Fish Catching Travel
Get up, go to the tackle store, and buy a bag of Strike King baits today!
All of us who fish the salt know that somewhat different from bass or other game fish, the fish on the salt really do have some specific feeding times. And when they are not biting you can have a tought day. Well to day was a perfect example of that. We headed out at 7 and I decided to first fish an outer island with a sandy shoreline. That produced exactly nothing. From there we hit 6 new places and caught exactly squat. The only bright spot was Shoedog had a good one come out of a tree top and hit but not hook up.
The tide was heading up, and it actually was up way earlier than forecast. It finally topped about 12 and then at 1:30 it started to fall. As soon as it did the bite was on.
Finally one in the boat.
And for the next 2 hours the fish were moving and so was the bait. We have seen lots of bait in some places, and of course that is where the fish are. We are throwing plastics right on the bank near cover, and if it is not moving when it hits the water you can easily go fishless. At this point it is 93 with 90% humidty and it is tough. So we are pounding the water, both fresh to keep hydrated, and the salt for the fish.
The Shoedog gets in the act.
So we kept flogging away and having a few bites. Now the tale of Shoedog continues. First he tosses it on a point and the minute it hit the water one blows up on it and he does not get it stuck. Then he gets hung up in a mangrove and I back the boat in while he gets it off. I hear a splash and in he goes. He was about to fall in so he jumped and only landed pocket deep. No harm no foul, but it was funny. It was the first time in all the years he has fished he has fallen out of the boat.
My second snook of the day.
But in the Shoedog’s case the drama was not over. He tosses his bait on another point and a really nice shook twice as big as these smokes it and the fight is on. It jumps a couple of times and we get him close and as I put the net in the water he freaks out, jumps over a foot in the air, and his gill plates cuts the 30lb fluro and is gone. A really tough deal, but these are tough fish. It was by far his best chance this week.
So we head to our best cove and Shoedog strikes again.
We didn’t come all this way to redfish, but we will take him.
Do not get me wrong, I am no Everglades expert, but from what I have read it explains the size of the fish. A few years ago the snook kill in Florida was bad enough it was closed for a year or more. So there are some big ones who survived the freeze like the one the other day, and then snook like this, who are the crop post freeze. And according to some, the redfish really took off during that period. Interesting how the ones we are catching are all the same size.
Every day is different down here. Today we saw only one tarpon, had no tarpon bites, and did not catch a trout. Part of not catching a trout is we are rarely throwing topwater now. We have caught a couple of fish on it, but it is just not worth the effort as the snook are just not having it. It has come down to white plastics with paddles tails jerked rapidly off the bank. And the funny thing about it, we found our best spots the first couple of days and though we keep fishing places, the good ones we found early have bait and fish. The bad ones have squat. Does say a lot for map study.
We are definitely both gettin a little tired. It is tough to fish 8 – 10 hours when it is this hot. But we soldier on. Tomorrow will probably be our last day to fish in the Everglades as we take off for Pine Island Sound on Thursday. The weather forecast has a 90% chance of rain Wednesday with some storms. So we will really hit it hard tomorrow just in case. And tomorrow for ^%$^ and giggles we will probably ballon a lady fish or a small jack, depending on which we catch first. We are seeing some really big sharks so it is time to try to catch one or two of them.
This has been another interesting trip. There is so much to learn here. Clearly live bait is the way to go of course, especially when the tide is up and they are hold up on the brushy points, but that is just not our thing. We will just take what we have learned, and add to it next trip, and there will be a next time. There are so many places and so little time. Like our area at home, we are taking it slow as we go. Lots of bars, shallow points, and mid bay humps. If you get stuck out here it could be ugly. If any of you have been fishing at home drop me line, just wondering how it has gone with the weather. So keep stopping and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
