“Even in tannin waters, fish must still eat!” Says Captain Terry
(Ft. Myers Beach to Charlotte Harbor) Last week I wrote that the best opportunity to catch fish in our tannin waters (inshore and back country) is in the early morning hours or late evening hours, regardless of the tide flow. Naturally the times mentioned above, coupled with moving water will most always prove the best scenario. At this time, with all the rain and large amounts of water releases from Lake Okeechobee, I still believe the ‘outgoing’ tides will provide anglers with the most success. The excessive amount of water is giving the fish extra protection and more hiding places deep into the mangroves and into some shoreline structures not normally accessible by boat or wading. Other than water holding in deep pockets in ‘back country’ locations, the ‘outgoing’ tides force fish to move out and off of many structures to relocate on or just off of the flats until the tide turns. This strategy has proven effective on my most recent charters.
Last week, I had the pleasure of fishing with Ms. Danielle O’Banion, ladies basketball coach at Kent State in Ohio (Go GOLDEN FLASHES!). Danielle was taking a last minute vacation prior getting back to school to help prepare her team for the upcoming season and chose southwest Florida as her destination. We departed around 7:30 A.M. in time to fish during the majority of the outgoing tide. Our first stop was in Pine Island Sound (‘Sound’), on the flats, beside a creek mouth in about 5 feet of water. We used live shrimp under a cork and caught numerous fish including; Seatrout, Mangrove Snapper, a Redfish and Pompano.
The second stop around Galt Island proved non-productive, as the outgoing tide had all but subsided. We decided to relocate to a spot on the east side of Sanibel where the bottom half of the outgoing tide was still moving the fish out of the mangroves toward the flats to hold in about 3 feet or more of water. Since Danielle is a seasoned angler, I decided to change angling strategies by giving her an opportunity to cast artificial lures and scented soft baits toward the mangroves. Danielle proved herself as the best lady angler I have had the pleasure to fish with (other than my 1st Mate Vicki; of course).
The 26” Redfish pictured here was caught on a Gulp Penny color shrimp on light tackle and is only one of many fish and species we caught that morning. We finished the charter chasing some resident Tarpon on slack tide in the back waters. We had a brief encounter with one, but were not able to get a good ‘hook-set’, which may have ‘topped off’ the charter with a ‘SUPER SLAM’ (SEATROUT, POMPANO, REDFISH, SNOOK AND TARPON), all within about 6 hours.
EVEN IN TANNIN WATERS, FISH MUST STILL EAT! THE ‘KEY’ TO A PRODUCTIVE CATCH IS TO BE WHERE THE FISH ARE MOVING AND HOLDING!
This is Captain Terry Fisher of Fish Face Charters wishing you the best. Charter inquires or additional fishing articles may be obtained at my website www.fishfacecharters.com. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions or call me at 239-357-6829.