11/21 - Found my first school of reds on a flat

Got out and hour or so before low.
Noticed these poor guys:

Went over to check on them and they said they were waiting on the tide. It was gonna be a long wait so asked if they needed anything and i ended up taking one of the guys back to his truck at the dock. My first boater assist!

Hit a couple of spots before getting to a flat Ive fished a few times but with not a lot of luck. Was trolling slowly along the flat, mixing up throwing mix of topwater, mudminnow and paddle tail.Nothing at all, but after 10 mins of slow trolling along the bank I noticed some disturbance in the water, swirls and ripples.

First time ive found schooling reds on a flat on my own, and im thinking im going have a great day!. Well, i could not get a bite, I had them swirking round the mud minnow, nothing, threw my trued and trusted Vudu, nothing, tried a smaller vudu, nothing, Topwater, different plastics, not a touch. It was super frustrating as the school was there, lots of fish, and they wernt getting spooked or moving.

So i tried this weedless rig:

I fished it by barley twitching it along the bottom, and got my first bite :

I had another kinda tentative knock, so to me it seemed like they were very shy, so i replaced my leader with 8# and made it a lot longer. I also changed the weedless hook to a lighter one. By the way, its so much easier rigging a weedless rig with the hooks that have the lure retaining screw at the eye.

That change seemed to do the trick, I had another 7 or 8. Once i started catching them i did experiment and throw out a minnow, shrimp and topwater again, but it was the same thing. no bites.

Feel like i learned a lot today and found it very rewarding to figure out a way to get

Nice fish, kudos to you for checking if those guys needed help

Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.

Great day and learning experience. The one time I saw a big school on the flat we couldn’t get close enough to them to cast. They stayed together and moved along slowly staying plenty far away from us.

Frustration at its finest!!! I generally find fish that are like yours that I call “Pressured Fish” meaning that these fish are being harassed all the time and have seen every lure in your arsenal and also get keen on identifying when a boat is near by…low tide fish act completely different than mid to upper tide. They become prey during this time at low tide rather than being a predator. I have to catch these fish throwing out of the ordinary baits in order to get the tight lips to open. Long long casts with little or no weight increases the odds and I mean 50-60 yard casts with only your choice if bait and hook. Sounds simple but the wind is the worst factor of it all.

“If you can’t fix a woman, chase some tail with fins and fur!!!”

2008 Sea Pro 1900cc w/115

(2) Daughters that make the boys cry

(1) wife that makes her husband take the kids outdoors to chase their dreams!

I tend to have success anticipating where the school is heading and casting head about 30 yards. Then leave the grub and jig head sitting on the bottom. About 50% of the time one will pick it up.

Mark Ingle
1660 SeaArk w/ 50HP Tohatsu
…Engineered to fish!!!

Good for you, drterry! Nothing quite as rewarding as finding’em on your own and then figuring out how to get bit. If you’re anything like me, those two things (find them and figuring out what they want) are my favorite parts of fishing. Plus, the main reason I throw artificials all the time (other than I have to constantly be active when I’m fishing) is I like the challenge of tricking a predator into eating something that isn’t real, especially when they’re surrounded by the real thing. Very rewarding. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

And that color, while always in my arsenal, sees a lot of action this time of year. :wink:

“You don’t always know where you stand till you know that you won’t run away.” ~Slipknot

Good adjustment

[Thanks Bang, couldnt have said it better, very rewarding finding then figuring it out. Thing was they werrnt really moving, and i was pretty close to them, like maybe 30 yards or so.

Went out Saturday thinking “im getting the hang of this” and was promptly humbled, caught about 6 trout and by the time I headed home I was on plan Z!. Very dirty water, lots of debris, but had a dolphin i have been seeing for ever on the waterway (top of dorsal fin missing) follow me for about 90 minutes as i trolled up a bank. That was pretty cool tho it prob didnt help the fishing aspect.

cheers

quote]Originally posted by bangstick

Good for you, drterry! Nothing quite as rewarding as finding’em on your own and then figuring out how to get bit. If you’re anything like me, those two things (find them and figuring out what they want) are my favorite parts of fishing. Plus, the main reason I throw artificials all the time (other than I have to constantly be active when I’m fishing) is I like the challenge of tricking a predator into eating something that isn’t real, especially when they’re surrounded by the real thing. Very rewarding. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

And that color, while always in my arsenal, sees a lot of action this time of year. :wink:

“You don’t always know where you stand till you know that you won’t run away.” ~Slipknot
[/quote]

I’m not a Dr, those are my initials and I cant edit my user name. Please do not contact me regarding medical issues :slight_smile:

Good job on finding them flats fush!

As far as the high and dry part… well if you haven’t been in a similar situation, well your turn won’t be far away if you continue to venture out on the water LOL… how’s the old saying go… it’s not a matter of if but when! It happens:stuck_out_tongue:

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”

quote:
Originally posted by StumpNocker

Good job on finding them flats fush!

