Fishing with Capt. George Tunison | Now is the time to reel in redfish
Cool overcast mornings between showers and mangrove shorelines filled with hungry redfish? Uncrowded ramps and not another boat in sight? What a great time to be on local waters as Red October blends into Red November, and the hot inshore redfish bite continues – hopefully all the way to turkey-time.
Stalking tailing reds on early morning low water flats, fishing the mangrove shoreline edges or going after the area’s biggest reds by fishing the passes, whatever program gets you going, now’s the time to make it happen.
If you’re a novice red angler looking to get in on the fun but don’t know where to go or how to rig your tackle, have no worries as it’s pretty basic.
Quietly park the boat as far from a mangrove shoreline as possible, but within accurate casting range. Tie on a small jighead, add a shrimp, and cast both as close to the mangroves as you can without getting hung up and let soak.
Quietly wait while keeping an eagle eye on your line looking for any movement. If so, set the hook. No customers? Move on to the next spot. I typically don’t spend more than 15, maybe 20 minutes quietly fishing each location.
Redfish are always hungry, and if they’re around and haven’t been altered by boat noise, they will gladly eat a delicious free shrimp or ladyfish appetizer.
Obviously, reds can be caught by several methods, but this simple method works and is a good starting point. If you have trouble detecting strikes by line, watch, then simply add a small float about a foot or so above a circle hooked shrimp making a strike easy to react to.
If the bobber goes down, the angler simply reels tight, no hook setting needed. Most redfish bites are obvious as they wolf down your offering and take off, almost pulling the rod out of the boat or your hands. But sometimes, the take can be very subtle, even by oversized specimens.
Learning to be a line watcher pays off in any fishing activity. Remember, when you get a bite along the mangroves, the fish will dart out, inhale the bait along the edge, then head back and under to the garage before you can say, ” I think I had a bite.”
If he goes too far back, he’s not coming back out to play and will probably cut your leader on the cover. Pay attention to your line.
Now that you’re rigged and ready, you want to know what mangroves to fish as Cape anglers are blessed with miles upon miles of possible redfish holding shorelines in Pine Island Sound, Matlacha Pass and Charlotte Harbor.
Maybe start at Two Pines at the top of Matlacha Pass and work the bushes on up towards Burnt Store Marina, or fish the other side in well-known Smokehouse Bay/Indian Field. Many islands and creeks throughout Pine Island Sound and both north and south Matlacha Pass are all potential hotspots.
Ask questions at bait shops, at boat ramps, and from generous fishing guides. But most importantly, put in your time. Once you find a few hot areas you can come back year after year under similar conditions and catch them. Remember to up your chances of success by always fishing a moving tide.
If you’re a complete novice, spending a morning with a local guide is a good way to jump start your local redfish career instead of spending weeks searching because, “It all looks fishy!” which of course, is never the case.
Stop feeding local dolphins your trout and ladyfish! Tuesday morning we were haunted by a dolphin in very shallow shoreline water that would not leave us alone, literally for miles, wasting precious fishing time scaring the heck out of the reds we were trying to catch. This behavior usually comes from anglers feeding them their catch. Please stop feeding them!
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at captgeorget4@yahoo.com or (239) 440-1621.