Keaton Report July 2018 CAM

2350  Capt. Pat with a fine topwater June trout 
2354 “Double” for Linday and Aaron Griner of Alapha, Ga. 
2328  Steven Cook of Dallas, Ga. with a fine redfish 

Trout fishing has been great despite the heavy stain, which Alberto laid on us. We had 16 trout with three over 20” for Danny, Tracy and Jake Jaramillo of Valdosta, Ga. on Friday, June 8. We fished in 6 – 6.5 feet of water with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders for these limits of trout. The following day I fished three ladies from St. Augustine in the Nauti-Girls tourney and we won the trout division with a 5.15 pound trout for Laura Gavronsky  ( who, incidentally, won first place in the trout division fishing with me in 2016) “Charmed I’m sure” The large trout came in during a slick water period right before the full tide stand as the water was settling to stop altogether. The water was 4.5 – 5 feet where this sow hit.  We brought in 12 trout with two more over 20”, five bsb and had four reds to 23”. The reds also ate live pinfish but were up in 3 – 3.5 feet of water so dark you couldn’t see 16” deep.

This current stain is a blessing, especially on these calm days when the trout wouldn’t think of moving, much less eating in gin-clear conditions; when it is slick and the sky is a “bluebird day” under a high pressure etc. The right color “mix” would be a cross between coffee and tea to provide the cover for trout to move about. That’s what I look for anyway. Plastic colors, which are working for me, are Assassin’s Stinky Pink, Croaker Shad, Pink Ghost, and Butt Naked. 1/8 ounce, Chartreuse Flash jigheads from Assassin are the match. I fish all my artificials on a Star 7’ SG614FT70 rods matched with Star 3000 Aerial reels ( no longer in production) spooled with TrikFish X-Rated co-polymer 12 lb. test line.  A Shimano 2500 or 3000 reel will do just fine.

Trout should continue to migrate out from the shallower 3 – 4 ft. flats to the deeper areas as the water continues to heat up in July.  We fished in 84 –85 degrees this week. ( today is June 10 ) I would expect to find the larger trout on or near the breaks where the deeper troughs feed to deep flats. Fish days when the tides are stronger;  that means a greater range of tide ( difference between hi and lo or lo and hi tides) which translates to more oxygen for the fish to utilize which both provides and extends the feed periods. 6 – 7 feet, and perhaps deeper this year, would be my target depth in July for trout.

We caught a few reds, before the blow, on Thunder-Spins and Intruder Hex Spoons and I would expect by July the same will follow. Try Silver and Gold now, until the water clears up a bit, then go back to Copper and Cajun Copper.

Keep an eye out and have a 40# outfit handy for Tarpon and Cobia.

Meanwhile, Let’s Go Fishing!
Pat McGriff dba One More Cast guide service for 28 years!
www.onemorecast.net
onemorecast@gtcom.net
850.838.7541