Hungry Redfish

We fished back in Centipede Bay today and the redfish where hungry. We started out with lures then came across a small school of mud minnows. The mud minnows seem to have moved in to the back of the bay.
The weather was perfect, so as you guessed, there where lots of anglers playing hookie on this Tuesday. There where a couple of places I wanted to fish, but there where boats in all of them. There was one area that I have seen several redfish, but I would need to be in stealth mode since the water is shallow and exits are narrow.

It took about 10 minutes to sneak in to this area and about 5 minutes to catch 3 redfish. I think we could have caught more fish but we only had 3 baits.

Redfish #1

Redfish #2

When I use live bait for redfish I always use circle hooks. The only draw back to circle hooks is that you never get to set the hook. But the upside is that most of the time the hook sets in the corner of the jaw.

Redfish #3
Almost to the boat
And the release.

Overall it was great day,

Tide : Raising
Water Clarity : Very Clear
Moon Phase: New Moon
Temp: 79F
Water Temp : 76F
Wind: N 8mph
Bait: Chatter bait, Mud minnows
Results: 3 Redfish

Inshore Grouper Fishing

This is the time of the year when you can go grouper fishing in a small boat without ever leaving sight of land. Today was one of those perfect days for this type of fishing trip. We had a light easterly wind in the morning, then dead calm around 1pm, then the west convection winds kicking up in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, this rock appears to have been fished hard recently. The best way to tell if an inshore rock has been fished, is the amount of tall seaweeds that are on the rocks. Typically when you catch a few grouper the fish will run for the cover of the rocks and your line tends to cut the seaweed down like a weed eater. And this was the case, after a nice warm growing season, the tall seaweeds where cut off at the roots. So my guess is someone else knows of this rock and recently fished it pretty hard. There was one piece of seaweed left which came up with this little grouper.
As you can see below there are no tall weeds left. Typically you can find rocks like this one by the tall seaweed. If the seaweed is not cut off by fishing or passing boats, they will grow to the surface.
The one little grouper 2 lb grouper minus the 3 lbs of seaweed.
The best part about inshore grouper fishing, is that the grouper on these rocks are not residents. Even after the rock has been fished out, the offshore grouper moving in to the shallow water will come across the rock and set up temporary residents. The key to a good inshore grouper rock is the rock most have good cover (hollow areas under the rock, tall grass) and plenty of near by food.

Good Luck
Zippyjr


Tide : Incoming
Water Clarity : Clear
Moon Phase: 3/4 full
Temp: 92 F
Water Temp :84 F
Wind: 0-5 mph West
Bait: Whitebait
Results: 1 short grouper, 5 hound fish and 1 mackerel.

Sight Fishing For Redfish.

One of my favorite types of fishing is sight fishing. Fishing the shallow water offers a great opportunity to sight fish. I fish a lot in Centipede bay where there are many winding creeks and redfish. But if you look at most of the west coast of Florida, Centipede bay looks about the same as most other areas. So this sight fishing methodology would apply to almost any shallow water area in Florida.

The number one thing you have to remember when you are sight fishing, is that you are really stalking; not fishing. This means you have to be very quiet and stealthy. So before you begin, take a look at your boat and see what you can do to make it more stealthy. Some things you will want to look are;

• Where you keep your tackle. Your tackle should be easily accessed with out having to open any hatches or move anything to get to your tackle. I use a small divided box with a lid that will hold everything I need and keep near my casting platform.
• Tools should be kept in a safe but easily accessible area. One thing that many anglers will do is to toss their pliers down on the floor. This will spoke most redfish that are near by.
• Where you stand while fishing, you will want to make sure that there are no creeks when you move around in this area. You may need to tighten screws or put down a foam mat. I built a casting platform and attached the deck using rubber cushion to limit any noise.
  
• Rocking the boat, this is almost as bad as bang the side of the boat. Fish are pressure sensitive and when your boat rocks it sends out pressure waves that the fish can pick up. While they may not take off running, they may spoke enough to make them wary of any bait you offer them.
• If you are going to use live bait, make sure you can get to the bait easily without making noise. Also make sure you have a net near the live well. On my live well I have a latch that will hold the hatch door open and out of the way.
• If you are using lures, have a couple of extra lures in a small box to keep with you while you are fishing.
• Keep the deck clear, you will want to be able to move from bow to stern without having to step over or on anything besides the deck.
• Your landing net should be out and ready to be used.

