I always like fishing after a storm system passes through…everything just seems to come to life out on the water. Instead of organizing for a math exam next week, I decided to get a quick evening session out on my original Ocean Kayak. I immediately found fish and had a couple come unglued…still not liking the hook-up ratio on the savage gear shrimp. I moved back into my favorite mud flats in between the IOP connector and SI bridge and the water was teeming with life. Managed to catch and release a couple redfish anywhere from 15-17". I also used this trip as a learning experience and hopefully I can pass along some tips to anyone looking to get into sight fishing:
Now that water visibility is pretty low and their is an excess of bait back in the creeks or up on flats, it may be hard to distinguish a large mullet from a redfish when sight fishing in shallow water. I observed 3-4 characteristics of each species to help distinguish the two and save time and frustration:
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Mullet are constantly moving and sort of glide through the water. Their wake is relatively small and they will most likely be moving with other mullet. A redfish will most likely be lazily working its way through the water and if they are pushing bait, their wake is MUCH larger- a redfish will let you know if you are to close and exit with a large splash and large wake. Again mullet tend to glide away and don’t make much of a commotion.
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I’ve observed that a feeding redfish tends to make a large popping sound in shallow water…much more distinguishable than a mullet breaking the surface or even jumping. Also, a mullet’s constant motion and erratic swimming pattern are pretty distinguishable and not associated with the behavior of a redfish. Again, a redfish will lazily be scanning the bottom and moves relatively slow.
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The last and most obvious one is the unmistakable electric blue tail and deep copper body of a redfish. There vibrant colors are pretty noticeable in the water (with a good pair of pollarized sunglasses o
