Good low tide

[DaveR]

Mike,

At least until you get the hang of the sight-fishing gig, do yourself a favor and find somewhere with shallow mud flats and off-color water, not clear water grass flats. Tailers over grass are often more finicky, spooky, and generally harder to catch. Fish over mud are stupid.

Ever read something like this before?

[Mike Hodge]

Mike,

At least until you get the hang of the sight-fishing gig, do yourself a favor and find somewhere with shallow mud flats and off-color water, not clear water grass flats. Tailers over grass are often more finicky, spooky, and generally harder to catch. Fish over mud are stupid.

Dustin,

I am perfectly willing to accept any species, anytime, any place, anywhere in the salt and in a yak. If I can see it and stalk it, it's game on. At first, I wanted the redfish, but realized I needed to widen my options.

[BearsFan]

I DON'T care about spin fishing. I've done that. I DON'T care about blind casting to structure, bait, blowups and boils. I've done that. If all I wanted to do was catch fish, I would have returned to those methods long ago. I try to sight fish, because that's what I want to learn to do WELL.

HELL YES!


You are good people in my book. If there is anything I can help you with feel free to drop a pm.

[Rik]

Geesh, another elite snob ......

[DaveR]

The Drake

[Mike Hodge]

Sorry, got a little carried away. I'll try to funnel my energy into actually learning to sight fish as opposed to preaching about it.

[BearsFan]

The Drake

Listen to Dave. You would not imagine the stuff one can learn from those people.

[Mike Hodge]

BF: I got the magazine at TBOF Sat. ... Dave's given me several hints along the way. ... For instance I was all excited about a 0.5 low tide. His response was "Tomorrow," or something along those lines. So grabbed my tide charts. The day he was referring to was a 0.2, which is better than 0.5, because it gives you a larger window to fish before there's too much water on the flat. I could be over analyzing, but I think that's what his point was.

[BearsFan]

I think he was referring to their message board, which is full of assholes.

The magazine is pretty awesome though.

[DaveR]

Yes. A veiled reference to the flaming assholes over there but there is some great photography once in a while. When I think I'm too bit too much of an asshole I lurk over there to see how it's really done.
At the risk of giving away somebody's honey hole, I was crossing the Little Manatee River on 75 the other day and thought to myself this is the kind of water I would search out if I lived up here. It's got mudding redfish written all over it..If I was in the neighborhood I would do me a bit of Johnstering. See, there was a big English bloke that used to be around here that was famous for his recon efforts. If there was a hole in the mangroves or a vacant lot near promising waters he would do the road work, risk arrest, and go fishin. Those recon efforts are known round these parts as Johnstering.
Mudders are more predictable then tails and you don't need X-ray vision to see em. Creep along a grass shoreline on the right tide, with the mud just starting to show, and the rewards can be, dare I write, epic.
I ain't and old hat at this. Bears fan can tell ya how frustrated I was for a year till I found mudders up in Cedar Key and then the light bulb went off. I have the same shit down here. Now, I'll never tell ya where my honey hole is but there's plenty more like it.

[Mike Hodge]

High winds and consistent rain have delayed my sight fishing quest. Only got out once this week --- and it was blowing 15 mph. Also found full-time work this week, a relief after relocating, so that development may deter things a bit. We'll see.

[DaveR]

Congrats on the gig. Take care of the family. The silly redfish will always be there.

[Mike Hodge]

Congrats on the gig. Take care of the family. The silly redfish will always be there.

Thx Dave. I'm fortunate to still have a job, given the state of the newspaper business. I'll be working nights as an editor (in sports), so I'll have time to sometimes get out during the day. Twenty years ago, I could work all night, get up the next day and fish and then go to work without a hitch. Not anymore.

[John]

See, there was a big English bloke that used to be around here that was famous for his recon efforts. If there was a hole in the mangroves or a vacant lot near promising waters he would do the road work, risk arrest, and go fishin. Those recon efforts are known round these parts as Johnstering

He's still around, and still doing it, hardly a week goes by where I am not scouting for new water or new access.

But still the best advice as given to me is to find, fish and learn a local water.

[Mike Hodge]

As far as learning one spot, Weedon Island is fast becoming one of my favorites. The launch is lousy, but everything else is pretty good. A little crowded, but I'll be fishing during the week with my new schedule.

[BearsFan]

How is your sight fishing coming along Mike?

Too snobby to fish mudders yet? If so, good on you!