Gabriela has fished with me before, the last time with her companion David. The first trip we started off a bit slowly with an occasional trout here and finally a redfish there, but eventually got on the redfish in a big way. In true Ladylike fashion Gabriela out fished David by about 3 fish to 1, it sometimes happens. On my boat it happens quite often if I have my way sorry, David… He’s never really forgiven me I fear!

More recently Gabriela joined me again, solo as David was unable to make this particular date. We missed you pal and so did the fish.

Stop 1 put us on 2 schools of slot reds and she scored her first red of the morning after I was able to search them out in the chocolate milk colored waters the mullet were stirring up. A quick pic and back in the river it went and some more searching we did. The next hour produced 3 more hook-ups, but only 1 more boated redfish.

The dirty waters in this area made keeping tabs on the fish difficult at best, but they ate the Exude RT Slugs in all white without hesitation once they were located and the bait presented to them.

We decided a move was in order, cleaner water was my hope and I knew more reds and possibly some black drum were schooling to the north of our current location. Boy, was this a good decision…

The next 2 ½ hours were every anglers dream! Gabriela stayed busy with catching black drum. Her first blackie on a white spoon the rest on live shrimp rigged with a circle hook. How many did she catch? I don’t honestly know, I remember counting number 9 and from there it’s anyone’s guess. Probably a couple of more, the fished ranged in weight from 5 to 10 pounds and 4 were invited home to dinner.

The best part of the trip, other than Gabriela’s very cool company, was no other boats encroached upon us as we were obviously wreaking havoc upon these fish. Several went by us seemingly oblivious to our antics or Gabriela’s laughter.

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While most of the windy days are few and far in between, we still have a few days and passing fronts that can make for challenging days on the water. When the wind lays down we are often gretted with tailers in very shallow water and they are eagerly taking a well placed soft plastic or Fly, your choice! When the wind is up a bit we are fishing areas that are holding fish and live and or dead baits will produce fish when sight casting is impossible. Average days are yeilding multiple opportunities at slot sized fish with a few fish to 34 inches mixed in. Black drum as well as some very nice gator trout have been landed this past week and should continue to bite with the current conditions. In a few weeks we can expect to have better conditions daily and the spring mullet run will send most of the fish on a feeding frenzy aggressively attacking topwater lures and larger jerk baits on light tackle. The Fly angler can look foward to tailing fish on the flats with multiple opportunities in a morning or evening trip. Crab and shrimp patterns have been taking the most fish in the past few weeks but baitfish patterns will slowly take over.

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It’s BIG redfish time boys and girls; well at least it’s the traditional season for them. In truth we’ve been catching a few of the trophy sized reds since January.

While I’m pecking away at the keyboard we have a bitter cold front moving through the area. This type of weather is the only combination of factors which will quickly put a damper on my plans to fish for trophy reds. Only strong winds or only cloudy skies or only water temps a bit cooler than we like and we can still usually find a group or two of big fish to entertain ourselves with. Put all of these factors together and an angler quite literally strikes out at the chance for a trophy in the sight-fishing arena.

Luckily by this time of year the cold fronts begin to spread out and the water temperatures slowly climb to the redfish’s optimum range. Within this optimum temperature range the redfish often manifest a certain amount of aggression which helps the angler actually catch these awesome fish.

While live and cut bait will account for most of these trophies we’ve caught countless MONSTER (20 to 40+ pounds) redfish on Exude soft plastic baits. So can you, in fact if you are lucky enough to be the first angler to approach a school of trophy class redfish a well placed soft plastic lure will often be accepted by these heavily fished bruisers. Stealth and finesse are key factors in capturing that trophy of a life time, especially if you want to fool them rather than feed them!

As spring continues to warm the waters it not uncommon for some of the fish to break free of the school or the entire school itself may work their way onto the shallow flats in search of crabs and shrimp buried in the grass. This is another prime time to offer these brutes an artificial bait. I usually start with an Exude Cajun Crab and let the waters clarity dictate the color.

I’ll instruct my clients to inch the crab slowly up to the tailing redfish, moving the plastic bait ONLY when the fish’s tail is breaking the surface. My theory is if the tail is underwater the fish is already spooked or looking for the plastic,,,,

This is Captain Mark signing off: May your rods bend, your drags scream & your knots hold!

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With the rather mild winter we are having this year, the water temperatures have not had a great effect on the fish or their habits. Most mornings we are able to find tailing redfish on the flats and good numbers of seatrout mixed in. Black Drum have been mixed in with several smaller schools of redfish and are also eagerly eating a live shrimp or a well cast fly. These fish have been very weary and will typically run for several hundred yards before sitting down again for a second shot. Slot sized fish in the 5-7lb class are forming groups of 15-40 fish and can be found feeding agressively around most of the common bars.

