The Simple Sportsman

Hello, Black Creek Outfitters. My name is Josh Bond and I am a native Floridian and lifetime paddler. The purpose of this post is to give you a better idea of my strengths so that you can see if I can offer something to your company and brand.

Since I have lived in Jacksonville, I have focused on fishing from my sup and kayak. In the last 12 months, I have shared the experience of fishing the creeks with many people, most of which had zero experience in a kayak or with fishing. Some of their pictures are below.

This kid was from England...you would have thought this ray was made of GOLD.

I have many more pictures of people with fish, but these are some of my favorites. I could tell you a story about each one of these trips.

In addition to taking people fishing, I was able to work with a company (which unfortunately shut its doors) called Jax Paddle Sports. I was hired in January of 2017 and worked for them for 12 months. My off water responsibilities included setting up trips for local environmental organizations (Rising Tides, Sierra Club, North Florida Land Trust, and more), driving a truck and kayak trailer to and from events, moving heavy boats, working summer camps, and building relationships with our paddling community.

On the water responsibilities included assisting paddlers in and out of their boats, leading trips, running sweep, life coaching paddlers at the end of a long day, and ensuring safety at all times. Below are pictures from a year of guiding.

Activate the River Paddle

St. Johns River Keeper Camp

Sierra Club Durbin Creek Paddle

Yaks and Brews

NAS Jax Air Show

North FL Land Trust Full Moon Paddle

JPS Summer Camp

McCoys Creek Scouting

Silver River Trip

In addition to my experience with Jax Paddle Sports, here are examples of trips I have done on my own.

Three day Cayo Costa kayak tour
Suwannee River from Stephen Foster SP (GA) to Branford (SUP/Kayak)
Mosquito Lagoon Island Camping
Bioluminescence Paddling
Inflatable Sup-packing in Oregon
Manatee Snorkel Encounters
Kayak based scalloping in the Big Bend region.
Santa Fe River
Cedar Key
Juniper Springs
Chattajack 2016

Little Three Creek Lake, Oregon

Big Bend Scalloping

Chattajack 2016

Silver River Monkey

Loading up for Cayo Costa

Ocean Pond, Osceola National Forest

St. Johns River

Gilchrist Blue Springs

Nassau Sound

Fontana Lake

I appreciate your consideration.

Twice a month, during the new and full moon phases, we get negative tides here on the First Coast....or tides that are both higher and lower than the average tide cycles.

Taking a sampling from Mayport for this weekend, you can see that the tide is almost 6' above sea level as well as 1' below all in the same day. This means much more current then an average day and almost 7' of water moving within a six hour time frame......this is insane.

Negative Tide

Average Tide

On Saturday the high is predicted to be ~8:30am and Low at ~2:30p at Mayport. As an example, if you were planning on fishing the creeks in this area you should plan on lines in the water no later than 12:30p and out by 4:30p.

Why the time frame of 2 hrs before and after the low? Let's keep it simple: fish have less places to hide.

Our tide cycles twice daily with 2 highs and 2 lows in a 24 hour period. This means fish on the First Coast are really predictable. Redfish move deep back into the creeks as far as they can go during the high tides and then back out into the deeper channels, waiting on the water to fill back in.

An example of how the reds move when the tide is falling.

Same section of creek during a negative tide....notice the lack of water.

The short version of fishing a negative tide is that fish have nowhere to hide, but you need to really get off the beaten path to find them.

So let's take another creek for example. Exploring around for a little bit I found this section that looks golden.

This area looks sweet for a few reasons.

1- The entire east side of this creek is lined with mounds of oysters....prime habitat for big fish.

2- Next to the oysters is a dark area which is a deep channel. This gives fish another place to congregate.

Spending time on google earth is the only way to find new spots, and exploring them during a negative tide is easiest way to find fish on them.

Want to use google earth and explore with this feature? Here are the simple instructions that will change your online scouting:

http://www.jaxkayakfishing.com/phpBB/topic41667.html

Check the tides nearest the location you are going to be fishing. This website does a great job of representing them on a map so you can pick the best one:

http://www.tides.net/map/state-map.php?Florida

Now go explore and catch some fish!!!

Last Friday I got a call from Alex and St. Agustin asking if I wanted to tag along on a tour to do some light fishing with a few gals that were friends of theirs. I said yes, because YOLO, even though the weather was going to be really cold (50s) and the wind was going to be rippin'.

We launched ~8a at Dutton Island and headed to the intracoastal to one of my favorite creeks. You can't tell based on this pic, but the intracoastal was really nasty, complete with whitecaps....ew

The water was really cold and the fish were no where to be found. Keep in mind that the weather the day before was in the 80s so my theory is that the fish were in shock from the sudden drop in barometric pressure, causing them to be lock jawed.

Despite the weather and lack of fish, these girls were awesome! Great attitudes, a sense of humor, and really tough!

