Both the weather and the fishing have been spectacular the past two weeks. The redfish continue to tail aggressively throughout the day and have been our main target. Fishing has been about as good as it gets and it has been a sight fisherman's paradise. Some areas are holding schools of up to several hundred fish while other locations have singles and small groups. The best part has been that nearly all the fish have been feeding when we find them. They are still targeting small crabs and shrimp. You can often see the shrimp skipping across the surface as they try to escape.
I have been on the water nearly every day for the past two weeks with clients using both fly and spinning tackle. While there have been an abundance of fish, the catching success has varied. For the fly anglers, they key to success is getting the fly to the fish quickly. Too many false casts, and the fish will spook before your fly hits the water. For the spin tackle anglers wanting to sight fish, casting accuracy will determine how many you will catch.
Last Friday, Kevin has shots at dozens of schools of redfish tailing on the flats at the beginning of the day. He landed one nice redfish and had several come unhooked.
Monday, I was on the water before dawn with Dan, his wife, and son to watch the launch of the space shuttle.
We began fishing shortly after liftoff. Both father and son landed a redfish.
After dropping off my clients, I called Capt. Drew to meet me at the ramp for a couple hours of fun fishing as the weather was perfect. I tried several lures on tailing redfish and found the clear DOA shrimp to be the most effective.
On Tuesday's fly fishing trip, Rich had shots at tailing redfish all day long but never quite got the fly to them and did not hook up.
Wednesday, I fished with Jason, Erin, and six year old Jake. After watching some dolphins and manatees, we hit the flats and were soon surrounded by schools of redfish. They all caught their first Mosquito lagoon redfish.
Yesterday, Rich returned with his son Mike for another attempt at catching a redfish on fly. Again, we encountered school after school of tailing redfish but the fly never quite got to the fish. As the day progressed, the wind began to pick up and both guys opted to switch to spinning gear. After several bites on the clear DOA shrimp, Rich finally landed a redfish.
Next week will start with some high winds but hopefully we will soon return to the perfect conditions we have been experiencing during the past two weeks. Most of the fish have been in extremely shallow water while feeding. Noise on the deck of the boat, trolling motors hitting the bottom, and too many boats in one area will quickly turn them off. Poling, drifting and wading will get you much closer to happy fish. Once you are in range, speed and accuracy are the number one keys to success. The longer you wait, the more time the fish have to sense your approach.