The trophy redfish are feeding as much as they need to {season/temp/10 year old fish} and on average days we are picking up fish to 30 lbs, however most are in the 15-20 lb class. Most days have been limited to 2-3 fish as they are not looking for a big meal. Dark shrimp and crab patterns have been the best fly to use the past month, although a pinfish (hi tie) worked will entice a strike when the conditions allow.

This time of year is the time you want to be here at the right time......everyday has the potential to be a trip of a lifetime !!

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If there is one bit of advice an angler could benefit from during his or entire fishing life it would be adapt to the conditions you are presently faced with. I know this sounds rather obvious, but I often see the same anglers fishing the same aquatic real estate day after day in the same exact manner. Too, these self proclaimed experts usually are seen fishing in the same direction with no apparent consideration to wind direction or sun positioning.

I often ask myself if these folks who normally catch a redfish or two doing things the “HARD WAY” might not catch a boat load if they put a little more thought into their approach? One needs to ask the question; is visibility more important right now or is casting distance what’s truly needed? Answer this query and act accordingly by putting some thought into the process.

A case in point is a recent AFTERNOON outing which I seldom do because of strong P.M. winds. My clients were forced to make difficult casts INTO the wind as I positioned the boat to capitalize on the sun angle, helping me see the redfish. In short this technique paid huge dividends as one angler quickly made the perfect cast to a school of giant redfish.

His live shrimp was eagerly inhaled by a 23 pound trophy red that battled hard for a quarter of an hour. The 42 in fish was a personal best for Corrie, who was in our area on business and decided a little diversion was in order! I simply can not argue with that…..

This is Captain Mark signing off: May your rods bend, your drags scream and your knots hold!

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We are having a rather mild winter and the water temperatures have not dropped low enough to cause any significant change in the patterns of the fish in the mosquitolagoon. Most mornings have been fishable with a few outstanding Ideal conditions days thrown in. Bluebird skies have resulted in some of the best sight fishing the mosquito lagoon has to offer. Tailing redfish on the flats have been the prime target along with some exceptional Gator Trout mixed in for some explosive topwater action. Groups of 10 to 25 fish are common on most days and they are eagerly eating a well placed lure in front of the group. Several groups of Black Drum are also foraging on the flats and offer a change from the normal fishing. Most of these Black Drum are in the 5-10 lb class and when not spooked will eat.
This time of the year can be challenging with the winds and water levels rising and falling along with cold fronts, some days are simply better than others. Fly anglers are having good success with crab patterns in natural colors and shots at 20 to 30 fish are common. We are also catching some trophy sized redfish on days when conditions are favorable. Most of the Larger fish have been in the 20-30 lb class, although there are some larger fish starting to show up and by the end of the month should be grouped up well in several areas for some exciting light tackle or Fly action. Average days are producing multiple shots at a variety of species depending on the weather.

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Many thanks to Capt. Pat Murphy for his help in today’s taping of an up-coming episode of Wranglers of the (not so) Deep. This show will air this coming Sunday on CW-18 @ 6AM. Beginning on March 23rd the series will move to a 10AM time slot and all episodes will be re-aired.

The title will leave you to believe that all of the fishing seen on this program will be Blue Water and until this episode that’s been the case. I feel lucky and privileged to be the first shallow water Captain to be included in this series.

The day started later than anticipated as our Host and production crew had a bit of difficulty finding Riverbreeze Park. Once everyone arrived we headed to a popular destination which Capt. Pat has been fishing recently.

Within 5 minutes of dropping off-plane we located several groups of redfish and much to my surprise Pat and I were able to keep them to ourselves. You’ll need to watch the show to see WHO the best fisherman of the group is, but several fish were landed in short order.

The show was literally in the can in an hour’s time. We changed location after these fish caught on to us in an attempt for a few more fish and some filler footage. No more fish came to the boat, although the Host did miss a solid bite and a fine time was had by us all!

Thanks again to my good friend Captain Pat. I hope to return the favor soon……..

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The weather is right and the fish are very cooperative on most days. early mornings have been greeted with tailing fish along the shallows and larger breeders starting to form groups of 50-75 fish in the mid day sun. Some mornings are cooler than others which means a delicate presentation is cruicial. After the sun is up the fish are actively feeding on crab and shrimp patterns fished close to the bottom. Several schools of black drum have been in the same areas as the redfish and are offering anglers a variety of fish to target.

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