August 2009:
The first of the month continued with very warm waters and temperatures. A couple of positive signs are evident. The days are getting shorter and there are millions of small bait fish (sardines or white bait) everywhere. As the days get shorter, the amount of intense sunshine baking the flats and shallow waters is considerably less. This gives the bays and backwaters more time to cool down during evening hours. Also the fish react to shorter days by changing their migration patterns and feeding habits to coincide with the coming fall season. Snook will start moving off the beaches to inhabit the mangrove shore lines and barrier islands. Redfish will start to push and gang up on the flats next to most of the same mangrove shore lines. All fish will be feeding on many herds of small fry baits that seem to be on every flat, along channel edges and under all the bridges. I call this size bait "next month's bait". Just a little too small to use now, 1 1/2 to 2 inches, but in four to five weeks, they will be the perfect size, 3 to 4 inches. Use the top of the incoming tide and get up on those flats right next to the mangroves, and search along the shallows. Look for very active waters such as lots of mullet schools and bait fish in the area.
This is exactly the approach I used with Bernard, from Orlando. He joined Salt Aire for some inshore fishing and possibly his first redfish. He brought his fly rod for maybe a shot at that first redfish. We were able to get up on the shallow grass flats using the top of the tide and cool early morning conditions. Water temperature was now 83 degrees. That's considerably cooler than the 90 degrees a week earlier. The recent rains and shorter days can account for this. Redfish were present but didn't seem too interested in the fly Bernard was throwing. We also threw Top Dog Jr. floating plugs and enticed a few strikes but no solid hookups. We moved south a few miles to a long stretch of grass flats with lots of sand areas mixed in. We covered this area rather quickly throwing several different plugs and a variety of jigs such as Gulps and Cals. We saw a couple of fish but no takers.
The tide was still in our favor so I headed back to the previous spot to see if those reds were hungry for some live baits. It didn't take long for the reds to turn on to the live baits we were throwing. Bernard landed four nice upper slot size fish. Two were right at the 27 inch limit. Congrats on first redfish.
On the way to the next location, we saw a school of yellowtail jacks working a bait pod. I stopped so Bernard could pull out the fly rod. He took a couple of throws and hooked up immediately. He caught a couple of fish and the jacks moved off. Always be ready for the unexpected while fishing because it can add to the excitement.
We ended the day on some trout flats and caught quite a few small fish. Also we landed a blue fish and one spanish mackerel.
It's good to see the water temperature has cooled somewhat because that will send the fishing or catching over the top.
Capt. Gary Burch
AllCatchCharters.com/
captgary@saltaireinc.com
727 458-6335
