Capt. Mark Wright
Early July has been hotter than the hinges of Hades and I seriously doubt August will offer any relief from the heat. Water temps on the shallows have already climbed above the ninety degree mark prompting a little (so far) algae growth. While I personally haven’t seen a problematic bloom in my area thus far, I won’t be surprised if we get one soon.
My get out early mindset is in full force and paying off in spades. This is especially true on mornings when I have at least one client able to “walk the dog”. This technique of top-water plug fishing is out performing traditional soft plastic shad-tailed lures by a four or five to one ratio on slot sized trout.
There’s no secret as to where to fish a top-water plug this time of year, simply look for schools of silver mullet feeding through the flats. Sometimes we find great action in water so shallow the boat is bumping on the bottom. Other times we do better on the mullet schools traveling on the outer edges of the flats in two feet or more of depth. Often, the action is between the two extremes. Don’t leave an area until you explore the super shallow, moderately shallow and outer edge flats if each depth is holding plenty of silver mullet.
For the angler having trouble with walking plugs the Z-Man Pop Shadz is a fantastic option. This soft plastic floating lure is pretty weedless when rigged with a typical hook designed for bass fishing a plastic worm. Working this popping plug through the mullet schools can be explosive and it’s easy to work over and through floating grass mats.
For the natural bait crowd; if you plan on using shrimp or cut bait bring plenty with you. The catfish are abundant and voracious. I think we had to weed through a dozen or more catfish for each redfish or trout we caught on recent trips!
Capt. Mark Wright
321-302-3474
captmarkwright@earthlink.net
www.captmarkwright.com