Clear water results in great fishing action
Our local waters are beginning to clear up and with this so is the fishing. Fishing along the beaches and out to the inshore reefs is proving to be good for a number of species including mangrove snapper, flounder and Spanish mackerel. The waters along the beaches are very clear once again so pay attention to your leader sizes. I’m finding that 20-pound test fluorocarbon is working fine. If you’re free-lining baits to mangrove snapper, you may want to scale down to some 15-pound test fluorocarbon to really get the bite going.
On the flats, snook and redfish seem to be the popular attraction. Many juvenile snook are present over shallow flats where strong tidal flow exists. Free-lined live shiners are the bait of choice. Most of these fish are under-slot, but provide good action on light spinning tackle. As for the redfish, I think they are a little spread out. Fishing mangrove edges and oyster bars is resulting in a few hookups but I’ve yet to see any rallies like we saw before Hurricane Hermine.
Ultimately, I think the best bite for me is on flounder. I’m having numerous days where we are catching up to a dozen flounder, and a lot of these fish are between 18-22 inches. These fish may not be the most sporty of catches, but what they lack in stamina, they make up for on the dinner plate. I’m definitely a fan of catch-and-release fishing, but I have to admit that if I catch a keeper flounder, it’s going in the cooler to be later filleted.
