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We have once again been spared the wrath of any serious tropical weather. Others in neighboring states have not been so fortunate. Flooding has caused most of the damage. We have had a bit of rain this week. But that hasn’t hampered the morning shift of fishermen too much. Even though the wind has been blowing out of the east, the waves are rolling in from the west at a fair tempo. That can make the water appear rather dirty. It also makes gathering bait more challenging. There has been no shortage of finger mullet. They are the next best things to shiners. The one phenomenon that I believe in that is associated with weather is barometric pressure. It has been fluctuating since the advent of hurricane Earl. The ups and downs of the barometer can make fish moody. Therefor, catching them has been hit and miss. Overall, fishing has been good.
When you are out poking around, many times you will see fish showering finger mullet. You usually see the mullet when you don’t need them because you already have shiners or you decided that you would throw plugs that day. Take a mental note of where you saw that action. When you need finger mullet, many times you can go to that spot and get some. Usually they are in shallow undisturbed coves. I usually free line them with no weight. Snook, redfish, and just about any other finny creature can’t resist them. Because the shiners have been scarce, that is what some of us have been using for bait.
Everyone that I talked to this week had well-rounded fishing days. There were moments when you had to dodge the rain. At times the wind would blow hard too. I had several days where we caught our limit of keeper snook and reds. One thing that we have noticed is that the small "rat" reds are starting to trickle in. That’s normal for this time of year. It usually means that the larger reds will show up and start to school. When you do find a school of redfish, you can have everybody on the boat hooked up at once. It is not uncommon to have double-digit days.
There are still some medium to large tarpon around as well. Most of the tarpon that we have been catching have been small. That is because we have been beating the bushes for snook. Everybody has snook fever now that the season is open. The smaller tarpon will often lie under the bushes just like snook do. They can be a handful on ten-pound test. Whatever your target species is, now is a good time to pursue it. The water temperature is perfect for all species.
If the tropical disturbances ever tame down, I have a feeling that the fish will really "light up". The only way that you will know for sure is to be there when it happens.
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