Due to the strong northeast winds this past week the water levels in ICW are extremely high right now. Water levels are just inches below the seawalls along the ICW and the flats are flooded. All this high water just gives fish and baitfish too many places to retreat to. The only saving thing is that the bait may stay more to the ICW as it migrates south.
The question is, will the bait run still be going on after the winds subside? I guess the only way to find out is to get out and fish. Before the winds picked up on Saturday I was having a pretty good day with trout. On almost every cast I had either a hit or a fish. This lasted for about an hour, then the winds started to pickup and the bite seemed to turn off. The tide going almost slack probably played a role as well. I decided to call it a day. For the record, I was using a soft plastic paddle tail jig on a ¼ oz jig head. I was swimming it half way between the bottom and the surface. Sometimes you have to try retrieving at different speeds to find what depth the fish are at.
Chuck Medlin didn’t let the winds bother him on Sunday. He found a place that was semi protected from the wind. Fishing with a soft plastic bait he landed 3 snook to 7 lbs. Chuck said the snook were busting water while feeding on bait. This lasted about an hour before things finally died off.
There were a few people fishing the rough water from the pier on Tuesday and they were landing slot size reds, black drum and bluefish. Look for the surf and pier action to pick up once the surf dies down.
Here’s a bit of fishing news for all you readers who use to fish for fluke up north. (the equivalent to southern flounder) Monica Oswald caught a pending all tackle world record 24.3 lb fluke. Monica was disqualified for the record by the IGFA when she stated that she rested her rod on the gunwale of the boat while fighting the fish. Resting the rod on an object is not allowed by the IGFA.
Moving farther north to Canada a Canadian record was set for northern pike. An unidentified angler caught a pike that weighed in at 55 lbs and measured 55 inches long. According to the pictures I was sent the angler landed the big fish when it came up to eat a 20 lb pike the man had on his line. There was a picture of the fish trying to eat the other one. If anyone would like to see the pics you can email me at captrco@cfl.rr.com and I will send them to you.
One other note of interest pertaining to boating is that boat thefts in Florida are up 20% this year. Most of the problems seem to be in south Fl. and the Keys. Authorities believe this is due in large part by people stealing go-fast boats in the 30’ to 40’ range to smuggle refugees into the U.S.
Photo: Unidentified angler with a Canadian Record 55 lb 56 inch northern pike.
The question is, will the bait run still be going on after the winds subside? I guess the only way to find out is to get out and fish. Before the winds picked up on Saturday I was having a pretty good day with trout. On almost every cast I had either a hit or a fish. This lasted for about an hour, then the winds started to pickup and the bite seemed to turn off. The tide going almost slack probably played a role as well. I decided to call it a day. For the record, I was using a soft plastic paddle tail jig on a ¼ oz jig head. I was swimming it half way between the bottom and the surface. Sometimes you have to try retrieving at different speeds to find what depth the fish are at.
Chuck Medlin didn’t let the winds bother him on Sunday. He found a place that was semi protected from the wind. Fishing with a soft plastic bait he landed 3 snook to 7 lbs. Chuck said the snook were busting water while feeding on bait. This lasted about an hour before things finally died off.
There were a few people fishing the rough water from the pier on Tuesday and they were landing slot size reds, black drum and bluefish. Look for the surf and pier action to pick up once the surf dies down.
Here’s a bit of fishing news for all you readers who use to fish for fluke up north. (the equivalent to southern flounder) Monica Oswald caught a pending all tackle world record 24.3 lb fluke. Monica was disqualified for the record by the IGFA when she stated that she rested her rod on the gunwale of the boat while fighting the fish. Resting the rod on an object is not allowed by the IGFA.
Moving farther north to Canada a Canadian record was set for northern pike. An unidentified angler caught a pike that weighed in at 55 lbs and measured 55 inches long. According to the pictures I was sent the angler landed the big fish when it came up to eat a 20 lb pike the man had on his line. There was a picture of the fish trying to eat the other one. If anyone would like to see the pics you can email me at captrco@cfl.rr.com and I will send them to you.
One other note of interest pertaining to boating is that boat thefts in Florida are up 20% this year. Most of the problems seem to be in south Fl. and the Keys. Authorities believe this is due in large part by people stealing go-fast boats in the 30’ to 40’ range to smuggle refugees into the U.S.
Photo: Unidentified angler with a Canadian Record 55 lb 56 inch northern pike.