As far as the high and dry part… well if you haven’t been in a similar situation, well your turn won’t be far away if you continue to venture out on the water LOL… how’s the old saying go… it’s not a matter of if but when! It happens:stuck_out_tongue:

Right, been there done that. Worse error was jumping out of boat with no shoes right on to the oyster bar! Deck looked a horror movie with all the blood!

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”


I’m not a Dr, those are my initials and I cant edit my user name. Please do not contact me regarding medical issues :slight_smile:

quote:
Originally posted by drterry
quote:
Originally posted by StumpNocker

Good job on finding them flats fush!

As far as the high and dry part… well if you haven’t been in a similar situation, well your turn won’t be far away if you continue to venture out on the water LOL… how’s the old saying go… it’s not a matter of if but when! It happens:stuck_out_tongue:

Right, been there done that. Worse error was jumping out of boat with no shoes right on to the oyster bar! Deck looked a horror movie with all the blood!

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”


I’m not a Dr, those are my initials and I cant edit my user name. Please do not contact me regarding medical issues :slight_smile:


Keep some Clorox and peroxide on board for such issues. You can get some nasty infections from oyster cuts!

Sounds like you are really getting the fishing thing dialed in!! The best fishermen I know are the ones that go often. I don’t care who you are, there is a skunk for most every one, that is if you take away stingrays and sharks. :smiley:

Those spooky flats fish are where a fly rod really shines. I’m not a hard core fly fisherman, but I do enjoy it. I think of it as a tool for a job. Sometimes fish are keyed in on little tiny baits like grass shrimp, or sometimes super spooky. A fly rod allows you to project a little tiny lure a long way. Try to cast a fly with a spinning rod! I have found a simple hook with sparse bucktail on it (no lead eyes, just a hook) is an amazing way to catch these spooky reds. It lands on the water like a feather and ever so slightly sinks. If you cast it ahead of a school just let it suspend and one will likely pick it up. That’s about the end of the fun because in cold water redfish fight like a wet sock LOL

BTW this is a fun time of year to trout fish with a fly rod. Any old clouser or deceiver will do. They CRUSH it :slight_smile:


1966 13’ Boston Whaler “Flatty”
2018 Sportsman Masters 207
www.eyestrikefishing.com #predatorsstriketheeye

quote:
Originally posted by Optiker

Those spooky flats fish are where a fly rod really shines. I’m not a hard core fly fisherman, but I do enjoy it. I think of it as a tool for a job. Sometimes fish are keyed in on little tiny baits like grass shrimp, or sometimes super spooky. A fly rod allows you to project a little tiny lure a long way. Try to cast a fly with a spinning rod! I have found a simple hook with sparse bucktail on it (no lead eyes, just a hook) is an amazing way to catch these spooky reds. It lands on the water like a feather and ever so slightly sinks. If you cast it ahead of a school just let it suspend and one will likely pick it up. That’s about the end of the fun because in cold water redfish fight like a wet sock LOL

Its funny you say that as I used to fly fish a lot back in the UK, and was thinking the exact same thing. In fact there was another boat the other side of the WW fly fishing and I tried to get him on the VHF to get him to come over and try!

This time next week tho I will be in Trinidad fishing for Tarpon and JR is bringing some fly rods, so maybe I will get lucky!

cheers

BTW this is a fun time of year to trout fish with a fly rod. Any old clouser or deceiver will do. They CRUSH it :slight_smile:


1966 13’ Boston Whaler “Flatty”
2018 Sportsman Masters 207
www.eyestrikefishing.com #predatorsstriketheeye


I’m not a Dr, those are my initials and I cant edit my user name. Please do not contact me regarding medical issues :slight_smile:

quote:
Originally posted by Fred67
quote:
Originally posted by drterry

[quote]Originally posted by StumpNocker

Good job on finding them flats fush!

As far as the high and dry part… well if you haven’t been in a similar situation, well your turn won’t be far away if you continue to venture out on the water LOL… how’s the old saying go… it’s not a matter of if but when! It happens:stuck_out_tongue:

Right, been there done that. Worse error was jumping out of boat with no shoes right on to the oyster bar! Deck looked a horror movie with all the blood!

Fishing Nerd

“skilled labor isn’t cheap, cheap labor isn’t skilled”


I’m not a Dr, those are my initials and I cant edit my user name. Please do not contact me regarding medical issues :slight_smile:


Keep some Clorox and peroxide on board for such issues. You can get some nasty infections from oyster cuts!

Yes Sir, I have some of that wound washout stuff from CVS after a nasty treble hook experience…

I’m not a Dr, those are my initials and I cant edit my user name. Please do not contact me regarding medical issues :slight_smile: