At 8:00am we were in 100 feet of water and things could not be better!  Perfect baits, lots of fish arches on the meter and 3 hours later no grouper in the box.  Plan B was to go to a snapper spot and sure enough we marked a school, dropped a buoy marker and went and set the anchor.  By the time the anchor set, we were 50 yards away from the marker and no one was raising their hand to pull the anchor back in.  Normally, if you are not right on the fish, then you don’t catch fish offshore!  Today was different.  Two chum blocks in the water and we are dicing & slicing frozen bait and in 15 minutes a school of amberjack take residence under the boat.  Literally, these fish from 20-40 pounds camped out waiting for us to reel up a snapper.

The most logical thing to do next was to have a little fun catch and release fishing with these back breaker fish.  We dropped their favorite food into the water, bluerunners and nothing!  Pinfish nothing!  Than, the fish gods shined on us as a lively mullet dropped over had 10 amberjack at a time chasing it.  Instantly, Mickey, Mike and Manny had rods doubled over, drags a burning and I watched  the skunk come off the new boat!  Quick photos and perfect live releases followed as they begged for the ol’ captain to hook up.  So indeed I dropped a mullet in the water and hooked and lost two 30 pounders, finally landing one and that was enough for me.  We were all out of breath and complaining of aching muscles.

The next challenge was snapper.  We all dropped small jigs with meat and Manny was quick to put a 14” yellowtail in the boat than we all began hooking yellowtails which apparently the amberjack loved because we could not reel them in fast enough without getting eaten.  Frustrating for sure until the BIG yellowtails showed up.  Too big for the AJ’s to eat.  Manny had the hot stick and when the first 7 pound yellowtail came over the gunnel there were lots of high-fives!  We all agreed it was the biggest yellowtail we had ever seen.  The next two hours fishing was amazing.  We all hooked monster yellowtails but they would straighten hooks or break our lines.  Imagine that!  But Manny had a different program.  He got the big bites and filled the cooler with behemoth Flags as they call them when they get that big.  Manny had the hot stick and just the right amount of backbone to horse them in.  Add to that a 5 pound mangrove snapper also blessed Manny’s line!

With a cooler full of yellowtail, we went back to hunting grouper with no success.  On the last drop Micky connected with an odd fighting fish and when he swung it overboard an octopus hit the deck!  What an encore to an incredible day!

A maiden voyage for a new boat doesn’t usually turn out this way.  More often, you find out all the things that are not working right on the boat.  This day the boat was perfect and lady luck was on our side.  We caught just the right bait that the A’J’s wanted and we anchored over a barren bottom by accident to discover a monster yellowtail spot.  It really does not get any better than that.

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An hour later we had two shark bite offs and a missed tarpon that nearly spooled our reel!  Tarpon peel off so much line on the first couple of runs that you can literally get spooled even with 300 yards of 60# braid.  We learned our lesson from that and decided to place an anchor ball on our anchor line.  The idea of this is to place a floating buoy on the end of the anchor line so that you can quickly unhook the anchor free of the boat so that you can chase the fish down and gain back your line.  With tarpon there is no time to pull in the anchor so you quick release it to chase the fish!

With anchor ball, line and anchor in 10 feet of water we patiently watched as an occasional tarpon would roll in the distance.  We were nervous and so was the ladyfish on the end of my line then a big swoosh and all heck broke loose!  The heavy action St. Croix rod bent so hard I could not get it out of the rod holder; I actually thought the handle was going to break off!  We were anchored and losing all the line off the reel.  Finally, with rod in hand and 250 yards of line out Bob ran to the bow and released the anchor into the water as I am shouting directions on which way the fish is running.  Bob starts the engine and bumps the boat in gear and the motor shuts off!  Oh lord and I am out of line!  We run to the back of the boat and the engine is choked up on the anchor line and the anchor ball is wedged in the prop!  An anchor ball is used so that when you hook a large fish you can quickly release the anchor from the boat and can locate after fighting the fish.  You see, there is no time to pull in the anchor when the monster is pulling all the line off your reel!  With the motor totally locked up this game is over I declare as I put the rod in a holder and Bob quickly lifts the anchor off the bottom and the fish starts towing the boat with the anchor line trailing behind the boat, motor out of commission.