Now that you have stealtherized your boat, you are ready to sight fish. The best bait to use is shrimp. They are easy to keep and redfish love them and you do not need a live well. You can put them in a bag or small bucket with some ice and they will keep for hours and still be lively a few minutes after you take them off the ice.

The best place to start looking is in the creeks.

View Sight Fishing in a larger map

As you start to move in to the creek, take you time and go slow. If you rush through you will only see the redfish running scared. If you have a trolling motor set it to the slowest speed, or if you're lucky and can find someone to pole you around, make sure they are quiet. Typically I look for areas where there will be grass between the boat and the area I want to look.
This is an area that is not too far in and will typically hold fish. Once hooked the redfish will run out of this cove, so you will need to be ready to move which ever direction the redfish takes you. Other areas are much larger and still offer a protected spot you can peak in and see if any redfish are home, with out the redfish seeing the boat. You do have to be careful they can see you and if you make any fast movements and the redfish will run.

Next time you have a few hours to fish, pick up some live jumbo and give sight fishing a try. Once you experience sight fishing it's hard to go back to the bait and wait method.

Good Luck
Zippyjr

Perfect Day - Tuff Fishing.

The day started out perfect. We got an early start, found bait quickly and had plenty of water to run with out too much worry about hitting rocks or running aground. Since today was going to be the hottest day of the year, I wanted to catch a few fish then spend the rest of the day swimming.

The first stop is a very dependable redfish area on an incoming tide. I had the boat in the perfect position. Given the perfect conditions I thought we would have our 2 fish within the hour. Normally when there are predatory fish (like redfish or snook) in the area the bait will let you know, by trying to swim back to the boat. But today the bait swam around like they where swimming in the hotel pool. That's a big warning sign, so we sat around for about 30 minutes as the bait remained lackadaisical. The tide was a very high tide, so I thought maybe the fish will be further back in the creeks. So we moved back a little more with the same bait reaction. Finally one of the baits swam all the way to back of the bay. Where I noticed a wake coming out of the grass.
While there where no fireworks or thrashing around, the line slowly pulled tight and the hook set. They was not too much of a fight, so I figured it was a small red.
Just barely legal size, I decided to release the small red. I typically keep fish that fall in the 21-25 inch range, since they make the perfect size meal for two.
The tide continued to rise and I move further and further back. Finally we where as far back as we could go, I tossed out a few live baits for chum and hoped to see a reactions, but nothing happened. I saw the baits I tossed out swimming around like they did not have a care in the world. Which again is a bad sign. After about 30 minutes I finally hooked a redfish that took drag with ease.
After a short battle the fish was in the boat. And a perfect 25 inch size.

What made today so strange is that the redfish where nowhere to be found. Every place I stopped, I know very well and I know where the redfish will stay when they are in that area. After fishing for about an hour at each stop (7 stops total) , I used the trolling motor to investigate, if the redfish where in that area. If they where there, I would have to think about why they did not feed on the tasty whitebait. Each place I looked there where no redfish, I did not spook any out of the grass nor see any on the run.

The only unusual thing about today was the upper atmosphere high pressure system over the area. This caused the heat index to reach about 110 degrees inland. Which leads me to believe that the redfish must move to a different type of location. I guess I will need to do more sight fishing during the next upper level high pressure.


Good Luck
Zippyjr

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Tide :Raising, 11:32am 3.6H
Water Clarity : Clear
Moon Phase: 14% full
Temp: 95F
Water Temp : 86F
Wind: 5-10mph W
Bait: Whitebait ( bayport near the two poles )
Results: 2 Redfish

Interesting Day Fishing for Redfish

I had the chance to go check out an area that I know holds redfish near the top of the tide. There is nothing really special about this place and it looks like a hundred other places. I went back at low tide (1.3ft L) and there was about 4 inches of water. Which means this place is dry on dead low tide (0 ft L) for years I wondered why the fish always show up here.

High Tide

Low Tide (1.3 ft L)

This is where I usually anchor the boat. The boat drug the bottom, but I got it anchored up in the same place as always.
Just as I thought there where no redfish, typically they hang in the back near the saw grass. At low tide there was a raccoon wondering around where the redfish hang around at high tide. But I also noticed there where big schools of mud minnows swimming around out in the open. And that answered my question about why the redfish always show up here when the tide is near the top. The way it looks is the red fish hang out in the back. When the tide is near the top the mud minnows go deep into the grass and that's why I do not ever see them at high tide. As the tide begins to drop the mud minnows have to leave the safety of the grass and the redfish positions themselves to take advantage of the situation.

