Topwater Slow, but Fishing Still Good

Jeff enjoyed the fight of this over-slot redfish on a recent trip with Capt. Mark Wright

The fishing was pretty darn good the day before the frigid temperatures kept me indoors with the furnace running. Happily, the fishing was still good once things warmed up again!
Ahead of the front, Top-Water Tony took turns tossing his bone colored Skitterwalk and a white Z-Man Curly Tailz grub rigged on the new Finesse Bulletz head jig. This new jighead makes rigging the smaller Z-Man plastics simple with a nearly weed-free retrieve!

Much to my surprise the top-water bite was nearly nonexistent. Thankfully the soft plastic bite was steady for trout with a few nice reds tossed in for good measure. We launched into a stiff southwest breeze and hid from the building winds by staying sheltered on the west shoreline.

J Lyle catches a personal best spotted seatrout on a Z-Man Curly Tailz while fishing with Capt. Mark Wright

The trout seemed to relate to wind swept points offering a little depth relief and attacked the soft plastics as the lures were retrieved from the shallows and let drop into the deeper water. The redfish we caught in the same areas, but they were holding in the shallows well before the drop-off.

After the warmup we found scattered tailing reds tucked in behind a favorite island. Trying to sight-fish and cast to them proved a bit too challenging for the clients so I dropped the Power Pole and tossed out some chunk bait. The bite was not fast, though we managed 4 redfish there with two of them over slot.

The rising winds forced us to move to a southern shoreline were we managed a couple of more reds on cut bait. Much to my surprise, not a single catfish was caught. I wish I could make this statement more often!