We quickly realize that someone has to get in the water which does not sound too good to me.  We talk about the big sharks that we hooked in the same area and realize at this point we have a big shark on the end of the line that amazingly has not bit us off.  Bob gets in the dark water with knife in hand and is trying to carve out the tangled mess.  Moments later with a blank expression Bob jumps up on the swim platform just about the same time as another rod we had out goes down.  We forgot about that line still being out!  Moments later a big sailcat is landed and Bob admits he felt something bump him in the leg while in the water which freaked him out causing him to nearly jump out of the water into the boat.  I am still laughing about that one but somehow Bob didn’t see the humor.  So back in the water and finally the anchor ball was pried from the prop and skeg, motor started and fish still on!

We followed the fish and caught up and had traveled a mile across the harbor!  With the shark almost to the boat a huge 7 foot tarpon jumped in front of the boat as we both looked at each other in disbelief!  There was never a clue it was a tarpon!  So, in the process of landing the fish a bit of slack line occurred and the braid had so much tension over the past hour it curled up and wrapped the rod tip and of course the fish is hauling butt away from the boat and the tip is about to break off!  Somehow shaking the rod tip in just the nick of time saved the rod and we boated a solid 160 pound plus fish!  To tangle with a tarpon is nothing short of amazing but this day we had more tangles than just tarpon but luck was with us.

The post Tarpon Tangle Adventures With Shark A Shark Scare in Charlotte Harbor appeared first on Sailboat Home Listings.

For the better part of 17 years my friend frequently comes over from his home in Palm Beach to fish Charlotte Harbor.  Every visit, I have to hear about Sparky’s Island and his night of fame and why don’t we fish at night on the full moon.  Let’s see, 12 full moons per year times 15 years is 180 times I have heard this story perhaps more and I just shrugged it off as that was your lucky day and just forget about it, please!

Last month Sparky was in town on the full moon and after unsuccessfully catching much during the day, I finally conceded to fishing Sparky’s Island just before dark.  You will not find Sparky’s Island marked on any nautical chart and it is not a particularly interesting mangrove island with no special features or water depths.

The water was only 2 feet deep when we started fishing on an outgoing tide. My brother Bob, Sparky and myself pitched live shrimp out as the sun was dropping below the horizon and wham!  Two drags are screaming and Sparky and I battle 2 very impressive redfish.  You can only imagine the beating I took (and will endure for my lifetime!) for waiting 15 years to come back!  It was not long before all of us were hooked up and releasing redfish most in the 5-8 pound range.  Of course, plenty of catfish showed up as well.  When the fishing slowed hours later Sparky boasted the most fish by far; 12 redfish and 1 black drum which was the last fish of the night.  It was a beautiful night as we watched the full moon rise to the east and the higher it got the slower the bite but sure made for an easy ride back to the dock.  It was clearly Sparky’s night because there were 17 red/black drum caught, 13 of which were Sparkys and our lines were fished within a 10 yard stretch of each other yet his line got most of the bites and rightfully so!

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Every day on the water is a different adventure.  This was definitely the case on a recent offshore trip that was the “maiden voyage” for my friends new 34’ Yellowfin.  Coolers were packed with frozen bait to target red grouper and anticipation was high as we motored out of the canal.  In the dark, the water churned around us and fish were running into the boat.  Mickey threw a heavy cast net and we had trapped 30 mullet between 10-15 inches!  A great start and offshore we went to sabiki bluerunners, pinfish and squirrelfish.

At 8:00am we were in 100 feet of water and things could not be better!  Perfect baits, lots of fish arches on the meter and 3 hours later no grouper in the box.  Plan B was to go to a snapper spot and sure enough we marked a school, dropped a buoy marker and went and set the anchor.  By the time the anchor set, we were 50 yards away from the marker and no one was raising their hand to pull the anchor back in.  Normally, if you are not right on the fish, then you don’t catch fish offshore!  Today was different.  Two chum blocks in the water and we are dicing & slicing frozen bait and in 15 minutes a school of amberjack take residence under the boat.  Literally, these fish from 20-40 pounds camped out waiting for us to reel up a snapper.

The most logical thing to do next was to have a little fun catch and release fishing with these back breaker fish.  We dropped their favorite food into the water, bluerunners and nothing!  Pinfish nothing!  Than, the fish gods shined on us as a lively mullet dropped over had 10 amberjack at a time chasing it.  Instantly, Mickey, Mike and Manny had rods doubled over, drags a burning and I watched  the skunk come off the new boat!  Quick photos and perfect live releases followed as they begged for the ol’ captain to hook up.  So indeed I dropped a mullet in the water and hooked and lost two 30 pounders, finally landing one and that was enough for me.  We were all out of breath and complaining of aching muscles.

