Skinny Reds, Drums Active

Roy loved the fight of this top-slot redfish. The fish ate a Z-Man Diezel Minnowz on a recent trip with Capt. Mark Wright!

Fishing was pretty good last week on the couple of days we ventured out. Redfish have been skinny and trout and black drum have been active on drop-off areas.

The top-water bite has been consistent at first light. On mornings that remain placidly calm, especially if the sun comes up bright, the top-water bite ends by seven-thirty or eight O’clock. If we get a breeze early and a ripple or light chop forms on the surface, the bite may continue an hour or so longer.

Ed enjoyed a fine Mosquito Lagoon morning trout bite using a rattle float with a variety of soft plastics lures below. Z-man Diezel Minnowz and four inch Jerk Shadz rigged weedless about three feet below the float caught fish both on the shallow flat and on the drop-off region nearby. Positioning the boat along the drop, Ed could cast to either shallow or deep with good results in both regions. Once the sun became a factor and the fish moved off the shallow area, we simply kept the lures in the deeper zone.

Once we covered the area thoroughly we moved to other deep areas nearby and the bite stayed consistent until late morning. The two to three and a half foot zone proved the most successful once the sun warmed up.

When using a rattle float or popping float with a soft plastic lure, I tend to make my rod pull sideways so the float and lure sweep horizontally through the shallows. Conversely, in deeper water, I make a sharp upwards pull on the float so the lure “jumps” quickly towards the surface and then sinks seductively to the bottom. I try to weight the lures as lightly as possible so they sink, but not too fast!