Once the tide started moving in so did the redfish and this one wanted to come home for dinner. And it was an outstanding dinner guest.



Good Luck
Zippyjr

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Tide : 1.3 L 1:00pm Rising
Water Clarity : Clear
Moon Phase: 68% Waning Gibbous
Temp: 92 F
Water Temp : 84 F
Wind: W 10 mph
Bait: Mud minnows
Results: 1 - Auto Release, 1 - 24 Redfish

Stay Ice Cold This Summer.

Over the last 15 years, I have made an annual trip to the FL Keys. We would do a lot of fishing and little diving and very little sleeping. One of the problems we had was ice, we would go through 15-20 bags and a couple of blocks every day. So I dusted of some of my Chemistry books and thought I would find a safe, readily available liquid that would freeze at 28 degrees F. I tested out some glycol and other types of alcohols. I found a few that might work, but they all had issues.

What I finally ended up with was easy to find and I had access to several trillion gallons. It was saltwater. Around the same time my wife started a saltwater fish tank, which required her to make the saltwater. The saltwater she made had to use pure water and have a specific gravity of 1.025. So I did a few calculation and found that this saltwater, when made with pure water would freeze at 28.4 degrees. At the next water change (something that is done once a month) I filled up 5 one gallon jugs and put them in the coffin freezer. It took 2 days, but they froze solid, which is important.

I'm sure you all have seen the trick of freezing a couple of gallons of water and using that instead of ice. The downside of using fresh water is that once the ice starts to melt in the jugs, it provides much less cooling power. Since the sounding waster in the jug is above 32 degrees. The saltwater as a freezing point of 28.4 degrees has is starts to melt the sounding water in the jug will remain below 32 degree until the saltwater ice is gone.

Now what can you do with the laws of thermodynamics. By adding one or two jugs of saltwater ice to a cooler with a few bags of ice you will preserve the bagged ice in a solid state for much longer. What will happen; as the ice begins to reach it's melting point the saltwater ice and surrounding saltwater will absorb the heat from the bags of ice keeping the bagged ice solid. Even though it is only a few degrees colder than 32 degree, you can actually make freshwater ice, by adding jugs of saltwater ice to fresh water. To test this experiment, I added 3 one gallon jugs of saltwater ice in a 12 gallon cooler. Then added about 3 gallons of water from the hose. I left it over night and the next morning the water was frozen about 3 inches thick.

By adding a few jugs of saltwater ice to your cooler, you will reduce the amount of ice you need. And as a bonus you can now bring ice cream sandwiches the next time you go fishing. Nothing taste better after a few hours of battling redfish then an ice cream sandwich.

FYI: I have tested the specific gravity of the gulf water and it comes in around 1.020 to 1.028 depending on the rains and location. If you want to use saltwater from the gulf make sure you get the water below the surface. The water on the surface could contain contaminates and oil distillates which might keep it from freezing solid.

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

Check List

It occurs to me that every time I am in a hurry to get out fishing, I seem to forget something. And today was no exception. After closing out our positions for the day and a few phone calls I was off. I had the whole day, no phones, no markets and no bad weather. Time to go fishing and hopefully beat the noon time convection winds.
Since it was dead flat, I decided to run over to Bayport to catch some whitebait. I spent about 30 mins looking, but never saw any. I picked up some mud minnows on the way back to centipede bay. Took my time getting in to the back of the bay, casting a few lures on the way. Final anchored up with a few lines out and ready for a tasty cold beverage, only to find the cooler was empty! Where's the drinks, where's the food and more importantly where's the ice. As it turns out I left a bag full of ice, food and drinks hanging on the back of the dinning room chair. That's a trip ender, reeled up the lines and went home to clean up the mess.

All of this could have easily been avoided by a simple check list (mental or paper).

Check list.... check!

Catching Whitebait

Since I mentioned catching whitebait (greenbacks) I thought I would give a little information about using it as live bait. The best live bait is of course pilchard (aka, whitebait, greenies, greenbacks, fish crack etc) every predatory fish ( Redfish, Snook, Grouper, Snapper, Dolphin, Tuna, Sailfish, Cobia, etc) will eat them. Pin fish work well, but are mainly used offshore for grouper. And the ol standby is mud minnows. And of course there is shrimp, one of the easiest, widely available bait around.

