We’ve had some great weather this winter here in Flagler. The past week has been awesome. With bluebird skies and temperatures hovering in 70’s who could ask for anything more? Well, I can think of one thing and that would be great fishing. And that’s exactly what we have at the present time. Redfish, trout, bluefish and flounder are all ready to accept your offering. I’ve had days when I would lose count of the amount of trout or redfish that were brought to the boat.
Some of the best trout fishing has come in the evening from about 4 PM to dark. This is when they seem to go into a feeding frenzy. You can see them busting on glass minnows and small menhaden. If your going to throw artificial baits I would suggest such small lures like the YO-Zuri Pins Minnow. A Berkley Gulp jerk shad fished on a jig head or a weighted worm hook is also affective. I know most people don’t fly fish and you might get tired of me writing about it but my favorite way to catch trout, or any other fish for that matter, is with a fly.
Steve Carl had called me about a week ago to tell me that the evening trout bite was going off so we made plans to head out the next day. We met at the boat ramp and headed out armed with just fly rods for tackle. When we pulled up to our destination I told Steve to tie on one of my new white trout flies I’ve been tying. He took my advice and we started fishing. It started out a little slow but as the sun became lower in the sky the better the fishing became. At one point you were hooked up on almost every cast. The action was off the charts. We lost count of the trout we boated and released. It had gotten dark and difficult to see where we were casting so we finally had to call it quits. It also didn’t help that in the dark my fly line had got eaten by my trolling motor propeller (not a good thing to do to a $75 fly line). When we left they were still biting.
On another trip I did last week with a couple of fellows from Nebraska we had the same time of action but with redfish. It was the middle of the day and I had them fishing in the ICW using live shrimp. We came upon a 20’ wide section along the bank and didn’t leave it for two hours. It was nonstop action, one fish after another. If you left that swath of water there were no fish.
Get out and enjoy this weather while it lasts!!!

Let me start by wishing everyone a safe and happy new year. Now that the holidays are past it’s time to get out and use all those new fishing toys you got for Christmas. And while you’re at it make a new years resolution to fish more. If you have young uns get them to put away the video games and get them involved with fishing. What a great way to spend quality time with them. Start them young and you may just end up with a life long fishing buddy.
The fishing the last two weeks has been the best I have seen it in quite some time. Trout, and good size ones at that, are everywhere. They are eating Berkley Gulps or DOA paddle tails fished on 1/8 ounce or ¼ ounce jig heads. Most of the fish are in deeper water and want the baits presented at a slow retrieve.
When fly fishing I use an intermediate fly line to get my fly down deep and also use a slow retrieve. I’ve had great luck with a new white fly pattern that I’ve been tying. The trout have been eating it like candy. I retired the first one I tied the other day after it had been beaten up by about fifty fish. I gave one of the white flies to my buddy Steve Carl when we were fly fishing the other and he had great success with it too. He also landed a 21” trout on it. We also caught bluefish and redfish with it that day. The fly was aptly named the “RCO Special” after the person who designed it (me).
The redfish bite has really taken off the in the last two weeks also. That little cold snap we had has pushed them up onto the flats where you can find some big schools. Once they are found you can feed them Gulps fished on a jig head or a weighted wide gap worm style hook. Gold spoons are also a great way of locating reds. When the reds are found don’t be surprised if you also connect with some flounder.
For those of you that don’t have boats, fishing along Highbridge Road in northern Volusia County can produce good redfish and flounder action this time of year. I would suggest using an eighth ounce jig head with a Gulp or the same size black bucktail jig. The lighter weight seems to hang up less and is easier to get out of the oysters.
Take advantage of bluebird days and get out and fish.