Aug 31, 2010
Prior to strong winds the bite was very good! It was possible to catch a seatrout or redfish on nearly every cast. Most of these fish are undersized. However was possible to put together a nice mess of fish. One fisherman said it seems early for whiting. Nonetheless despite lots of rain fishermen can find a nice whiting bite in the sounds. Fishermen fishing for redfish this week are finding better results on the outgoing tide. A strong east wind means redfish will push back into the grass earlier in the tide cycle. Lots small ladyfish in the sounds and river. Ladyfish are an excellent tarpon/shark bait. Tarpon are in the sounds! These fish will likely stick around for a couple of more weeks. Great places to target these is where tidal energy builds up and bait fish abound. Jacks can be seen cruising the inland waterways. Jacks will readily take a variety of poppers, flies, artificials as well bait. Flounders can be found in tidal creeks. Last week there was one report from Salt Pond of one group catching 30 flounders! This is a great time of the year to target flounders! Pitching soft white grubs can be effective in catching flounders. Lots of finger mullet and small menhaden in the tidal creeks. Finger mullet and small menhaden are great bait for seatrout, redfish and flounder! You can avoid some of the small fish like pinfish, yellow tail and croaker when fishing a finger mullet but small bluefish love to chomp through a finger mullet leaving a bloody head. There are lots of small bluefish out there.
The bite has been mercurial. Fishermen who found fish have able to limit out on seatrout, redfish and flounder. One fisherman said he caught what would have been the equivalent of two limits of seatrout, redfish and flounder. Some of the flounder reported in the 20 inch range! That said some very good fishermen have gone out and gotten skunked. Conditions are critical and nature has the final say.
When fishing ideal conditions and nothing happens just keep looking. As barometric pressure drops seatrout can bite very light. Once the pressure stabilizes the bite will return. Last Friday just before the front the bite was good, almost every cast. The following day as front impacted local waters the bait was way off.
Tides are building after Labor Day. Could be a good time to look for redfish back in the grass! Fishing could be challenging. Look for clean water and not too much current.
Hope this of help!
Capt. Jack McGowan