March 25 2008

Its been taking the good with the bad. When the wind lays down and most important water temps get up to 70(or above) the fish get happy. So of course its been mostly windy with little breaks occasionally .Even with the winds our best fishing has remanded in Pine island sound.The weather pattern that oddly has produced the best bite, has been southern winds on incoming tides. This means plenty of water and fish mostly on northern or lee sides of islands and points. Red fish are still our best bite. The fish have been pretty aggressive taking both fly and artificial retrieved a little faster than normal.The fish are not every where but if you can find the big groups of needle fish you'll find the reds. I know needle fish don't sound like the normal food for reds. But the cooler water has kept the white bait out longer.I think the fish know its time to start looking for bait fish , but all they can find is needle fish. Colors are pretty basic , if its cloudy or murky water keep your patterns dark.Bright skies and clean water lighten up your color choice. Longer patterns seemed to be key. We watched lots of fish eat, most fish were moving 3-5 feet to aggressively take our presentations. Most of the fish were in 2-4 feet of water. But if you found deeper holes in the area, snook and large trout could be added to your daily catch.The snook we caught went up to 30" and the sea trout topped out at about 26". Some Tarpon are still popping up in deeper water . But only when the wind dies down. Aaron Adams from mote marine told me he jumped an 80 lb fish last weekend.
So hang in there folks it's only going to get better.
Tight lines
Capt. Jamie Allen