Happy Jacks

jack crevalle

Afew jack crevalle were among the fish that cooperated a couple of weeks ago when I spent a day in Jacksonville fishing with Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Inland Fishing Adventures. I was glad. Jacks are hard hitting, fast and a lot of fun to catch.

Interestingly, jacks are among the most maligned fish in inland waters. I’ve often heard anglers grumbling when they hook up with jacks and even wanting to move away for them to search for the day’s targeted species.

I’ve watched anglers completely change their perspective upon getting a good look at a fish and realizing it is a huge jack. One minute enjoying the fast runs and brutal strength and the next minute irritated by the same qualities and time taken away from the pursuit of other species.

Fishing is meant to be fun, and preferences are personal, so folks have the right to like or dislike catching any species. I’ve just never understood how the fun factor can change so dramatically based on the shape of the fish.

I get a bit of disappointment if your hope for the day was to catch a trophy redfish, and you thought that was what you were fighting. It seems to go way past disappointed, though, and turn into a despise for the fish at the end of the line.

I’ve also always wondered when or why jack crevalle became perceived as “trash fish” in the eyes of so many anglers. Their shape, iridescent colors and fighting qualities are somewhat similar to permit, which are highly prized sport fish. 

I guess I don’t need to worry about other anglers’ preference. I know I like catching jacks and always welcome them to the party!

Bull Redfish to Start a Day

Jacksonville bull redfish

Bull redfish weren’t the main objective, but when Capt. Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Fishing Charters said there might be an early window for hooking into a few, I surely didn’t argue within the idea of targeting big reds to start our day.

One of my favorite things about fishing with Holleman is that we virtually always hit a big range of spots and fish a variety of ways and usually catch multiple species. He always studies the tide charts and considers things like wind, season and recent days on the water and comes up with a working plan in his head. 

Holleman understands the complex tidal waterways in the Jacksonville area and the fish that inhabit them like few anglers do and knows when to fish will respond best to different presentations. He has spots that are best for incoming tides, outgoing tides, high water, low water, strong tides slack periods… His working plan, which of course gets adapted through the day according to conditions and how the fish respond, puts him in key areas for different kinds of fishing when the tide is right for each.

We started on the bull red spot because that was when the tides were right, and three of them bit right when they were supposed to. From there Holleman had a flow in mind that included casting diving baits, working topwater lures and fishing jig/soft plastic combos, and fishing waters ranging from deep structures well out in the St John’s River to casting for largemouth bass in the backs of channels.

I think we ended up catching five species that day, and it’s not uncommon, fishing with Holleman to end up with twice that many.

I caught two species that day that were new to me for 2026 — redfish and jack crevalle. Earlier on the same trip, I also added bluefish to this year’s list. The bluefish was my first saltwater fish of 2026. The blue, red and jack were species 14, 15 and 16 of the year for me.

jack crevalle

Coastal Fishing Plans

Having learned of some coastal fishing photo needs for work and realizing my best travel window is more sooner than later, I went into planning mode today.

Soon I’ll be pointing my car south and heading first to the Georgia coast and then to northeastern Florida. I’ll start out Fishing on Foot and shooting photos from various surf, pier and jetty type settings. 

Lure photos are the primary objective, but of course I hope to catch some fish. Depending on when and where any catches happen, I might keep a few to cook. I’m not camping and don’t want to keep up with fish a couple of days, so I’d probably have to catch them while I’m near a picnic area with a charcoal grill. Far from impossible but the situational need is pretty specific.

The final day I’ll be on the boat with Capt. Chris Holleman of Blue Cyclone Fishing Charters. I always have fun fishing with Chris, and I always feel great about fish-catching prospects. Our hope is to call up some topwater action.

Watch upcoming posts for fishing reports!

First Fish of 2019

I'm not sure which is worse: that I didn't catch my first fish of 2019 until the about the third week of January or that it took a two more weeks to finally mention it in a blog post. Both are true, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

Fish No. 1 for me this year was the redfish pictured above, caught on a Bozka Salt Runner from Florida's Nassau River while I was fishing with Chris Holleman. It was in a high marsh area along the edge of the main river that you have to get into (and back out of) while the tide is pretty high or you'll be there till the next high tide! We managed to catch a couple of reds from that area and got out while we could. The same trip, which included time in the boat with Chris and with Nathan Johnson and Tim Mann, produced some more redfish, quite a few speckled trout and a few largemouth bass, although I didn't catch any of the bass, thus leaving my 2019 species list tally at two.

Next on the agenda is Santee Cooper, followed by Lake Guntersville, so it would seem I should start to get some freshwater species on this year's list. I would say, "reports to follow," but based on my recent blogging history and how it has compared to my intentions, I probably shouldn't state that as a fact quite yet.

