This week on the water was both action packed but also an off week of fishing. The fish we did find were spread out from one another, and despite having multiple opportunities, we couldn’t seem to get hooked up. After a few swings and misses, we reloaded the bait well with live pinfish and croakers, and found schools of finger mullet being blown up on in the Banana River.

Frustrated by the grind of the fishing week, I was determined to catch different bait other than live mullet and find some signs of action. Luckily only a few hundred feet away from where I was cast netting live pinfish and croakers, I saw what looked like someone taking a 5 gallon buck of finger mullet and lazily tossing them up in the air. The majority of the bait was holding tight to some deep water mangroves. We could see the flashes of baitfish being hit on the outside edges of the pod, so we cast our baits nearby. We didn’t have to wait long until the first strike came.

The first strike happen moments after the pinfish hit the water. The way the fish dug down deep and away fast, I thought it might of been a jack. As the fish came to the surface we could see it was a nice upper slot redfish. As we were measuring the first fish, 27” inches, my rod that I just set down was peeling drag and looking like it was about to launch out of the rod holder. My croaker rang the dinner bell long enough to be found amongst all the bait in the dirty water. With multiple dolphins surrounding the boat, I tighten down the drag more than usual to make sure to get the fish in quickly. The second fish fought hard at the surface and we could see it was another large fish. This time a 31” inch over slot redfish. This is the first time I’ve ever had a double up on the boat and was pretty awesome to be able to get a photo of these impressive fish together.

Releasing the fish proved to be the most challenging part, as the dolphins continued to swim around the boat. I have a feeling that most people feed the dolphins and being very smart animals they hang around me while im fishing. It’s actually quite agriviating. So, I used my trolling motor to take my boat into the edge of the mangroves. We both released our fishing where the fish could find cover quickly. I didn’t see any dolphin wakes crashing in or any dolphins swirling after the release, so I’m confident that both got away. Also, I have seen dolphin crash in after my fish if they have been redfish that are upper / over slot. Seems to be only the snapper, trout, and smaller redfish. The last couple of months I’ve been more aware and taking extra time to release the fish near docks or mangroves.

A lot of frustration after so many close calls during the week, but staying with it and putting in the work finally paid off big. We were both so happy with those fish we packed it in early and found some delicious burritos and libations nearby, to celebrate and of course thank the fishing gods.

Spanky