by Capt. James Vadas
The inshore fishing action is really good right now. We have been catching, snook, redfish, trout and flounder on the flats and near mangrove shorelines. The number of snook we are catching has been exceptional. It’s easy to see them in our gin clear nearly 80° water. I gotta tell ya though, snook out in the middle of the flats seem to have less interest in feeding. Sometimes they swim on by in a hurry late for an appointment or something I guess, compared to the snook I find hiding around the roots of mangrove bushes on small tidal islands. When looking around those islands, a good indication the conditions are favorable is schools of bait fish and mullet. If you look closely you can literally see the silhouette of snook in the light-colored edge of sand right next to shoreline. So, to catch them it is necessary to cast a live pilchard right in front of the leaves of the branches that are touching the water on a high tide. Casting in these conditions can be challenging trying not to get your hook caught in the bushes. I always encourage my guests to cast as close as they can to the bushes. If they do get snagged, I just hand them another rod and tie up a new hook and leader for them with a smile. That’s “Fishing;” I will take luck over skill any day. Sometimes I hook the bushes too. It happens, don’t take bad casts too seriously. It takes practice like mini golf or any sport. Just last week a young lady casted a live pilchard bait fish over a branch. She could pull back on the rod and lift the bait out of the water and let the rod down the bait would descend back into the water. A Snook literally jumped up and grabbed the bait hanging from the branch! She managed to free the line from the branch with a little help from the aggressive fish. That is the first time we successfully caught and released a fish caught on a cast like that. I’m sure she will never forget that bad cast. Sometimes things in life will cause our casts to not land exactly how we planned; have faith, be patient, and keep casting – it’s God’s plan not ours.
Yours truly,
Captain James
