good kayak outing, you can start fishing within 100 ft. of ramp.
Flies to use
Woolly Buggers
Wilson’s Bluegill Spider Fly
Hares Ear Nymph
Rubber Legged Dragon
Adam’s Cricket is a good top water pattern,
…and any other small top water patterns or rainbow trout flies 8-10 hook size will work well. If you want to target bass then use larger hooks.
Direction: I-95 South and take the World Golf Village exit, go west on Pacetti rd. ( 9 Mile Road) for approx 7 miles then right on CR208 for .3 miles then left on 13A. Then right on 214 and then left on CR13 for approx. 1.5 miles. Ramp is on the right.
