Winds have limited trips the last week so I was very anxious to get back into fishing mode. Good news bait was right where it was last week. Several tosses of my Calusa 10' ¼" net did the job right at sunrise. With the time change tonight it was be light Sunday until after 730 am!
Starting at low tide .04 we targeted sandy potholes in 2-3' of 70 degree water. We took several chunky 17-18" spotted sea trout on a large grass flat. White bait under a float with 24" of fluorocarbon leader finished with a 1/0 circle hook did the trick. This same rig worked on all 4 stops today.
As the tide was roaring in I moved us onto a local mangrove island targeting mullet schools 100 yards from the mangroves. Our first redfish hammered a white bait and fought like a bulldozer in 2' of water. Soon Dan followed that with a true monster. Using light spinning tackle Dan's rod was bent double! The red went around the boat several times before Dan got it boat side. A couple of quick pictures and a safe release allowed the fish to fight another day. Every Redfish was over 30".
Our next move was to a series of sandy potholes tight to oyster bars that I have been taking big trout all winter. Once again the spot yielded big dividends with a quick double header of 22" trout. After several nice trout at 20" we had a big blow up. I heard redfish but knew by the head shake it was a big trout. A real beauty measuring 25.5" was now in the live well.
Captain Steven Markovich