Image may contain: 1 person, outdoor, water and nature

Image may contain: one or more people, sky, cloud, ocean, outdoor, water and nature

Image may contain: one or more people, sky, outdoor, nature and water

Fast Forward 24 hours.....

My brother in law was in town from Nashville and we were able to sneak away from the family to go chase some fish. This guy fits into the category of "average angler" with minimal casting abilities/angling skills but really likes to fish, which is the best kind of fishing buddy!

We launched at the Shrimp Boats at 6:10a with our headlamps on and paddled for 45 minutes in the dark, against the tide, to the buttcrack of Browns Creek to be in position for the 10am low.

The weather that day was perfect until about noon- overcast and mid 60s with the water temp just below 60 degrees. Due to the NE wind the 24 hours before the day we fished, the low tide wasn't really that low, which gave the fish more places to hide and made my job as guide much harder.

We spent from 7a-10a searching for redfish. With the higher water the fish were a bit more scattered that I like, but we still ended up finding them.

After 3 hours we found a school of ~15 fish (small compared to other trips) and we quietly observed and followed them back into a creek that dead ended into an oyster bar. The next 30 minutes was none stop action. We even doubled up at one point. Keep in mind we were in less that a foot of water!

In this next pic you can see my brother in law with one of the fish (~22"), with the oyster bar we were fishing in the background:

We ended up catching five in the slot at that location and kept the biggest four. This was the third time we have fished together in the last 12 months and by far the hardest I've had to work to find the fish while with him.....but look at that smile! Totally worth it!

We fished our way out of the feeder creek, caught a few small trout, and then stopped at an island to organize our gear, divide the fish up on the stringers, and drink some water/eat snacks before the long paddle against the tide to the car.

So what is the moral of this story? Even if you have a slow trip one day or can't find the fish another, keep casting and searching.

If you are into fishing and browse the internet in your free time you will notice one big thing: our space is dominated by companies and advertisers that want you to spend spend spend and get the latest and greatest.

One of the reasons I began paddle fishing is because of the simplicity. No need for expensive motors, trailers, dry storage, expensive vehicles, $ hundreds $ in gas to run offshore and the list goes on.

Even in the paddle fishing space there are things that are cool but a huge waste of money and unfortunately add stress to outings on the water: peddle drive boats, rod/reel combos that cost upwards for $300, live wells, power poles....

While these things have their place, my personal philosophy is that less is more. Here are 2 pics of my rig. A cooler simply lashed to the deck of my board, a broom stick to position myself in the mud, and a bait bucket.

I want to give the person looking to get into fishing our marshes a basic, and by no means complete list, of 5 things they need to catch fish. This list assumes you have a paddle craft, life jacket, and whistle.

1. Rod/Reel

A medium action 7' rod/reel combo. I recommend the Penn Battle II combo. This thing is priced right at $100 and has a great warranty. The best price in town is at West Marine.

2. Braided Line

Many people go overboard with the braided line in terms of what pound test they choose. 10 pound test is all that is needed for 99% of inshore fishing here in NE FL. I choose 10lb because of its castability, even with lighter jig heads. KastKing Fortis is the best bang for the buck in my opinion.

3. Fluorocarbon Leader.

I use a uni to uni knot to attach my braided line to my leader. Don't skimp and get a leader made out of anything else than fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon is invisible in the water and very resistant to oysters. 20lb or 25lb test is all you need.

4. Jig Heads

Go to your local tackle shop and ask which brand they recommend....because there are a bunch. You don't need anything fancy, just 1/8 or 1/4 oz depending on how windy it is out (heavier for windier conditions).

5. Mud Minnows

These things are the caviar of the marsh....sea trout, reds, flounder, bluefish and the occasional sheepshead eat these things. If I had to pick ONE bait this is it. They are right around $3 a dozen, can be kept overnight in the garage, and stay alive all day while you are out in the water.

What are your thoughts? What would you add? What are YOUR 5 essentials?

-Josh Bond
352-217-6925

Happy New Year!

January is currently taking revenge on us as we experience our first cold front....or should I say "REAL" cold front. Today at my house we didn't get out of the 30s' until noon.

The fishing is about to change. When the water drops below 65 degrees all of the mullet move out of the creeks and into the river. Bait shops will no longer carry fresh live shrimp. Fish become sluggish.

No this isn't the fish-apocalypse, just a change of tactics!

On sunny days the mud flats will warm up significantly more than the areas around them, causing redfish to move onto them to get warm. When casting to them it is important to present the bait slowly and to be patient.

Redfish warming up on the flats won't be able to say no to mud minnows as well as quartered crab. My "go to" for artificial this time of year is a D.O.A. shrimp with glitter pattern worked slowly.

Quartered Crab

Yesterday morning I met up with a buddy and we fished in hellacious conditions- 25 mph winds/mid 40s. The water temp was right around 62 when we started but had dropped to the mid 50s' when we were done.