Hello fishin geeks,

I know it’s been a little bit since I have made a report, but rest assured that I’m getting back into the swing of things. I’ve been staying busy, mostly rippin cast nets, breaking the tips off my fishing poles, getting skunked while fishing tournaments, finalizing dock/boat lift repairs, and planning for my fall classes (I teach high school, just don’t tell anyone or make fun of my writing. I’m not an English teacher).

I’ve been keeping a personal fishing log since August of last year and according to this young chronicle of mine, now is the most exciting time to be on the water, well, just about anywhere. I mostly focus on the central part of the lagoon Indian/EGR/Crane Creek/Banana River, and the action has been picking up. I recently upgraded my cast net to an 8 footer, and the results have been night ‘n day. Massive striped mullet pods are showing up in the creeks, and super chunky white mullet near the entrances/cuts of the residential canals in the river.

In this week’s report/video, I took my girlfriend fishing and I swear she is like some sort of mysterious fish attractant. The first time this girl ever went fishing she caught a bull dolphin, the second time she caught the first tarpon ever to be caught on my boat, and now a couple of times later she caught her first redfish, which was only 36 inches… Luckily, there was more than one bull red around that day. Shortly after she landed hers, she decided to take a break. Naturally, I made fun of her for being fatigued already, but before I could finish my banter, I was hooked up and felt the effects too soon enough. I used the trolling motor to bring us out to the middle of the river, away from any structure the fish could possibly get tangled in. As soon as the redfish or any large fish gets close to the boat, they all seem to want to go under the boat, and around both motors. I had to pull the trolling motor up to avoid getting wrapped up. This redfish came up to the boat and ran back to the shoreline three times. Each time dragging my 21ft bay boat back with it. I had to restart the whole process over each time. Finally, I was able to land the fish and take a nice photo before quickly releasing back into the wild. My redfish ended up being 37 inches long and so beefy I could barely hold it up in the photo. Although my gf beats me at fishing every time, at least I can brag about how mine was one, single, inch bigger than hers.

As far as gear goes, we were using 7-foot heavy action rods paired with BG4000 reels. The mainline was 30lb braid, and I used an FG knot to connect to a 5-foot piece of 50lb fluorocarbon. We used 5/0 Inline Octopus Circle hooks with a shanked eyelid, I either snell or modified fisherman knot those. Finally, for bait, I always try to use the healthiest and most active live mullet. I noticed after a while when the baitfish get worn out they draw far fewer strikes than fresh baitfish who stay more active.

One final note, for my area at least, these big breeder fish are only here in abundance it appears one time a year. I believe they are coming in here chasing a large food source and probably to spawn. Please handle these fish with care and take the time to get a strong kick-off/release.

Till next time. Be safe and have fun.

-Alex Spanky