Wednesday night made up for Tuesdays wind blown cancellation. WNW winds less than 10 mph was a pleasure after yesterday's gusts over 25. Yesterday we headed to the Weedon Island area for a sunset and early evening snook charter. I duplicated a trip from early May and was pleased with the results.
With high tide at 3 pm Captain Steven would be fishing his personal favorite the early part of the outgoing tide. I believe snook and redfish that have been up in the safety of the mangroves the last hour or 2 get aggressive when bait is flushed out of the mangroves. I have had several charters lately where we had slow going at high tide but instant action once it started to run out. Professional and amateur Captains alike all have theories and favorites times to fish but as often as they work the times that should be slow are on fire and visa versa. At the end of the day it's still fishing!
Snook and Redfish we holding tight to the mangroves no real surprise. As your bait swam away from the mangroves most hits were redfish f the bait got 20' or more away chances were it was a 3 spine snook aka catfish. Tactic was simple keep frisky white bait tight to the mangroves and when the bait pulled out of the strike zone reel in and recast. Snook 18-22" and redfish of similar size were feeding aggressively once they were chummed. When the bite slowed I would toss another load of chummies up against the mangroves. Watch for the tell tale pop pop pop and cast. Fish on!
As it turned dark we moved into the canals off Venetian and Snell Islands. Target and well lit dock preferably docks with underwater lights. Captain Steven employs the same technique and set up as for mangroves fishing except I switch to a heavier fluorocarbon leader or 30 or 40 pounds.
I know the docks lights in this area very well and it was not long before we spotted snook popping baits. Cast into the shadows as I promise there are more snook you don't see than the ones in the lights. It only took several casts and the first snook were boated and safely released. We continued this pattern until a dock would shut off (the bite) and move to another dock light. Trout were very abundant and at times became a problem at times since we were targeting snook. We also took several snapper and a small redfish under the lights.
Remember to stealthy and not spook the snook or the residents who provide the lights we enjoy.
Capt. Steven
