March 10th, 2010
Ron and his son Hayden, who is home on spring break from FSU, came aboard the Salt Aire for a cool day of fishing.
We headed into the mangroves in search of redfish that were schooling up in the back shallow waters of Clearwater bay. All of the water in this area was two feet deep or less. This was making the redfish very leery of our presence. Water temperature was just above 60 degrees. Still very cold for this time of year.
After slowly creeping into the area, we tossed out live shrimp in front of a large group of fish. We waited and waited for the reds to get close enough to find our baits. Finally, one of the fish picked up the bait on Ron's line and took off, only to break it off on some oyster shells. That was tough luck, but it wasn't long after that, Hayden landed a nice 26 1/2 inch redfish. And he also caught another 26 inch fish in the same area.
The bite shut down and we took off to find the trout. The first couple of trout areas where completely void of fish.
The unusually cold water temperature has not let these fish settle into any real pattern. They are moving constantly, looking for warmer water.
We stopped off at one of the spoil islands where the trout like to school in the winter time and sure enough, they were there.
Both Ron and Hayden scored on numerous nice 18 to 20 inch trout. We were using live shrimp under a float and also a free lined set up with a small weight. Both rigs were catching fish.
Water temperatures this time of year should be around 70 degrees not 61. As soon as the waters start warming up, the fish will be more dependable and feed much better.
Capt Gary Burch
AllCatchCharters.com
captgary@allcatchcharters.com
727 458-6335
