A few different species to be had this month...

[NannaPhobic]

I've been going out every weekend and seeing what's needed to be seen. The colder months of the year mean calm, clear water, and with it, schooling redfish, black drum, sheephead, and trout abound.

I've had no trouble finding redfish on my last few trips, focusing on the skinnier water from Devil's Elbow on down south to Palm Coast. I've heard good redfish, black drum and trout reports from North River as well but haven't needed to venture that far north of my own "backyard".

The one species that surprises me the most is the flounder. Fishing for them has been fairly unproductive for me, catching only a few at my local flounder holes...nothing like I'd expect around this time of year.

Last month BFisher and myself were even able to coax a few tailing redfish to eat our presentations in the grass. BFisher had never caught one tailing before and it was a real treat to see him catch his first one. A weedless spoon, Gulp jerkbait, or tail hooked Gulp skrimp are my go to baits when fishing the flooded grass or sightfishing the schools in the clearer water...






If you can find some fiddlers, those minorcan delights are hanging around the bridge fenders and dock pilings. A 1/4 ounce jig or standard fish finder rig will do the trick. I always keep in mind that those sheepies are not always on the bottom. I work different coluimns of water to catch those suspended fish.

I remember one trip where Captain Tommy Derringer and myself actually sightfished them at the Bridge of Lions in 30 feet of water. They were just below the surface and hungry...we "cane-poled" about a dozen to bring home with us.






Trout fishing is really good right now in both the ICW and those creeks that offer deeper water refuge. A live shrimp on a float works great. The water temperature is cooler now, so the "baitstealing boogers" won't drive you nuts. My favorite way of locating em is by trolling for em. Trolling allows me to cover alotta water. I use Lil Fishies, which are small and immitate the glass minnows the trout are foraging on. When trolled at a "snails pace", those Lil Fishies will help you find em. (And once you find em, chances are good that they're schooled up. That's when you break out your live shrimp/float rig and have some fun.)



Tis the season for the black drum as well as will be the case for the next several months. Find you a deep drop off from an oyster bar and soak a whole peeled shrimp on a 1/4 ounce jighead next to it. You'll know whether or not the blacks are home or not within the first 15 minutes. If they're not, move to your next bar. For me, low tide is absolutely the best time to find em.





And as I mentioned, the flounder fishing has been more miss than hit for me recently. While a mud minnow on a jighead is probably the #1 bait of choice, a 3 inch New Penny Gulp shrimp on a 1/4 ounce jighead is my preference. (A 5 inch watermelon Gulp jerkshad is also a good choice). They'll even hit a slow rolled spinnerbait if you put it in front of them. Focus on docks, bulkheads, and pilings and work your presentation slowly...keeping contact with the bottom is essential as the fish are lethargic.







Thought I'd bring ya'll up to speed on what I've been up to. Ya'll need to go on out there and get u some...

[SnookMook]

Damn man, nice work. Looks like you eat good over the winter.

[TEAM GetAFFtrIT]

Damn skippy Nanna Nice report. I'm glad to see your reports. I'm pretty much an offshore guy but with all the closures coming our way I guess I'll have to get back into the inshore game again.

Trent

P.S. Aint all these smileys great

[Fins0003]

Nice fish!

[SeaSharp]

I need to get out there. Haven't had much luck with the red drum recently. Trout fishing should be picking up though.

[Profishional]

Nice job and nice post Frank.
Look what the ol' off shore boy found Sunday afternoon.

I did not go to the woods because of that crappy weather so Sunday afternoon I grabbed one of them stradics you helped me decide to buy a couple years ago,a few arti's and went wade fishing.
I ended up with 4 or 5 reds a nice trout and a few flounder,just kept one flounder (6lbs)for the pan.Its good to know I can do it though because it looks like with all the closures this will be the only thing we are gonna be able to do...

[NannaPhobic]

Appreciate the kudos gents...

After doing pretty well these last couple weeks, I couldn't buy a bite on my last trip. I even resorted to targeting trout (usually by-catch for me) and didn't even get a nibble. Not sure if the planets weren't aligned properly or the barimetric pressure was off, but I got nuthin for my efforts...

Damn man, nice work. Looks like you eat good over the winter.

You got that right Mook. My vacuum sealer gets a good workout when them feesh are chewin...

I'm pretty much an offshore guy but with all the closures coming our way I guess I'll have to get back into the inshore game again.

Yeah Trent, those closures must really suck for you offshore guys. I too was into the offshore thingy a few years ago. Coming home with 20 pounds of red snapper filets each trip was pretty darn nice... Throw in a few more pounds of grouper, beeliners and triggerfish and it justified the $100.00 per person fuel cost...

Nice job and nice post Frank.
Look what the ol' off shore boy found Sunday afternoon.

Attaboy Leigh! That's a nice size flatty...I'm sure she looked even better in hot oil...

I did not go to the woods because of that crappy weather so Sunday afternoon I grabbed one of them stradics you helped me decide to buy a couple years ago,a few arti's and went wade fishing.

P.S. Aint all these smileys great

Ummmmm...most of em...

[TEAM GetAFFtrIT]

All this time I thought you were just a skinny water man.Damn nice fish in them pics man

[NannaPhobic]

All this time I thought you were just a skinny water man.Damn nice fish in them pics man

I'm "virsatile"...

[NannaPhobic]

About that shallow water guy image...

A few years ago we were offshore about 40 miles or so trolling for phins. I ran over some good bottom and marked it on the GPS. Later in the day, we re-visited that number and had non-stop action...catching 3-4 pound beeliners on every drop.

Well, Brian (aka Fishin Blue Water) was also out there in the vacinity, doing the commercial fishing thingy. He hailed us on the radio and told us he was having an uneventfull day trying to catch beeliners. So I gave him the numbers to my top secret "beeliner spot" (as we had already had our limits and left em chewin). He later told me that on his first drop he caught a spotted sea trout... Now, I don't know if that's true or not but my inshore karma just might have followed me 40 miles out...

Believe it...or not.