Conditions Stacked Against Us

Chris with a tarpon caught fishing gulp shrimp along a wind blown point! For charter info please visit my website.

High water, heavy winds, rain and dirty water — it seems Mother Nature has definitely not been on anglers’ sides lately! But even with all the bad variables, the fish still have to eat.

This week with all the craziness, the pattern has been wind blown points and using noise and stink to call ’em in! With all the dirty water the best bet has been setting up with the wind behind your back at any sort of mangrove point or cut where the water has good flow. A long cast along the outside of these points with loud and smelly baits such as a popping cork with a Gulp Shrimp or large topwater plugs early really seem to do the trick. Instead of the fish feeding by sight, it’s more of smell and sound. I’m not typically one who likes to use a noisy bait, but when conditions change, having the ability to adapt is crucial.

The high water has been making it easier to fish areas that typically aren’t reachable, but as the water subsides and starts to drop, the bite should pick up and move the fish back into their normal patters. As fall quickly approaches anglers can find anything from redfish, trout, to snook and tarpon inshore. I have even been seeing large numbers of pompano lately, as well! Hopefully, things will settle out weather-wise and we can get into some amazing fishing within the next few weeks as expected for this time of year!