The next challenge was snapper.  We all dropped small jigs with meat and Manny was quick to put a 14” yellowtail in the boat than we all began hooking yellowtails which apparently the amberjack loved because we could not reel them in fast enough without getting eaten.  Frustrating for sure until the BIG yellowtails showed up.  Too big for the AJ’s to eat.  Manny had the hot stick and when the first 7 pound yellowtail came over the gunnel there were lots of high-fives!  We all agreed it was the biggest yellowtail we had ever seen.  The next two hours fishing was amazing.  We all hooked monster yellowtails but they would straighten hooks or break our lines.  Imagine that!  But Manny had a different program.  He got the big bites and filled the cooler with behemoth Flags as they call them when they get that big.  Manny had the hot stick and just the right amount of backbone to horse them in.  Add to that a 5 pound mangrove snapper also blessed Manny’s line!

With a cooler full of yellowtail, we went back to hunting grouper with no success.  On the last drop Micky connected with an odd fighting fish and when he swung it overboard an octopus hit the deck!  What an encore to an incredible day!

A maiden voyage for a new boat doesn’t usually turn out this way.  More often, you find out all the things that are not working right on the boat.  This day the boat was perfect and lady luck was on our side.  We caught just the right bait that the A’J’s wanted and we anchored over a barren bottom by accident to discover a monster yellowtail spot.  It really does not get any better than that.

You can go to Waterlifemagazine.com and see the article in print and with pictures as well.

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by Capt. Chuck Eichner

(YES, I love everything water!)

The only guarantee you have with winter fishing is that mother nature will create challenges for you.  Grouper fishing in the gulf adds even more challenges.  The obvious first step in planning a trip is finding the right weather day.  Sounds easy right?  Just find a calm day and go out.  Wrong!  Since most of the winter its windy it takes 3 days for the ocean to calm!  The first couple days after a blow you can expect 3-4 footers.

Two grouper trips in January were on the third calm day and the winds were light and seas calm.  The only catch is calm weather in the winter means developing inland fog with almost no visibility and/or offshore sea fog.  Navigation in the fog is scary and dangerous.  To manage this, I have Eisenglass snap on plastic windows and side curtains.  This keeps my eyeglasses clear of water.  You will also need others standing watch on port and starboard for other vessels.  If you are lucky enough to have radar than you really have it made.  My first trip in January we ran 40 miles from my dock in fog and the second trip we ran back 40 miles in a sea fog.  Pretty miserable to be honest but the catching was worth it!

Successful red grouper fishing requires you to have a variety of baits.  We start our day sabikiing baitfish offshore and catch pinfish, bluerunners, cigar minnows and squirrelfish.  Also, our frozen bait includes sardines and chum blocks for snapper fishing.  Grouper prefer different baits on different days and you have to experiment.

The next step is looking for fish.  I don’t grouper fish in much less than 80 feet and deeper is often better.  While running on plane look for baitfish near the bottom and “marks” on the sea floor.  Set up a drift with bottom rigs or jigs baited up.  I prefer a large bucktail tipped with a live fish.  The type of rod you use makes a difference in presentation.  A short rod at 5 ½’ will out-fish a 7’ rod most days because the vertical stroke and angle will keep the lure closer to the bottom with smaller “jumps” off the bottom.  The distance behind the boat you fish your bait will change the presentation as well.  Some days grouper fishing is as technical as largemouth bass fishing!

Another very important factor is controlling your drift speed.  The gulf currents are quite strong any day and with wind the problem is larger.  A drift sock or sea anchor is an important tool most days on my boat.  If you drift too fast you will not catch nearly as many fish even with increasing your weight.  Dealing with a sea anchor is a hassle but going way out into the gulf and going home fishless is worse.  Two sea anchors, one off port and starboard is often the way to go.

Red grouper are a nomadic fish.  They move around following their food source which often varies with water temperature.  My game plan is the same.  I move around constantly reading my bottom machine, telling my anglers to “drop em’” and then picking up and moving or resetting a drift.  Many anglers drop lines and drift for a ½ mile or more but most spots aren’t much bigger than your boat!  Grouper set up on small variations on the bottom to ambush bait.  Rocks, holes in the bottom, live bottom with sea fans and coral provide enough of an ambush point for grouper to stage on.

The gulf is absolutely full of grouper right now and most are undersize but there are still large ones out there.  Mangrove and lane snappers are also plentiful so coming home with dinner is pretty much a guarantee.  By late summer I would expect catching a limit of legal grouper will be a breeze!

