by Capt. Rodney Raffield
Hi Coastal Anglers, Capt. Rodney with EBE here with some more fishing tales for you. Fishing here in the National Park isn’t quite as hot as last month’s report, but still is very good. Trout have come out of the deep rock holes and have spread out onto the flats and the outside Islands. We are also catching good numbers of trout on the oyster reefs as well. Water has warmed up and we are seeing snook work their way out of the backcountry onto the oyster reefs and outside points. I usually catch my very largest snooks in the summer months, cranking soft plastic lures across the shallow oyster bars and outside coral reefs. A 1/4 oz jighead rigged with a Mr. Wiffelure or Zman paddle tail should get you the desired result. A good combo for fishing the National Park is a 7’ medium heavy rod, mated to a 4000 sized spinner, with 20lb braid line of your choice. This setup has great versatility and can handle the trout up to the tarpon. We are still producing good numbers of reds, but they are still running on the small side. Large Tarpon are showing in their normal spots for this time of year, with many of these fish exceeding 100lbs. You will need strong tackle to handle these monsters. I like to throw soft plastics rigged on very stout 5/0 jigheads at these very strong fish. In contrast, I rig these same plastics on thin wire 2/0 Eagle Claw jigheads for just about any other species, except maybe groupers. Competition for that trophy fish will diminish with most of our friends from the North heading home for the summer. So get out there and take advantage of the open spaces and make a memory that lasts a lifetime. Till next time, be blessed my friends. Capt. Rodney Raffield
