Playing the wind, water and tides

On the rare occasion when everything lines up just right, be prepared to seize the opportunity. A friend once told me that success is; preparation that meets opportunity. Over the last few weeks the weather was unpredictable, but today everything weather, tides, water, work and projects all lined up perfectly for an afternoon fishing trip. However this opportunity was not for the typical day fishing, this was something different.

The wind was blowing from the WSW at a pretty good clip. Since this was a late day trip, catching live bait, was out of the question. Not to mention the wind would make trowing the net difficult.

Throwing jigs is always a good alternative, but the tide was very high and the fish would undoubtedly moved far back in to the grass. While I could get lots of distance with a jig, I would be left to deal with snags in the grass, tress and maybe even a passing car...
Since the water was stained from the 12+ inches of rain this month and overcast conditions still persisted. There was one prefect fit for all of these condition, top water soft baits. These baits are light, but with a good wind to your back you can get the distance needed and the water is stained, which allows you to get closer to the fish and they tend not to spook easily. The sky was over cast, the best condition for top water fishing. Since a soft bait can be rigged to have no exposed hook, it can easily be thrown in to deep cover without getting snagged in the grass.
Over the past winter I happened to come across a bass fishing show where they where using a fat tail, plastic bait that tail would splash from side to side. The bass loved them, but to me they looked a lot like a crab swimming on the surface. When the conditions turned out prefect, I decided to test them out.

These lures sat around for about 6 months and I never had the right conditions to use them. But to today everything lined up just right. I had a few hours, the tide, wind, weather all worked in my favor.
While I only caught one fish, it was worth the effort. When a redfish hits a top water bait (they are designed to feed below their eye line) the fish is hungry and ready for a fight. And indeed that was the case.

Good Luck
Zippyjr...

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Tide : Top 3.4ft @ 4:41pm
Water Clarity : Stained
Moon Phase: 27% Full Waxing
Temp: 84F
Water Temp : 77F
Wind: 14 mph WSW
Results: 1 - 25" Redfish
Bait: Top water soft bait