# Salt Run Slipper



## phishphood

Nice job Brett. Where'd you guys launch at?


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## Brett

The ramp is just on the East side of the lighthouse.










On the weekends get there early, it's a much better ramp than Vilano.

Easier to find live bait nearby also...


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## mark_gardner

i was poking around back there yesterday in my bayboat   took my brother and son on a sight seeing tour after the bite shut down, sure was a couple "interesting looking" sailboats  back there ;D congrats on catching those jacks, they're alot of fun


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## Strike_III

Nice report and great pics. I will definitely give that a try. Looks like most of the tarpon/jack action was north of the Conch House, correct?

Mike


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## Brett

I had to figure out where the Conch House is... ;D

Yeah, that's the area. That school circles the basin all morning.
You can see the tarpon rolling and the fins on the jacks as they cruise by.
We tried chasing them, but they work such a regular pattern,
it was easier to stake out at the "corral" and wait for them.
The wait between feeds was just enough time to fix gear,
sharpen hooks, grab a bite and a drink before the next explosions.
You have to be there at sunrise on an incoming tide.
There's a hard sand bottom, so wading and casting is a lot of fun too.


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## Un-shore

Great pics! Nice report too, I got to try that area some day.


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## deerfly

looks like a great morning Brett. Nothing like watching those bait busting melee's either, timeless fun for sure.


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## HaMm3r

Nice job with the pictures, and jacks are always a blast to catch so I know it had to have been lots of fun. Boat looks great too.


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## Canoeman

Great action photos Brett. I love fishing at Salt Run, but I always seem to catch a bunch of sails, even on the fly.


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## Kemo

Great report, Brett. Looks like you had a lot of fun.

Kemo


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## Brett

It was a hoot! ;D

We had strikes from the tarpon, but couldn't get a hookset.
Didn't matter, just knowing they were on the line for a second
put a big grin on me and the daughter's face. Had a couple
simultaneous strikes and the chinese fire drill that goes with it.
Crossed lines, bumped rods, that's probably what weakened
her rod so it snapped on the flounder. Wally world, here I come.
Gina goes back to UF next week, so the next time the tide is right,
I'm using my 10 wt, probably wading.

Tide chart says Sunday, Aug 9, crack of dawn.

[smiley=happy.gif]

Say ahhhh...











I just liked the signs simplicity...











Shallow sport, wet feet...


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## islander1225

> The ramp is just on the East side of the lighthouse.
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> On the weekends get there early, it's a much better ramp than Vilano.
> 
> Easier to find live bait nearby also...




Hey brett def right about being a nice ramp, ever since they re did it a little while back, but the live bait statement i cant really agree with unless it meant if you are catching it yourself, cause they have a bait shop right at the vilano ramp now lol. great pictures man the jacks have been everyone down there lately the big 20 to 30 lbs are at the bridge right now tearing it up. The bridge of lions that is.


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## B.Lee

My whole life I've wondered just where that rock came from. It's a BIG rock where there is nothing but sand for miles around.

Ship balast maybe from way back when?


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## Brett

And I have an answer to that question.
It's part of a coquina formation that's buried under the sand
along the NE Florida coast. The old inlet location (Salt Run)
tidal currents, moved the sand exposing that particular rock outcrop.

http://funandsun.com/parks/Anastasia/anastasia.html



> COQUINA QUARRY
> Coquina rock is part of a sedimentary formation that underlies much of the Atlantic shore of Florida. It is covered by sand, except along some stretches of beach in Flagler, Martin and Palm Beach counties. Washington Oaks State Gardens at Palm Coast and Blowing Rocks Preserve in Jupiter are excellent places to see coquina outcroppings. The rock is a mixture of shell fragments and quartz grains bound together by calcium carbonate. It began to form when sea levels were higher and today's coast was underwater. Sand and shells accumulated as an offshore bar. Later, during a glacial period (between 125,000-150,000 years ago), the sea level dropped, leaving the bar exposed to the air and weather. Rainwater dissolved the calcium carbonate from the shell and cemented the loose, shelly sediment into rock. The word coquina means "tiny shell" in Spanish. It was the name given to the clam (Donax variabillis) that was abundant on northeast Florida beaches. It is the predominant shell in the rock.
> 
> The coquina quarries located within Anastasia State Recreation Area are protected historic sites, listed on the National Register of Historic Places; nothing can be removed from them.


As for wooden ship ballast stones,
think stones easily carried by one or two men.
Here's a link for more info:

http://www.bwvkw.com/Research/Archaeology/BallastArch.aspx


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## B.Lee

Makes sense.

I figured ballast stones would have been smaller, but there would also be the off-chance that a larger stone could have been built into a large hull as a permanent ballast.  500 years later the ship might be gone, but not the rock.

I knew about the coquina formations, but most of those are not shaped like this one.  Those are flatter, more spread out, like those on the beach at Washington Oaks.  I never tied the two together, thanks for the link.

On a somewhat related note, can someone forward this to Al Gore and show him where the article states that in the past the sea levels were much higher, then immediately states the sea levels were much lower.  As the creater of the internet, he should look into this, as it makes him look stupid.


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