Tailn'Jax 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Thursday 11-24: I decided to head out looking for some reds Thanksgiving day, and I neglected to look at the weather report. Well, thats kind of a lie, I knew it was going to be windy, but the weather man completely missed the boat. It was windy as hell out in the marsh. I started out at high tide, trying out a new intermediate line on some trout with a grey clouser. I got one legal fish, but thats it. I fished the rig throughout the day in different areas, with no more bites. The redfish were there, but the front shut them down a bit. I found a few fish backing and pushing bait, but until the tide turned I was unable to get in position on any of the fish. I had one situation with two nice upper slot reds backing side by side on a bank. I got one good shot at them, they didn't see the fly, and they kept going. I pulled anchor and followed them, only to come around the corner straight into a 20mph wind. Those fish were feeding their butts off, just out of my range. Anyway, I managed to get out of the wind a bit on incoming and caught a nice 24" fish to start things off. The fish were working now, but in typical windy day fashion, they popped up right in front of me and left me with little chance to get on them before they spooked. I found some nice spots out of the wind and sure enough found some fish in them. I caught another little red after I saw him bust right on an oyster bar a couple times. The current was ripping here, so I landed my fly above him, drifted it into the fish, and he ate. These fish are really fighting well now with the cooler water, I had a time landing this guy... I began heading back to the launch and encountered a couple more reds on the edge. One was another little guy... and the other was a nice red porpoising bait on the edge of the grass in a tight creek.... This last fish was beautiful, one of the deepest copper fish I have caught in a while, unfortunately it doesn't show in the picture. There were some folks having a get together on the back porch of the house behind me, and they watched the whole thing. They sent their little boy down with a beer after I had released the fish and wished me a happy Thanksgiving. It was a trying day to say the least, but grinding it out was worth it. All fish were caught on a brown and tan abomination. Friday 11-25: Headed out Friday afternoon again. It was windy, again. I found some fish early on the incoming tide, but they were not cooperative. Most of them were coming up and busting on the edge, with no consistency. I worked a group of fish for half an hour on an oyster bar with no takes. I ended up getting one around 5 this afternoon on a marsh demon.... Despite the windy conditions, the fishing is fantastic locally, and should continue to be good through December. We had some absolutely killer days last year in December with more fish feeding than you can imagine. My favorite time of the year to be in the marsh is now, have I said that before? Everyone has their feed bag on getting ready for winter, the water is clean, and the marsh is alive and well. Hope everyone had a great turkey day and weekend, Good fishing, Ryan Ryan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kirk Dietrich 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Ryan, did I ever say you're a die hard? Sounds challenging but fun! When you wrote about the redfish porpoising, it reminded me of a trip down out of Houma a few years ago when we were chasing redfish on the flats of a deep bayou. We heard some fierce crashing across the bayou and got our hopes up of bull reds crashing bait, when we turned to locate the source of the commotion, we saw a couple porpoises with their backs out of the water up on the flats chasing redfish! Next thing we knew, there were a couple more in front of us down the bayou on a flat we were working towards doing the same thing! I've seen porpoises chasing speckled trout before but them huge mammals backing like reds but chasing reds was amazing! Keep the reports coming. Good luck. Kirk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tailn'Jax 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Sounds awesome Kirk, they come up and crash the oysters on falling tide, eating reds and trout I would assume. Its crazy getting set up in the dark and hearing the dolphins move in to destroy your fishing area. As much as they ruin the fishing, I sure do like watching them do their thing. We get to see some of the coolest stuff people have no clue exists when out, would you agree? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lykos33 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 When I lived in the Destin Florida (Choctawhatchee Bay)area it was the porpoises always getting in the way of good fishing (including cast netting for mullet). When I lived in the Tampa area , the manatees were the p.i.t.a.! We would fish the power plants down around Apollo Beach (before they fenced it off for a sanctuary), and would have a dickens of a time with the big goofballs. We actually started buying old cases of lettuce to throw out to them so we could fish where they WEREN'T....Throw a head or 2 and fish like a mad man while the manatees were off eating it. As soon as we would enter the water these monsters would come up and start rubbing against us like a dog looking for a belly rub. That's cool for a little while , but when you are there to fish for big snook, it gets old trying to cast over and around those clowns... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tailn'Jax 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Haha, manatees are a PITA, they love to blow up under your yak and leave a hole of water the size of a volkswagon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Funny how the same animals behave differently in different areas. Where I am down in the 'Glades the dolphin chase snook just like they were after your reds. The snook will run down a bank at flank speed darting under every bit of structure they come to while these big gray torpedoes are throwing a three foot wake chasing after them... The only way the snook gets away is to find some structure that the dolphins can't negotiate.... Makes for one heckuva show in shallow bays where three feet is deep water. I know manatees can be a nuisance but I actively look for them in winter... since tarpon and manatees share the same temperature requirements, if you find the manatees - the tarpon will be close by in my areas. No manatees, no tarpon... Unlike manatees around urban areas, the ones I find in the backcountry never have a single scar or mark from a propeller. The big guys can move a lot quicker than you'd imagine and will actually explode and move out of the way 200 yards or more away when you're on plane heading toward an area where they're grazing. I think that they just can't distinguish danger around the big cities since there's too much noise in the water... Tight lines Bob LeMay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damselfly 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 NICE REDS !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DavidR 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 I have to agree Ryan the stuff one see's at o'dark thirty and in the marsh that most people would never believe always amazes me .... I recall seeing a school of Reds coming towards me one winters day .... when out of "nowhere" a porpoise exploded skyward up through the middle of the school, mouth wide open - Reds flying in every direction - screwed that school for the day but was an amazing sight. NOt had the manatee encounter yet ...had porpoise's come check me out ...I'm pretty sure one flirted with me one morning, swam beside me and gave me the eye. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kirk Dietrich 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Ryan, never thought about that but you're right. The marsh and outdoors in general can be a magical place. Kirk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agn54 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 Great report Jax. I feel you about the wind, I spent the holiday down in Sebastian and it was like a hurricane all weekend. Watching the porpoises feed can be exciting but as Lykos said, a nuisance as well. I have seen them send what had to be 15lb snook cartwheeling out of the water. Apparently they don't know it is rude to play with your food. A few months ago in Tampa, I caught about a 25 inch snook in one of the rivers. We had a porpoise around us so we got as close to the mangroves as we could but with the tide out couldn't right up against them. I released it towards the mangroves and the dumb thing did a 180 right under the boat. A few minutes later we heard a whoosh and turned around to see the snook a few yards off our stern 6 feet in the air. Manatees can be a PITA but can be helpful on the flats. Like rays, they stir up crap on the bottom and it can create a buffet of shrimp, crabs, etc for reds and they provide cover for snook. Too bad I think it is illegal to cast towards them Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
