Catching in the Wind

Lisa strikes first by landing a nice slot sized redfish that ate a chunk-o-mullet.

Another windy week to deal with, but we did catch plenty of fish!

Hiding from the gusting winds was pretty easy now that the water levels are up and they should stay this way for the next few months. I personally love fishing high water and while it’s been good, the fishing should actually improve as more and more redfish and trout work their way into the backwaters.

While nearly all of the mature silver mullet have left the lagoon and joined their brethren migrating south along the beaches the backwaters are still flush with juvenile mullet, mud minnows and other fry fish. Going small again with lure selection, at least in the backwaters, will up your catch!

Three inch Z-Man Minnowz will be a mainstay lure on at least one rod through the Fall and Winter seasons. Rigging these on a Finesse Bulletz Jighead makes for an easy casting and nearly weedless lure that is only improved upon by adding a dab of Pro-Cure scent! Another rod will sport an EZ Shrimpz on a 3/0 Chinlockz weedless hook just because a shrimp imitation is always a good option.

Top-water plugs will be used on a regular basis with the common five inch length being used less often in favor of smaller three inch versions; I’m fond of Tsunami’s K-9 Walkers.

Don’t forget the weedless spoons; Top-Water Tony has been killing the backwater snook while fishing with me using a number of different smallish gold spoons. The redfish and trout eat them very well too.

Larry mixed it up by throwing lures, live shrimp and cut mullet. All three tactics earned him some success, though his best redfish came of a mullet chunk.

Larry and Lisa proved natural bait nearly always gets the job done. We hid in the backwaters soaking cut mullet on a day where the winds were relentless and churning up the open water. They each caught redfish, though the catfish outnumbered them by a wide margin!