Captain Steven eased out of the marina under the cover of darkness Sunday morning. Low humidity combined with the NE breeze made the run to gather bait a true joy.
It took some patience to find the redfish candy aka white bait. Choppy water conditions from the brisk winds made visibility a challenge.
Its no secret lower Tampa Bay in the fall is the place to catch large redfish. Catching redfish is a blast, catching big redfish is special but catching large redfish one after another is amazing.
With limited visibility having a tower boat is priceless. Sunday it gave me the edge to locate the redfish schools. Casting a live white bait under a float into the school was as close to a sure thing as there is in fishing. Like Jacks several reds would attack the bait. Strong fights lasting 10 minutes was the norm for 3 hours. Occasionally a trout would beat a red to the bait and while not 35”’s of Bronze Bomber the trout were thick and 18-20”.
After a prolonged battle be sure to take the proper amount of time reviving and release your fish safely. Target grass flats, oyster bars and mangrove islands in the Ft Desoto or Terra Ciea areas.
Keep the rigging simple, 10-15 pound braid mainline connected to 3’ of 20-25 pound fluorocarbon leader finished with a 2/0 circle hook. You can add a float to keep baits out of the grass.
