Tokyo Drift

These two young gents were a pleasure to have aboard the Banshee. Thankfully, their English was better than my Japanese and our conversations were most enjoyable!

The topwater bite was good for Tony this past Wednesday morning. Pushing the Banshee down a mangrove riddled shoreline in the backwaters of the Pole and Troll Zone, I was mystified by a lack of fingerling mullet here. Even with the apparent lack of suitable baitfish at this particular time, there were a few fish hiding near the trees that blasted Tony’s Skitterwalk.

On several occasions, the plug disappeared, the rod bowed up hard, the water swirled and foamed and the hooks pulled free. Such is the ways of topwater lure fishing! Revisiting this same stretch of shoreline thirty minutes later we worked in the opposite direction in hopes of connecting again with the mystery fish still haunting Tony. I think they were tarpon, but with the dirty water and cloudy conditions I was unable to see any shapes, colors or fins.

As luck would have it we never got those topwater bites we’d hoped for though a tailing redfish gave away its location. Tony quietly stepped down from the Yeti cooler we use as a casting platform and exchanges the topwater rod for a rod rigged with a pearl white Z-Man Curly Tailz. His cast was a bit wide but Tony was able to steer the lure near enough to the fish and he was rewarded with a solid THUMP!

Another bowed-up rod – for a split second – and another lost fish. Check and adjust your drag setting guys and gals and check it before you start fishing!

Moving a mile or so south of the P&T Zone we found a great topwater trout bite on a wide open expansive flat alive with fingerling mullet. Tony smashed the trout here with a bunch of over twenty inch fish. Making one more “last stop” while heading in for the day rewarded us with a memorable experience.

Catching redfish and trout in the Mosquito Lagoon is a great way to bridge both generational and cultural differences.

Saturday, I enjoyed a three hour morning trip with two vacationers from Japan. These guys have never fished before and soaking natural bait was my game plan. The plan paid off in spades as the duo caught four redfish and as many spotted seatrout. In fact, our gamefish tally was the same as our catfish tally. In other words the catfish were much less of a problem than usual and I hope this trend continues!