by Fishin’ Frank
The water temps affect the fish just like they do people and now it is perfect so the effect is fishing is great, and that is a good effect! Yes, the glass minnows are really stacking up and the fish are following the bait in. All it takes is for everything to just come together the way the fish want it. Salt content and temperature are two of the biggies. When the water is too cold it really will not affect the fish, except snook, but it will affect the bait which is the fish’s food source and the same thing the other way when the waters is too hot, the food just does not want to move around. But hey, right now the fishing is very good and should be getting better each month until June. Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jacks, redfish, seatrout and sharks are all liking these perfect conditions and anglers like it too.
We were staying off the water until 10am or so to give the water and the fish time to warm up, but now it is good to go early, or later if you choose, with the mild temps the fish will hit all day. So, you early risers can get out on the flat at the crack of dawn, which is the best time, if not the only time, you can see the redfish tailing on the flats. Why, because as soon as the reds hear a boat motor they all disappear from the surface and they may continue to feed but they will hide more.
A “new” old lure is taking the flats by storm and it is again a bass lure gone salt water rouge. The Strike King Rage Crawdad. With a jig head in it the same way you would use a curl tail grub, just swimming, the trout are going crazy for it. Why, well the claws act like twin tail grubs when you swim it. Keep in mind, you should be lifting your rod tip up and down in a jigging motion to get the best results. I thought of this after people telling me they wanted the twin tail grubs for trout. Those have not been very popular so they are harder to get and I suggested the craw pattern as that’s what the claws look like. Well one of our captains started, instead of swimming it, he was bottom bouncing the crawdad and the redfish started hitting it. This week we have been trying different ways of rigging it and the winner seems to be Texas Style. Tie your leader on the line then put on a bullet or egg sinker. I like the bass worm weight bullet-shaped as they don’t get hung up as easy. Then tie on a weedless worm hook 4/0 and hook on the soft plastic Crawdad. Now UN-like fresh water, I run the hook all the way through the lure so the hook point lays flat on top of the bait body. Then I pull some of the plastic forward and snag just a little bit of the plastic to make it weed less. Why the Texas rig? Because as you lift your rod tip and it is lifted hard and sharply, it pops the crawdad off the bottom several inches. When you pop it up the weight separates away from the Crawdad bait and the weight falls quickly back to the bottom and then the soft body of the Crawdad slowly sinks down to the bottom swaying just a bit back and forth. It looks like a crab with its claws up in a defensive posture like a blue crab would just before a red fish eats it. The neat part is to slightly jig it back until the body comes back in contact with the weight and then pop it up hard again and repeat. A jig head will work for bottom fishing but I believe you will find the Texas rigging for redfish will get you several more hook-ups per trip.
That’s the thing when you are going fishing; remember the old lures you used to use all of the time and now use different ones. Maybe it is time to go back and see how those old favorites, which the fish have not seen in a while, will react to them.
Everything old is new again if you just wait a while! From another old dog trick, me, Fishin Frank, I wish you good luck and safe fun fishing out on the waters, Bye until next month!
Fishing’ Franks Bait & Tackle 4425-D Tamiami Trail, Charlotte Harbor, FL 33980, 941-625-3888 and 14531 N. Cleveland Ave., Ft. Myers, FL 33903 239-634-1043