Bar none whitebait is my favorite.
But they come with a high cost, in efforts, equipment and time. In the spring catching whitebait can be difficult. It is not difficult to spend the day looking for bait, traveling 20 miles searching without success. And few days I have spent so much time looking, I ran out of time and went home. Once you find them, most of the time you have to chum them close enough to net then. Of course you have make the chum first (jack mackerel, oats, menhaden oil and garlic oil). I use a food processor to puree the chum in to a fine, gooey, sticky, stinky, fish paste. One important note, DO NOT USE YOUR WIFE'S FOOD PROCESSOR, your food will never taste the same.

The mixing lab... One quart of chum should last several trips.

Then there is the cost in equipment. First off you need a good cast net at least an 8 ft net (when opened it spans 16 ft). The average cost for a net is around $100 for an 8 ft and $120 to $200 for larger nets. I have several nets, two 8ft, one 10 ft and the monster 12 ft. The 10 ft is my favorite, a hand tied 1/4, 1.5 lbs per foot net. A 1/4 net is good for smaller baits since the small baits will not gill, but it also sinks slower. My 12 ft net is 3/8 in net, it sinks fast, covers a lot of area and weighs a ton. I can only throw it a few times then I done. Since it is so big, I make sure the first throw counts. (I use this method to throw the cast net.) Then there is the time spent cleaning the nets. At the end of the day they must be washed and dried then properly stored. Then a couple of times a season they must be soaked in water and fabric softener over night then rinsed and dried. This will keep the net soft, if the net become stuff, it does not open as well and tends to do damage to the bait.

Once the bait is caught, they need to be very happy and have deluxe accommodation in the form of a very good live well.

The live well in a nut shell; the water is pumped in to the bottom of the live well, from ocean, then it drains out of the top, back in to the ocean. The live well needs to have water flowing in all the time. Depending on the size of the live well, will depend on the size of the pump(s) and high speed pickup(s) needed.

Since I have built all my live wells, if anyone is interested I did post a DIY live well project. In my small live I have one high speed pickup and one 750gph pump with a float switch. When the boat is on a plane the high speed pick moves about 800 gph and when the boat is not on a plane the pump moves about 500 gph. This creates a lot of current in the live well and the bait is only happy when swimming. Also whitebait have a very high metabolism, which requires lots a O2 and they produce lots wastes proteins. This is why a flow through live well is a must. If the proteins are not removed from the live well, all the bait all die at the same time. The protein comes in the form of white to off white bubbles, when the bubbles start to stack up it's on only a matter of minutes before all the bait is dead and all the hard work and time involved is wasted.

Now why would anyone work so hard to catch live whitebait. Simple because they are worth it. When I have 100+ baits, I can move from area to area tossing out a handful of bait at each stop. If I see the fish busting the top of the water (only takes 1 or 2 minutes), then I know my efforts are about to pay off.

Whitebait is not for everyone. If you are not willing to go the extra mile or 20... do not waste your time trying to catch whitebait. You can pick up some shrimp or throw gulp jigs. But if fishing is your passion and you have not fished with whitebait, then you are missing out on the most intense fishing you'll ever experience.

Good Luck
Zippyjr

Centipede Bay - Sneak Attack

I had more work than I care to have for today. But I managed to sneak out for a few hours with out anyone knowing...

I fished a small creek about the size of my yard. When I first arrived I saw a few redfish back in the mangroves. Typically they do not like to come out and eat in this creek, so it's more of a bait and wait fishing. I have tried to toss bait to them but they simple move away. It did not take long before one redfish moved out of the mangroves and into the creek, passing up the first bait and took the second bait that was near the edge of the mangroves. The fish in the picture was about 10 feet from my boat just swimming around. I saw 2 more singles then one group of 5, all in the 24-30 inch range.

I checked for whitebait in the HB channel but did not see any, so I did not want to waste time chasing whitebait and decided to go with the ol standby, mud minnows. You can find them around most islands in Centipede bay and back in the creeks.


Over all a good day fishing and not too bad in the market, the weather was very nice and the winds have finally slowed. I keep threatening to build a windmill, that's one way to get the wind to stop...LOL

Good Luck
Zippyjr.

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Tide : Top 3.1ft @ 12:55pm
Water Clarity : Very Clear
Moon Phase: 2% Full Waning Crescent
Temp: 81 F
Water Temp : 73 F
Wind: NW 10mph
Results: 24 in Redfish