A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Use this area to post inshore fishing reports from the area. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
Ran down to Panacea Friday night to catch the falling tide. Didnt do too good in the oyster bars outside of the Ocklocknee. Threw alot of flukes and hard baits and a few times with topwater with nothing seeming to work.
The next morning i went out at a dead low tide and agian very little action on topwater around oyster bars but then..... moved out to the grass flats in front of Piney and started loading the boat with trout. It seemed that the fish were tuned into chartruese and it was non stop for about an hour. Most of the trout were 12-18 inches. I tied on a zara spook and missed a big trout and had another big one follow it to the boat . All in all i probably caught 20+ trout.
When the tide started to move in i moved into some really shallow water to look for reds. I did find them but couldnt get one to bite artificial. Im new to skinny water fishing and any advice on catching reds in 2 feet water or less would be greatly appreciated
No pictures this time. The camera man was out in the big water loading up on AJs and Snapper!
Sounds like you had a great time grass carp. I'll tell you how I like to fish for Reds. It's not as sportsman like as some of the redfish pros on this site, but it puts meat in the deep fryer. I almost always fish with live pinfish or cut pinfish under a cajun thunder on the oyster bars in two feet or less. I have caught my share on gold spoons and plastics, but I catch more big Reds on fresh bait. Not as glamours maybe but it works when nothing else will sometimes.
Reds like cut Ladyfish too. Or so I hear. All I can tell you is that when a ladyfish is hooked early in our trip, that net is out as fast as if it is a keeper trout.
Sounds like fun grass. We got into them good beside Piney a month or so back.
Ducks, turkeys, flats fishing. Who has time for golf?
Thank you CS and One Fish for the info. I have a friend that is that way about ladyfish. He will be in the back of the boat filleting that thing out as fast as its in the boat.
CS how much line do you use under the CT. Do you try to keep the pinfish off of the bottom or do you let it just bang around in the bars
Thanks for the info about ladyfish. I'm thinking about getting a pinfish trap and putting it out the evening before the big day. Will I have much luck with it? How those Sabiki lures? What's the trick?
I have caught pinfish in traps beofre and i think the key is to put them near or in the grass. Make sure you are in deep enough water at low tide. Dont put it near alot of boat traffic or it will get run over.
You have to use just enough line to keep it just above the bottom. If your using cut bait, don't throw it out and let it sit. Work it just enough to make the bait seem alive. Reds like to face upstream of the tide and ambush their prey. Find a spot where the tide is pushing water over an oyster bar or point and throw the bait so it will drift into a calm area on the downside of the current. It helps to know how to cut your bait. There is a special method to cutting Pinfish, if your fishing on the bottom for trout with a carolina rig or a cajun thunder drifting. It's called "shinner tails" by all the old commercial fisherman and locals. I've tried to show you in the diagram below. I'm no artist, but maybe you'll get the idea. You need a large pinfish to cut it as I'm showing you. three inches or larger. Driftting out on the flats with this bait carolina rigged is killer for trout. You get two baits per pinfish. Throw the head away.
CS thank you thank you thank you for such good information and taking the time to detail the information!! Ill let you know how it works out in a few weeks work has me tied down for a while
onefishtwofish wrote:Reds like cut Ladyfish too. Or so I hear. All I can tell you is that when a ladyfish is hooked early in our trip, that net is out as fast as if it is a keeper trout.
Sounds like fun grass. We got into them good beside Piney a month or so back.
Onefish, when you are using the Ladyfish I would assume you are using it as a cut bait?
Any special way of setting them up.
My son hates it when I catch a Ladyfish so now I may have a use for them.
We take along a big cutting board, a rag and a knife. Try to let them, ummm, evacuate before you bring them on board (there is still an orange stain on my old boat from Ladyfish dookie - she was no Lady). Anyways, cut them like you would a fish steak, straight perpendicular to the backbone. It makes a circle of fish meat with the backbone in the middle. Everything else CS said is spot on. You can also freeline the bait and spot cast to fish if you can see them. Just cast past them and bring it by and let it drop. It is better than shrimp, cause the baitfish don't steal it, but I prefer pinfish. But sometimes when other stuff is hitting we don't take the time to stop and a Ladyfish cut is our backup plan.
Ducks, turkeys, flats fishing. Who has time for golf?
I've taken a lady fish fillet and cut it up the middle about 3 inches or so from the tail end of the fillet to make "tails". Kind of like a jig trailer for bass. (the pig part of a jig and pig) Hook it through the thick end and free line it or put it under a CT. The scale side puts off a lot of shine and the tails give it some good action.
guys that is great information that I will put to use.
Grasscarp on the other hand will not use that information because: 1- he will not remember it :hammer and 2- he will not put down his topwater spook.
Roadtrip wont stay in one spot long enough for me to fish something slow. We look like pinballs when we are fishing. We stop, make a cast, and roadtrip sees a spot that looks more fishy and off we go to a new spot.
Now the memory i will admit, I knew that stuff in college was killing brain cells
Slice the strip into pieces like CSMarine showed above. 
and off we go to a new spot. 