Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Keep a move on to beat the heat

By ED WALKER
Published July 29, 2006

There is one thing certain for inshore anglers now: it is going to be hot. Mid-day temperatures have been soaring and the soup-like water is not producing very good action.

On Monday we fished from 7 a.m. to noon. Scaled sardines were abundant and we had 400 or 500 in the baitwell after two net casts. Moving to a deep hole next to a shallow grass flat we found decent speckled trout action. Unfortunately the average size was about 15 inches. Small bluefish were there but were only big enough to chop pieces off of our baits. Most were only 6 inches.

After landing two dozen specks we opted to seek something bigger before the sun got too high. We set up on a pod of big snook schooled tightly in 2 feet of water. The boat was anchored far up-current. Floats were used to hold baitfish up in the column as the current carried them back to the snook. Not surprisingly these fish wanted nothing to do with our offerings.

By then it was quite warm.We checked a few redfish spots high on the flats but even if there were fish we doubted they would bite so I opted not to waste more time.

While moving to a different spot we discovered large schools of threadfin herring dimpling the surface along the edge of a deep channel. The depth, moving water and abundant bait seemed like just what we needed. We set up a drift through the channel and freelined live baits just outside the visible threadfins.

Almost immediately speckled trout, three or four at a time, attacked our sardines. Soon we had triple header specks hooked. Most were still on the small side, with a few bigger ones mixed in.

Continuing our drift we began having quick strikes that cut off our hooks. We switched from short to long-shank hooks, and the culprits were soon ripping drag off our ultralight outfits. Spanish mackerel had taken over and, for a while, each bait was hit as soon as it landed in the water.

We were all surprised to land a juvenile kingfish mixed in with smaller cousins. The differences between kings and Spanish mackerel are subtle. Both have spots and similar body shapes. Spanish mackerel have a distinct black dorsal fin that the kings lack. This fin is often retracted when out of the water so it is easy to miss onboard. The king's eyes are slightly larger and its lateral line has a dip in it at mid-body.

Our next surprise was a cobia. He grabbed one bait as we drifted, and provided the best fight of the trip.

After a while the action slowed and our half day was over. We were all happy we had opted to fish only until noon as the heat was stifling and it was clear that the peak feeding period had come and gone.

[Last modified July 29, 2006, 07:13:19]