by FISHIN’ FRANK
Redfish are starting to reappear, even up on the Peace River and they are eating shrimp. There is a picture of my sister holding a barely legal redfish. If we were going to throw it back she would be holding the belly. But let’s face it, it did not survive; we ate it, so too much pressure on the jaw, least of its problems. Now, we were up river. The picture shows where we were and the thing that is hard to see is the tiny deep cut right along the shore line. On this point of Long Island, the sandbar comes out a couple hundred feet, but right next to the shore is this little deep place where the redfish cross from the main channel to the open area of Harbor Heights.
I had a ½ once sinker in front of a swivel, slip style with a 2/0 octopus hook and 30 inches of 25-pound fluorocarbon leader. I was using a live shrimp about 3 inches long and had cast about 2 feet from the mangrove trees. Now I would have liked to get a bit closer to the trees, but with the sinker and the shrimp it helicopters and it is very easy to get snagged in the branches, so I was trying to stay out a bit.
I hook sideways shrimp across the head. What that means is you can set the hook right as you feel the bite. If you tail hook a shrimp you need to count 1, 2, before setting the hook. Reds, like most fish, eat a shrimp head first, as they are easiest for the fish to swallow that way. When a shrimp is tail-hooked the redfish will take a second to spin it around in its mouth before swallowing. Set the hook too soon and your red swims away to bite another day. The sinker was not to hold it in place, but to give me casting distance; I needed the weight to get in close enough to where the redfish were. But, they are still very spooky, so even with the darker water I am staying back. Hence the weight/sinker.
Now what I am looking for is that bit of deeper water next to the mangroves. This holds true right now whether you are on the east side or out on Gasparilla Sound, which by the way is getting loaded up with redfish. People have been talking all year about where are the reds? Well I can tell you I’m heading to the tailing flats for my next article. There are reports of hundreds of redfish there and I am excited about the chances to really have a 20-redfish trip. Yeah, OK it has been a while, I will let you know where and how. In the meantime, stop by and see us, and Good luck
Fishin Frank
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