Jacksonville Jaunt

One more update is due before I get back to the favorite fishing destinations countdown because just a few days after returning from Maine, I pointed things in the opposite direction and blasted down to Jacksonville for a couple of fun days of inshore saltwater fishing with Chris Holleman and Nathan Johnson. It was a quick trip: Southbound on Thursday, and home late Saturday night. However, that was enough time to enjoy some fun action and get plenty of the photos that drive my travel plans.

I always have fun fishing the Jacksonville area with Chris and Nathan, and we always catch fish. Along with redfish and speckled trout (which are pretty much a given, any time), the species mix from the most recent trip included jack crevalle, flounder, sheepshead and kind of weakfish that's locally called a yellowmouth trout. We hit settings ranging from very urban stuff on the St. John's river in downtown to some pretty remote feeling marsh and fished quite a few different ways. Part of the plan also was to play with some not-yet-released Bomber Lures, which preformed exceptionally well!

My original plan had actually been to do some exploring on my own along the Georgia coast on the way home, possibly doing some pier or surf fishing at Jekyll Island, and to return home Sunday. Big storms brewed up Saturday afternoon, though, and they were forecast to continue until dark, so I decided to continue toward home and save that exploration for another trip.

Of course, Chris, Nathan and I have already started talking about "next time" for Jacksonville, and the working plan is to aim for the fall mullet run, when the fishing tends to be wide open for everything. I'm looking forward to that trip already!

A Somewhat Surprising First

I've shared in a couple of places that I caught the first snook of my life last week. Actually, I caught of a couple of snook while fishing with Chris Holleman, and I believe he caught three during the same afternoon. Both that I caught were brutally strong and a load of fun, matching everything I've always heard.

The fact that I had never caught a snook before seems at least a little odd because I grew up in the Tampa Bay area, which is in the heart of snook country, and I've traveled to Florida to fish many times over the years. I'd hooked a couple of other snook that I know about and maybe a coupe of others, but for whatever reason, I really haven't been in situations where I've seriously fished for them very often over the years. Other folks used to fish for snook and occasionally catch one off Big Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach while I was growing up, but I normally was locked in on the trout that I could catch all night instead of thinking about the one or two big snook that lurked in just a couple of pier lights.

If I've remembered to tally all, the snook brings me to 38 species for 2016, and it's seeming unlikely at this point that I'll add more before the year is over. That's the highest number since I began counting, definitely aided by the fact that I did more saltwater fishing this year than I had done in many years.

Southbound Fishing Travels

My most recent blog post spoke about ice fishing and my odd interest in traveling north to fish during the winter. Still no ice plans in place for this winter, but tomorrow I'm hopping in my car and pointing it in the opposite direction, and I'm pretty excited about prospects. Plans include coastal fishing near Jacksonville for speckled trout and redfish with Bomber pro staffers Nathan Johnson and Chris Holleman and then moving slightly inland to catch bass with Tim Mann. The picture above is of Tim, from Lake George, earlier this year. Tim has a few ideas about stuff we might do, and all sound really good. We'll likely start at Rodman, which I'm really excited about, because it's spectacularly beautiful and one of finest bass lakes in the nation, and I've only been there once. Stay tuned!

Florida Fishing

When I spoke with Tim Mann and Chris Holleman about possibly getting together to fish later this spring and they both said they could make something work just a few days later, I couldn't pass on that chance, so a few days later I was in my car and had it pointed south. I fished Lake George one day, sight-fishing for largemouths, and spent two days chasing redfish and speckled trout in the Jacksonville area.

Sight-fishing with Tim is always fun and a learning experienced, and while the wind chased us around some in the afternoon, conditions, plentiful fish on beds and Tim's direction allowed even my untrained eyes to see several fish and catch a few. While we didn't land any real giants, we caught a lot of good fish, and our best limit would have easily weighed more than 20 pounds. Hard to say how big a bag Tim would have caught if he had just been fishing instead of mostly trying to help me! It's not uncommon for he and tournament to bring 30 pounds to the scales this time of year.

The saltwater days were extra fun for me because I haven't done a lot of that recently. In fact, my species list from last year didn't include any saltwater species because I never made it to the coast. This year's list now includes both specks and reds, and I hope to keep adding to that. I was actually supposed to be saltwater fishing in Texas this week, but the weather blew out that trip. However, my next two trips are to Louisiana and Florida, and plans for both include some saltwater fishing.

Naturally, I like the way a redfish crushes a lure and the fight that follows. Beyond that, though, I simply enjoy being out in the marsh, smelling the salt air, and watching the changes brought by rising and falling tides.