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When searching for pompano you might want to keep an eye on your wake as you cruise the waters because they will often jump once you have disturbed them.  Many charter captains don’t fish for them unless they see them jump but I fish differently.  These fish like any others get disturbed by the presence of a boat and running over them will often turn them off.  I prefer to idle and look at a distance for black tails.  Pompano have a very defined large V-shaped black tail that stands out on the sandy bottom and its easy to spot on a sunny day.  Using any type of small jig with a short hackle or feather tail will work or just a plain jig head.  Tip either with a half of shrimp and you are in business.  My key water depth for pomps is in 3-4 feet of water.  Deeper than this and you catch ladyfish.  Pompano is certainly one of the finest eating fish that swims so between its amazing drag pulling escapades and occasionally jumping to being seared on a pan, its my winter favorite fish!  Most will find they luck into pompano and can’t pattern them.  The key to consistently catching pompano is to change spots constantly until you hit a school.  Since they are on the move where they were yesterday doesn’t mean they will be there today.

Bluefish on the other hand I find a bit more predictable.  They will often be in the same places as the pompano but I have certain spots where I can expect them to be day after day.  The same jigs work for bluefish as does any fast moving plug or spoon.  For table fare they are good but choose the smaller ones and remove the dark red meat or it is too fishy tasting.

Both fish will burn drag and both jump occasionally which is a good thing.  Bluefish have some seriously dangerous teeth so handle carefully, pompano have a soft pliable mouth.  If you find your lures bit off, then bluefish are in the area.  If you add a steel leader you won’t get any bites from either of these fish.  They are just too smart in the clear winter waters.

The silver flashy revved up fight of these amazing gamefish will make your day and a perfect evening once on the dinner table.

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Anyone with a boat big enough to float can hook up!  Imagine being in a 14’ Jon boat being dragged by a monster bull shark.  Yep, September is no month for jets ski’s or water skiing!

What attracts the sharks is simply a large food source.  Fish and aquatic creatures of all types have been breeding in the aquatic grasses all summer.  Throw a cast net anywhere in the harbor and you will have something alive in your net.  In open water, it will be anything from jellyfish to baitfish and in the shallows, seahorses to pilchards.  Sharks are also following schools of ladyfish and jacks.

Most times when focusing on sharks I ride the harbor looking for bird activity and not necessarily set up on holes.  Sheets of baitfish are a good place to drift through, any serious blasting by mackeral will have sharks under them as well.

On a recent fishing trip with my grandson Gavin we seen diving birds in 8’ of water around green daymarker “77” in the Matlacha direction.  We had live ladyfish for bait.  I generally like to fish two rods with steel leader and one with mono in case a tarpon passes by.  Two live baits and one cut ladyfish out and we set at anchor for an hour.  A dead bait with steel got whomped and missed and shortly later the mono rod with an 18” live ladyfish buckled and the drag was burning!  Gavin reached for the rod but couldn’t pull it out of the rod holder, meanwhile the shark is dumping the spool!  I grab the rod, hand to Gavin, start the motor, run to the bow and pull the anchor.  As we chase the fish down, Gavin gains some line and the 9 year old puts serious heat on the fish.  While coaching my grandson to not let go of the rod the shark takes a sudden lunge, pulls Gavin to the gunnel and I grab his pants as he was headed into the drink!  Normally, he has a PFD on but we were at anchor on a calm day and it was 93 degrees!  The next words out of Gavin’s mouth was “grandpa I think I better put on my life preserver”.  These words I will never forget and another sudden pull and the line snapped!  We were fishing 8’ of 80# line with no steel on this rod and over 6 feet of line was scrapped up.  Without seeing the shark we knew it was at least 6 feet and definitely the fight of a bull shark that I guesstimate at 150 pounds!

For baits, live ladyfish are great and live mullet can’t be beat.  These are big baits and attract the big predators.  Frozen sardines work but will attract smaller sharks and plenty of catfish.  Chumming will attract more sharks near your boat for sure.

Six feet of water on the outside of the flats are a great place to set up on an outgoing tide as well.  Sharks will patrol our flats under the cover of dark water on high tide and with receding water drop back to the outer edges on their way into deeper water; a perfect place to intercept your bait.

On a different trip, a live mullet got munched in the middle of a school of ladyfish that were splashing on the surface.  As it often happens, the shark bit the mono line but luck allowed us to get it just close enough for a photo before bite off and my guess was 250 pounds!  That was in 10 feet of water!

Shark attacks are common on Charlotte Harbor!  Most are sub-surface and none are on humans, thank goodness!

