Dirty water, warm water, LOW water sums up the South Mosquito Lagoon right now. Please don’t read more into this first sentence than the few words printed within. I’m not preaching “doom & gloom” here because the fish are doing fine.
Every summer we endure these factors to one degree or another and we will make the most of things this summer as well.
Look for areas where the dirty water meets clean or at least cleaner water. These edges often harbor redfish and seatrout in catchable numbers. This is especially true when the dirty water is caused by mullet stirring up the bottom. While these “edges” can form in many places I look for them on flats with abrupt drop-offs. These shallow to deep areas tend to hold fish often and when the dirty to clean water lines form here the ambush feeders take advantage of the scenario.
Redfish are now and will continue to “tail” whenever they find a food source on the bottom. If they are keying in on shrimp, crabs or clams they are usually catchable. When the reds are feeding on marine worms, small snails or other tidbits we find difficult to imitate they will indeed confound the best of us.
Keep your baits small when the bite is difficult on the tailing reds. I sometimes modify a Cajun Crab by pulling all of the legs from the body and leave only the claws attached in an effort to reduce the size of the soft plastic lure. While this downsizing of your baits is a well-known winter time tactic it works now too, give it a try on your next tough bite with tailing reds!
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