Gary with an early morning redfish that ate a Z-Man Diezel Minnowz rigged weedless.
I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but I’m ready for the temperature to cool down a bit! With the exception of the first two or three hours of daylight it’s been too hot for man and beast alike.
Not to sound like a broken record, but fishing very early in the day has been worth the loss of sleep.
Gary and Wes joined me for a long morning trip to the Mosquito Lagoon on Thursday. These gents are local and they each have their own boats. While they obviously wanted to “catch a few fish” it was more important for them to get a feel for how best to traverse the waters. They also wanted to learn a bit about lures and techniques as well as an area or two that their boats can access.
Our instructional charter started in the Pole and Troll Zone where we worked the outer edges of the sand bars. Wes tossed a Super Spook Jr. and Gary tossed a Z-Man Diezel Minnowz. Both anglers enjoyed sporadic activity and Wes lost a big “something” that slipped the hook after a drag pulling battle.
Since both gentlemen have non-shallow drafting vessels we concentrated on outer edges of bars and drop-off areas and transition zones where shallow flats slowly taper off to deeper water. Wherever we found concentrations of mullet we found at least a little feeding activity.
I had to chuckle a bit when Wes stated they usually were heading out to fish about the time we were heading back in. I hope I’ve changed their mindset for the rest of the warm weather season.
Truth be told, these guys were good anglers with no more than a healthy fear of boating on the Mosquito Lagoon. While I may not ever get the chance to fish with them again I’m hopeful they learned enough to get around safely on their own.
While many guides refrain from doing business with local boat owners, I do not. I enjoy the opportunity of teaching them about fishing the area as well as proper etiquette on the water and at the boat ramps!
Great report as always, Mark!