By Capt. Rachel
Every summer I look forward to this month because by now bait has thickened on the flats as well as bridges and piers.
Summer micro bait, very small white bait, has flooded the flats and predator fish are nearby. Due to such small bait, you will need to use a 1/4 in mesh net so as not to gill the majority of your bait. Reduce the hook size down to #1/O and try a weighted cork for getting more casting distance with the tiny bait. Sometimes corks don’t work so I’ll double baits on a hook. This small bait comes in handy when the tide gets high and the fish are hiding in the mangroves. Throwing an extra hand full of bait at the base of the mangroves or structure will help pull the fish out within casting range. It may seem like common sense but if there is bait nearby there should be fish. I have found areas where there is not a lot of bait and the flats fish are somewhat scattered and scarce.
Tide plays a key role in the summer due to higher water temperatures fish tend to be a little more sluggish. I find snook and trout feed better when the tide is moving and the bait is dancing on the surface nearby.
One of my favorite fishing techniques is finding an area where the tide will either fill in or empty out creating a collection of various species feeding: snook, redfish, trout, flounder and mangrove snapper, etc. When the sun is high deeper water offers cooler temperature just as mangroves and structure offers shade. Over the years, I’ve found schools of snook while fishing for trout on grass edges in deep water. There’s nothing more exciting than hitting a spot perfectly with tide moving and bait popping all over the surface. Start looking for an area to start uptide and up wind, start off chumming and fishing then moving toward the fish popping baits. After a period of time all the catching and releasing, crushing and chumming bait will start to attract more fish and often redfish, trout and snapper will move in on the smell and sound. Before you know it 2 hours will pass and your arms will be tired from catching fish. If that doesn’t get you itching to go fishing then take up golf!