BigBendFishing.Net

4 Trout, 17-22", no shorts.
Started at 8:00, water looked like glass with the tide low & falling. I was determined to re-tie my CT & spook before putting in and the no-see-ums were evil. I had about two hours to fish and I went west to the outer bars. Slow Slow Slow. I worked out to Patty's Island and sat front row for some dolphin playing tennis with the mullet. It couldn't help fishing much but it was entertaining. As low as it was (.2) and me paddling in 2 inches of water it was obvious what fish were around. Mostly packs of mullet, bonnet heads & rays. Then I came across tailing reds, just like on tv. What to do? I was sure topwater would chase them off so I went to a 3" asssasin on a 1/6th oz Captn' Mikes redfish rig.
Land it soft enough in front and work it slow, ok...
Then do it at least 100 times until you accept it ain't gonna work. They were swimming right by me & I thought about just whacking them with my paddle. Gold spoon, weedless. That'll do it. Nada. Fine, I'm leaving.
I found 2 feet of water on the way back and got into 4 nice trout on the CT/white grub. Feeling redeemed I was off the water by 11:00. Not a topwater hit the whole time. I did see a shark that went about ~7 feet (? species) in barely enough water to swim.
Added up to another great day.

Wow!

Ouch! I could feel the no seeums biting me.
I have had similar pre-dawn experiences in my canoe. Before I could see him, a dolphin came right up next to the canoe and blew through his blowhole and I almost rolled the canoe and wet my britches!


Good Report.

Lit! That is my kayak dream! Thanks for letting us know it can be and is lived! I will one day get me a 'yak and when I do that'll be the place I will go. I love to visit that place and wander around wade fishing. Tried to take the 13'er in from out, and it got too shallow, so I left it behind and waded about out there; and saw the same kind of dolphin show, this was crashing and circling in maybe 12 inches of water, at the mullet. I thought the dolphin was in trouble at first, but he was just huntin' and catchin'.

Sounds like you had a great show! God is Good! Life is Good!!

wtg Lit.

Littoral,
I've had the same experience with redfish around Wakulla Beach. I did manage to hook 1 there one time on a Catch 2000 just before she wrapped me around a crab trap. Maybe someone will offer us some advice. Glad you had a good trip.

I went wading there first thing Saturday morning at the advice of rev on where to try. Had the same problem with the tide being pretty low. Plan to bring my yak over after a trip home this next weekend and try it again. May hit it again wading sometime this week in the evening.

Nathan

birddog wrote:Maybe someone will offer us some advice.

The "Secret Weapon" will set you free

Nice report Lit, Thanks....

Thats the plan next time I'm there.

Was the Wakulla Beach Road in decent shape after the storms?

For what it's worth, I've had a measure of success on tailing reds on the Mosquito Lagoon & Banana River with a Mr. Twister Exude Crab--it has the "match the hatch" factor on its side. I have yet to try the Exude Crab here, but given the amount of crabs on the flats lately, it might do the trick to get those reds to eat.

Lit, I always enjoy your reports. Sounds like I might have to do a Yak trip to see the things most people never get to see.

Rev, Thanks for the suggestion on the exude to "match the hatch". I was listening to the Sun am 620 fishing show and one of the captains was talking about mimicking what the fish are likely feeding on. I'm reluctant to think about redfish like I should a rainbow trout but I guess if I want to be a better fisherman (& actually catch more fish) I'll have to. Biologist's use the term "search image" to refer to the behavior of animals zoned in on a particular thing, be it flower color or bait size or whatever. We know the situation well from chasing Spanish that are feeding on anchovies and won't hit anything bigger than a hang nail. I would think that with all the food out there that the redfish wouldn't be that selective but if they are having a lot more success chasing crabs why bother chasing a fish? Makes sense.
Be the fish, figure it out.

Also, Wakulla Beach didn't seem the least bit affected by the storm.