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Capt. Tony Bozzella's Fall/Winter 2009 Fishing Report For North Florida -- Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Fernandina.

    I appreciate all of my clients and the great trips we shared with big Trout & Redfish and all the species we caught this spring and summer. It has been great and I thank all of you!
    It is time to talk about fall and winter fishing in 2009 fishing and what you can expect. Fall is a transitional time, getting back to cooler water.  Certain species leave the area and head south with the mullet run. Fish are no different than the "snow birds" of Florida who come down from up north! As the water cools, the lady fish, jacks, mangroves snappers, Spanish mackerel and others all leave and follow bait and head to the warmer waters of the South. But, that doesn’t mean fishing will be slow. It is a time to capitalize on different areas and 4styles of fishing. 
     In the fall, when many of fish head south, they will stage-up in areas like sounds and inlets.  It’s these areas where we will do a lot of jigging and some plugging. We will likely catch big numbers of fish,  especially with the Trout and Reds. Big aggregates. So there is an upside to fall-winter fishing.
    Last year, many of my clients caught 15 - 50 trout in during a single charter; the same with redfish. Some of the "luckier" clients caught big numbers of both! Those are the kind of fishing days that can happen, and it happens every year! Don’t  think fall and winter fishing is bad; it can be some of the best!

     As the water cools, fish will start to school up. Many of my clients take full advantage of that. When tides are correct, we can start a day jigging and plugging trout, then, as the tide falls, we anchor up and catch redfish.   Here, we have options:  If you want to sight-fish for reds, this is the time of year to do it. In the fall we have very high tides that flood the grasses from St. Augustine to Amelia Island.  This grass is usually dry, so the grass flats are mostly safe to walk on. We can get out and sight-cast to tailing redfish. This is very exciting. We hunt the fish and stalk them with fly or conventional tackle. . .you choose.  This this can be very thrilling! Redfish can be as big as 30-35 inches. If that’s not your style then we can anchor and fish with live bait to a bunch of redfish that could be schooled up.  We usually catch quite a few fish with live bait.
      On one Jacksonville backcountry charter, my client David Foster hooked up 97 redfish. . .that’s in one charter!!  He  boated 77 of them....Great job David!
     
     Tom Tate had a 60-redfish day with his friend Keith! Awesome angling Guys!! These are great fishing experiences! (Tom Tate has agreed to be a reference for me.  Call him at 904-376-5431).
  Bryan Terhune caught a bunch of trout and then added a great catch of redfish, with one of them being the largest of the year – 8+ lbs!! Wonderful job Bryan!! (Bryan has also agreed to provide references.  Call him at 904-237-6856).
  Both Bryan & Tom have fished with me many, many times, in both winter and summer. They will tell you.
 Another fun way to catch redfish that may not be as demanding as sight-fishing is anchoring up in the pristine saltmarshes of Jacksonville and live baiting them. When you get a school fired up you can really catch a bunch of feisty fish!! For the savvy angler who wants a true shallow-water angling experience, we can pole the the flats and sight -ish redfish with jigs or flies.
Don’t let winter-time scare you from fishing.  Most times the temperatures get up to around 60-65 degrees and it is quite pleasant. The weather is usually stable and. because we are in the backcountry where it is protected and calm, the wind is usually not a problem. Give me a call, and I would be glad to discuss any questions you have.  Then we can get out and have a wonderful experience!!!
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Capt. Tony Guides Multi-Wins in 2009 Celebrity Redbone

Capt. Tony Bozzella
guided Kevin English
to victory in the
2009 Oldest
City Celebrity Redbone Tournament
with multiple
wins in 1st place
in Guide to Grand Champion Angler
Award and Most Trout Releases, and Spin/Plug Division Champion.

Capt. Tony has guided anglers to 1st place wins in the 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Celebrity Redbone Tournaments.

New - TBS Spinning Rods and Bait Casting Rods
From Capt. Tony Bozzella

From Capt
Tony's 2009 Catch Log

2009 Catch Summary
(Inshore Back Country & River)

Trout: Artificial & Bait

: Total Year Boated - 1157
: Biggest Trout -- 8 lbs
: Over 5 lbs -- 27 over 5lbs
: Best Aggregate Day -- 50+ Trout Caught
: Most 5+ -lbers in A Day -- 8
: Best Flyfish Day -- 9

Reds: Artificial & Bait

: Total Year Boated -- 648
: Biggest Red-- 34 in. / 14 lbs
: Most Reds in A Day -- 42
: Best Flyfish Day -- 4 

: Most Species Caught Inshore --15
: Most Species in one day -- 6 

Testimonials:

Dear Capt. Tony:

My father-in-law and I had a superlative time. We always seem to catch fish with you and this time was no exception. More important though is that fishing with you is always enjoyable. There are always great laughs, good stories, and we learn something new every time we go out. You are the quintessential Captain. I never hesitate to recommend you because those who go out with you will have a blast.

---Jon Caplan