Went out with Pnels after work on Friday and this afternoon. Netted a couple dozen shrimp in the river then headed out to the harbor. Caught a rat red immediately on a cork, then a couple blues that we chunked up and threw out into the channel. Slow fishing for about an hour after the tide turned, then Pnels’ Stradic started screaming and he pulled in the one and only big boy of the evening, around 40". A few more small blues and trout and we called it a night.
Saturday had similar conditions, very light wind, incoming tide, water temp around 63 (not sure how accurate my fishfinder is). Same method, more success. There were a few boats anchored where we usually fish so we set up on the outside closer to the fort. Fortunately they were fishing and we were catching. Got a few smaller reds and trout before pulling in the first bull at 33". The bite slowed down for a bit until right after sunset when Pnels hooked and landed a nice 36 incher. He was extra lazy, took us about 5 minutes to revive him before he finally swam off. Pulled anchor and took a nice satisfying cruise home.
Nice man, congrats! that spot seems to be better on an incoming tide than the outgoing. I was hoping to hear that there were still plenty of scrimp to catch with the water temp dropping so much and fast last week(if that alone would even make them leave or go deep or disappear to wherever they go). I was deer hunting last weekend and was in GA but the divers at work told me it(H2O temp at IOP) dropped around 20 deg! From upper 70’s to upper 50’s. 63 sounds about right on the water temp b/c monday morning it was 57 on the diver’s thermometer and we had some warm days since then.So, it probably came up 5 degrees. My plan for reds tomorrow, which has been my pattern for a month or more now, is to load up on the biggest shrimp i can find and fish docks and oysters that i know hold fish during certain stages of the tide. Sounds rather trivial, but i assure you it took me all week to decide my plan of attack for Sunday.I think i am going to target trout for a bit when the tide is in and reds when its lower. This time of the year is about when i will start to fish more artifials and start doing it very slowly and with great finesse. Not that i dont fish atrificals all year, i just do things a bit different from about mid Nov thru late March.I will likely be fishing a good bit of artis tomorrow but i am just going to get me some nice looking live baits for good measure and to eat some of them my self. My plan for trout is to fish a bit deeper on steep drop offs, creek mouths and along the grass line over oyster shells. Ive also been saving my self a good chuck of change by eating redfish,trout,and flounder topped with shrimp. I only keep fish reds under 20 inches to eat too because they taste better. I Only keep trout under 20 inches because i want the bigger ones to go back in and make more. Hard to beat food so fresh its often still alive when I clean and I cook it very shortly thereafter,never goes into the freezer:stuck_out_tongue: I usually catch and release but dang thats a tasty meal and it doesnt cost anything(i know,
Yea we have fished it on the outgoing once before and caught absolutely nothing, you just have to time it right and cast to the right spot. Looking to experiment with some artificials like tt’s and zmans, we have just had so much luck with live bait there hasnt been a need for it as of yet. Plenty of bait in the water, caught a trip’s worth of mullet and shrimp on friday and just shrimp today in 15 or so casts. And I agree, if you can catch something worth eating, you sure as hell should, something that’s “free” is better than nothing. Always tastes better when you know you caught it yourself.
