Under dark skies and with lightening cells off in the distance, we met early in the morning to fish the rising tide. While the clouds hung around for the duration, we stayed dry for almost the entire charter. Started off fast catching bonnethead sharks with blue crab at slack low tide. After everyone had one in the boat, we switched over to popping corks and mud minnows. By the end of the day, everyone had caught a redfish as well. Will ended the trip with this 9lb. beauty!
Headed off to Ranger school on Monday, Luke and his family wanted to get some fishing in before he left home. Started the charter watching bluefish and smaller trout mess with our popping corks. Kept moving until we found a strong trout bite that lasted for almost an hour with Luke putting the largest keeper in the boat. He wasn’t done yet. As we finished the charter, Luke’s cork got smoked and a few minutes later he had a beautiful 11 pound redfish onboard! A fishing memory that will hopefully keep a smile on his face throughout training.
Tried fishing the big water as well as popping corks to start the charter without much luck. Fortunately, the tide was dropping out quick and let us get up onto the flats. Lots of action as reds smoked cut mullet. Brian’s first redfish ever turned out to be the biggest of the day at 29″. You can tell by his smile how happy he was!
After catching one shark after another, Ryland decided he would like to spend the rest of the charter casting. We switched over to popping corks and mud minnows and let them fly. Constant cork dropping action for the rest of the charter. Ryland showed us how it was done by putting this 18″ beauty in the boat!
While the weather has been quite hot, it hasn’t slowed the fishing down. Fishermen can try starting early in the morning where they can find fish chasing bait on the surface as well as lighter winds that allow them to sight fish on the flats. Evenings also offer cooler temperatures and a chance to target tailing redfish on big flood tides.
The redfish bite has been great. The large schools of redfish have now split up but you can still find pods of twenty to thirty fish, especially on the flats. Putting a scent trail in the water and an easy meal in front of redfish is a tactic likely to succeed. We usually put live mullet or cracked blue crab on the bottom with enough weight to hold it in place. Use circle hooks in size 3/0 combined with a heavy test line and watch those rods rip over!
The trout bite is getting steadily stronger. We’ve started catching a healthy number of larger trout mixed in with smaller fish. Fishing mud minnows on jigheads is quite effective and lets you get your bait in front of trout in deeper pockets. I use 1/8 oz. or 1/4oz. jigheads. You can use heavier jigheads but make sure their size is not significantly bigger than the bait. Try alternating the speed of your retrieve as you work through an area.
Spanish mackerel are plentiful and are often best found at first light. If you find schools of fish busting bait on the surface, toss reflective casting jigs and reel them quickly through the school. Move your boat gradually around the school; running through a pod of fish will put them down. If you know fish are present but not up top, try trolling Clark Spoons at different depths and different speeds.
See you on the water!
Found a few seams of calm weather in an otherwise windy stretch of days. We were able to pole on the flats and the redfish clearly did not mind the bouts of choppy water. Schools of redfish could be seen flashing their bellies in the sun as they fed. There were no takers on artificials so we switched over to cut mullet. It sure did the trick as we caught redfish up to eleven pounds. The bite stayed on for a solid two hours until the water got up into the grass.
The Hable family joined me again this year for a morning of family fishing. As the tide fell, we worked grassy banks with mud minnows under popping corks and quickly found consistent action. A mixture of trout and acrobatic ladyfish kept the the corks dropping. Somewhat torn, we left the bite to go in search of redfish under docks. The gamble paid off when Eric muscled a big red into the boat to end the charter!
Weeks full of sunny weather and warm temperatures have made our fishery come alive. Bait is everywhere and eager fish are chasing it down. Anglers have a wide array of options now that our seasonal species have arrived to compliment the traditional targets of redfish and trout.
Fishing for redfish remains very productive. Blue crab fished on the bottom is deadly. Remove the shell and legs of a blue crab and cut the body in half. Put a size 3/0 circle hook through the hole where the flipper fin used to be and make sure the hook point is exposed. No need to hold the rod, instead put it in a rod holder. Once that rod starts to bend, don’t touch it until the drag starts screaming!
As for trout, it is more of the same. Popping corks remain the way to go. Mud minnows and live shrimp are both performing well. Creek shrimp are starting to be large enough to net and use. If little fish keep picking at your live shrimp, switch over to a D.O.A. 3” artificial shrimp. Their Glow/Gold Rush Belly color has been quite productive.
Anglers targeting flounder have been reporting good numbers being caught. Work mud minnows or finger mullet along the bottom around structures. Move the bait gently along and when you think you have a bite pause a few seconds before setting the hook. We’ve been picking up quite a few flounder with mud minnows under a popping cork as well.
My favorite summertime fish is the ladyfish. With the warmer water temps, ladyfish will fill our waters. These exciting fish will readily eat bait under a popping cork and make your drag zing. Their acrobatic jumps and hard runs make these fish very entertaining. You’ll find them often in some of the same spots that you find trout.
See you on the water!
On a road trip from Washington, Nick and his friend Chad joined me for a couple of days on the water. Had beautiful sunny days with modest winds and these two really got after it! Played all parts of the tide cycles and found fish cruising in the grass at high tide and large schools on the flats at low tide. Whether the duo were working artificials, popping corks or fishing on the bottom, they caught redfish no matter what. See you guys again soon!
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