Santa has delivered early presents to all the good anglers in the Big Bend. Fishing has been excellent this past week and after a stormy holiday, the weekend is shaping up to be pretty good to try out some new tackle.
The coastal rivers are producing large numbers of trout. Many are undersized, but with the cooler water the fights are spirited. Enough keepers are coming to the net to keep things interesting. Please consider releasing any over 20 inches for breeding stock. The best stretches are from the St. Marks fort ramp south to the oyster bars near the mouth of the river. Water temperatures have been in the 60s there versus mid-50s on the flats. With the predicted sub-30s temperatures on tap for Christmas evening, however, the fish may move further upriver. The best way to locate the action is with a methodical approach, working set distances until you find them. Either that, or look for all the boats congregated in certain spots.
DOA shrimp and other soft-plastic lures and swim baits have been producing consistently. Slow-sinking twitch baits like the Corky Fat Boy, MirrOlure Catch 2000 and Unfair Lures Rip-n-Slash are all good choices. Natural colors are best, with a slower retrieve and patient presentation essential. The fish are feeding on whatever they can find. Live shrimp, finger mullet and mud minnows are the top options for real baits.
Trout are also schooling on the shallow flats but are very wary with the low water conditions. Water clarity is as good as it gets right now, with visibility to 10 feet deep in spots. Trout and redfish are often mixed in the mullet schools, which number in the hundreds lately. Cast-netters have easy pickings for mullet right now if fried or smoked mullet is on the menu. Most of the fish are loaded with roe, too.
Redfish are also prowling the flats with the afternoon sun. They too are very spooky. Stay with smaller weedless presentations to coax some strikes. There are plenty of redfish in the coastal rivers. Most are smaller and mixed in the trout, but some overslot bronze bombers were caught mid-week on swim and jerk baits. Watch for diving birds, bait and get off the beaten path if you want to stretch your line.
The occasional flounder, black sea bass and sheepshead are the other winter-time options. Trout jigs will fool the flatfish, the bass will inhale anything and live shrimp or fiddler crabs are the best offerings for sheepies. Anglers venturing offshore are doing well trolling diving plugs for grouper.
High tides will peak around lunchtime this weekend, with the best window two hours before it peaks. The negative lows will occur just before daylight, which will warm mud flats and dark bottom before the incoming water floods in.
Copyright 2020, Capt. Dave Lear. All rights reserved.