Jeff Wyman and I went North this morning up around Dismal Key. We knew it was the first day after the Big Front but the wind was out of the Northeast and we had high hopes. There are a few clear patches but the water remains murky in most places. It will clear rapidly with this High Pressure and Nor’east wind. Extremely low tides, which we like. We had to skate over the shoals at low tide, turning and planeing and tilting at the same time. We checked out a few new spots, saw a few red’s, then Jeff got one in the Secret Spot. Redfish on fly, Everglades Style.
Cold fronts are beginning to move through in regular succession. If you get caught during the front the fishing will stink. But if you catch that High moving slowly away, and that steady Northeast wind, “Fuhgit’ Aboud it”. Red’s and snook.
Snook are on the prowl. This is one of the best times of year to catch that thirty inch snook, on fly. They are growing fast, feeding well and chunking up for the winter. We caught eleven snook today, fishing a jig on the after deck and a fly rod on the fore. We passed up chances at smaller snook throughout the day. All caught poling in the shallowest water we could find. We even went sight fishing for permit on one of the sand flats (we got one last week) except the only permit we saw turned out to be a blowfish. Lizardfish, blue crab, catfish, stick and boot, all on fly. Lots of sunshine, turtles, porpoises, bull sharks of dangerous proportions, manatees, hawks chasing plovers, alligators attacking the endless strings of mullet. Don’t eat the fried mullet gizzards.
There are loose groups of snook on the shoals at low tide. Clear conditions, breezy offshore winds, you can see them in groups of seven or more at a time, some of them are in the thirty inch class along with lots of smaller fish. Redfish are providing some regular action and this offshore, cooling trend should improve the sight fishing for red’s in particular. The best action is still early if the tide is low at midday but that may change with this new weather.