by Captain Mike Merritt
The rains are at peak, the heat is turned up high, and the bugs are out in full force. Sound like summer? Well, yes, but this is nothing new to us. And neither is the summer fishing! The mornings are nice and the fishing has remained great. Lately it seems if you can catch a good incoming tide in the morning you will catch fish. The Reds and Snook continue to cooperate. And the Tarpon are around wherever you find the big schools of mullet.
The Snook bite has been really good where you find current, bait, and an ambush opportunity for these fish. Usually slightly deeper than the surrounding water and being fed a flow of water that brings them the food. If you are fishing live bait and the spot does not produce within a couple minutes, move on. The bite is short and timing is everything. You might get a 1-2 hour window that is prime time, so don’t waste your time waiting for a bite. It will happen fast if they are there. And be ready to slide down to wherever you see some surface action. You might fish a spot and get several bites then it stops. Sometimes the fish are just moving in with the tide and you can follow them down a bank. Once that tide gets flood high it has been game over.
The Redfish bite has actually turned on these past couple weeks with more fish showing up. I have had some days recently where we have caught more Reds than Snook. That’s always a nice surprise. These fish have also been very aggressive on the incoming tide. They are eating anything that moves. It seems as long as you can make a good presentation along the bottom it will produce. Live bait of course is everywhere right now so if that’s your plan it’s been easy. Finger Mullet and small Pilchards are spread out throughout the islands and the Reds will eat either one. Fish a cork, a knocker rig, or freeline it. All this depends on water depth, current and size of baits. Live Shrimp from your local tackle shop is hard to beat for the Reds. But, jigs are also a great way to get the action and my favorite. DOA Cal Tails or Gulps are both deadly for the Reds. Size of the jig head always depends on reaching the bottom. Have a heavy enough head to work the bottom. 1/4 to 3/8 oz. is usually sufficient here in the islands. Let it bump along the bottom to get their attention!
Most of the catching you will do right now on the outside islands and shorelines will be Snook and Reds mixed together. I had a day this week where the anglers caught 50 fish and it was about half Snook and half Reds. They are both lots of fun. There are some Seatrout along the islands also but they are usually feeding separate from the Reds and Snook. Summer trout fishing is always slower now.
The Tarpon are feeding on either tide and where you find large schools of finger Mullet you have a good chance at finding some nice Tarpon. I fished a couple local boys this week and after a banner day catching Snook and Reds, the tide started falling and we found the Tarpon feeding on a huge flat eating the finger Mullet. Chase Stokes and Kingston Roberts quickly rigged up some finger Mullet and free lined them out to where the Tarpon were. It took about 2 minute for the 1st hook up and Chase fought and landed about a 50lb. fish on light line. Kingston had 2 fish eat and Chase had another one that was well over 100lbs. eat but as Tarpon fishing goes, we landed only one fish. But, that was a great action filled day and it was time to head in before the storms. Plan your day to beat the afternoon storms and it will be a great day on the water!
Good luck fishing and stay safe.
Capt. Mike Merritt
Guide | (561)252-4324 | SnookFishing1@juno.com
