Finally the stars and drumsticks are aligning. With the long holiday weekend and the prospects of light winds, fair seas and strong tides, fishing should be an outstanding bonus to the Thanksgiving bounty.
Water clarity continues to improve after a long tropical season. Temperatures have dipped slightly into the mid- to upper-60s, but that range is still a happy zone for most resident game fish. In fact, the cooling water and shorter daylight hours act as a trigger to turn on appetites, especially during major and minor influences from the moon and tides.
Trout are being caught closer to the hill with the current conditions. Lures of all types, live shrimp and baitfish are accounting for the majority. There are still pinfish on the flats, but the window is limited. The prime depths are less than four feet. Focus on rock grass patches, sand troughs or potholes and creek mouths when targeting specks. There are some monsters lurking around, usually solo, but good numbers of slot fish available. The best part is the fight are spirited with the cooler conditions.
Mullet are schooling all over and find the mullet and you’ll find redfish nearby. Sizes range from dinks to genuine bulls, even on the flats. The copper drum are also aggressive and will pound a noisy surface stick bait like a MirrOlure Top Dog or Heddon Super Spook, as well as Aqua Dream weedless spoons or soft-plastic minnow imitations such as DOA 4-inch swim baits or Z-man minnows. White or pearl continues to be the hot color in the latter, while gold or chartreuse are top choices for the spoons. As the water temperatures ease down and the baits gets scarce, consider downsizing to 1/4-ounce spoons instead of the 3-season 3/8-ounce variety to match the bait sizes.
Surprisingly there are still some sharks around, along with tons of sheepshead, black sea bass, flounder and even a few pompano. The sheepies are spooky on the flats but they may be fooled by a crustacean bucktail jig. Fiddler crabs or fresh shrimp are the standard offerings. Flounder will eat a tout or shrimp lure hopped slowly along the bottom.
Winds are forecast to be light to tolerable throughout the long holiday weekend. Low tides will bottom out in the negative range around sunrise, but choose ramps accordingly for early starts. High tides of nearly three feet of flood will crest in the early afternoons, courtesy of Monday’s full moon. If you have to pick a time to go, be in a good spot the last couple hours of the rising tides. The moon will be down there and the fish should be cooperative.
Red snapper will be open again this long weekend (Friday through Sunday) for one last hurrah. The seas should be favorable for a change. Please practice common courtesy at the boat ramps this weekend and have a safe Thanksgiving.
Copyright 2020, Capt. Dave Lear. All rights reserved.