week

Low tides fill potholes with fish

By JIM HUDDLESTON
Published October 13, 2006

With the tides getting lower as winter approaches, holes on flats and creek mouths will fill up with all types of fish this time of year. This negative means low water creates edges that funnel water and increases the water flow on incoming tides. The decreased water level also allows for better visibility of game fish that are staged on sandy edges awaiting a meal. With such an abundance of bait around, the smaller midsize greenbacks - around 3 to 4 inches - are getting most of the bites.

Most of the water in northern Pinellas County is clear and can make for a tough bite when combined with a blue sky and no clouds. Downsizing tackle and casting from a distance will give anglers an edge. Twenty-pound fluorocarbon leader and a No. 1 hook is sometimes necessary to entice snook and redfish. Belly-hooking a sardine and allowing the tide to pull the bait toward the hole with the bail open helps to keep that extra distance.

As most snook are making their way toward the back country, the deeper holes off islands and sandbars are holding good numbers of fish. October is a good time to start looking at the grass flats that sit in front of canals and rivers that these fish move into once the cold fronts approach. The sandy patches under moving water are key places to check. Smaller baits are getting most of the hits.

For snook, clip off any sections of leader with abrasions. That chaffed section looks like a spectrum underwater and turns away potential bites. Lighter drag settings on reels allow anglers to use 20-pound leader material and increase the bite ratio.

The formula for finding schools of redfish has been based on the full and new moons and the increased water depth that brings them upon the flats. The quarter-moon phases have been tough for finding those larger schools up through the Anclote area. Adjusting to water levels, redfish are holding on rocky drop-offs and extended depressions far from mangrove shorelines. Using a stealth approach by poling a flats boat with a platform gives an angler the bird's eye view on redfish from a distance. A tail-hooked shrimp will cast farther and make that light entry into the water that won't spook reds holding in shallow water. Stage your boat on a drop-off or sandy edge and waiting for fish to come to you.

The Spanish mackerel have arrived just off the beaches, crashing the schools of small fry bait. Using 30-pound fluorocarbon leader with a No. 2 long-shank silver hook will increase bites off Honeymoon Island and Three Rooker bar. The key depth has been around 18 feet.

As long as the water stays cool, the cobia have been working inshore. Sightcasting to these fish with a jumbo shrimp has worked best. A white or tan bucktail is the artificial of choice right now as these game fish are looking for crabs and other crustaceans flushed up by stingrays.

Jim Huddleston charters out of Tampa, Palm Harbor and Clearwater and can be reached at 727 439-9017 or at jim @captainhud.com.

[Last modified October 13, 2006, 10:17:04]