TO SEE THE PUBLISHED VERSION WITH PICTURES OF THIS ARTICLE GO TO www.WaterLifeMagazine.com

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 By Capt. Chuck Eichner

January fishing in southwest Florida is quite predictable. If you pick a day to go fishing there is a good chance of strong winds so the best plan is to watch for lighter wind days and take advantage of it.

Offshore fishing is quite good in January and you don’t have to go too far to find a big fish pulling on your line! I find that this time of year when the winds are light enough to feel safe our local reefs hold a bunch of drag burners including Bonita, Amberjack, Cobia, Shark and an occasional Kingfish! Of course, there are snappers, grunts and an occasional grouper but these other fish are quite predictable and easy with the right approach.

The key is live bait and frozen bait. The frozen bait part is easy so plan on bringing a few boxes of sardines, squid and perhaps some chum. Once you get outside of Boca Grande Pass cruise over the bottom in 20-35 feet of water and watch your bottom machine for a cloud of small marks near the bottom. With a sabiki rig in hand, cut small pieces of squid and bait each hook and drop it down. You can expect in short order you will have a variety of small fish swimming in your livewell. Bluerunners and Pinfish often make up the majority but grunts, squirrelfish and others will round it out.

With that, choose your public reef depending on sea conditions. The amberjacks prefer deeper water structure so in general reefs in 50’ of water or more will often hold the AJ’s. All reefs have the potential for the other species previously mentioned. I generally start my day early because catching bait takes time. When arriving at the reef the first thing to do is drift and cast lures to catch the early morning aggressive feeders. Bonita will jam a bucktail burned near the surface and jigging spoons often get a quick reaction- a great wake up call to the day! Some other species seem to like the warmth of the late morning sun before munching such as cobia.

My approach to all the reefs is the same after fan casting the area, set up anchor, put frozen chum in a weighted chum box and drop to the bottom. Now chop up frozen sardines and sprinkle into the water column. This brings many fish within reach of your boat but then you need to offer different species different things from the menu and offshore species definitely show a preference for specific baits. Amberjacks just love pinfish freelined with just enough weight to have them heading to the bottom. Shark, Kingfish, Jack Crevalle and Goliath Grouper will munch a bluerunner in short order. I often fish the “runner” 7-10 feet under a float. Do expect to use wire of some sort to keep the toothy critters on the line.

Other bonus fish around the reefs include flounder which prefer squid and just about anything and everything will eat a live shrimp. Placing a small hook into a piece of frozen sardine and drifting in the chum line is a devious way to trick snappers. Mangrove snapper are plentiful in January but reeling them in faster than the Goliath Grouper will be the biggest challenge of the day!

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040.

To see an in print version including pictures and modified by the editor, go to www.WaterLifeMagazine.com

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On this particular day, we had a cold morning with a warming afternoon with temperatures reaching into the 70’s. An incoming tide late in the day presented an opportunity for fish that have retreated from the shallows to again return to feed. Leaving the dock at noon allowed the waters to warm and the tide to rise. Our method of fishing was basic using a bait holder hook, with splitshot and a shrimp rigged weedless (Texas style). As the afternoon progressed we cast around the perimeter of mangrove islands, sandholes, creek mouths and any depression that provided a foot or more of depth over the surrounding waters. Fishing in less than 3 feet of water on high tide is not a confidence builder but that is what it takes. Friend Ken Ice and I methodically cast and retrieved the shrimp very slowly with occasional pauses to allow the shrimp to fall back to the bottom. The best method of presenting the bait is to raise the rod tip to move the line then dropping the rod tip to take up the slack. The fish will almost always take the shrimp as it drops back down into the water column.

If your are patient enough to cover a lot of water sooner or later you will find a group of redfish and that is when the fun starts. This time of year expect that most fish will be under 20 inches so using a light action rod makes these fish feel like monsters. Our first hotspot produced 5 redfish before things went quiet which led us to move to other mangrove islands probing the shallows with medium sized shrimp. Not every spot produced for sure. A strong bite on one island met with a dogged fight and a fish pulling drag. About a minute later a monster sheepshead came boatside. Sheepies in shallow water are fun and there are more on the flats then you might think!

This time of year you won’t see sheets of silvery white bait flicking around and pinfish flashing in the grass. In fact, you won’t see much activity in the shallows but small mud minnows, shrimp and crabs are hiding and the fish know it! Redfish, trout, sheepshead, flounder and a host of other species sulk in the depths of the harbor only to return to feed when the water gets deep enough to search the grass flats and mangrove backcountry. As our day progressed we hit one spot that produced 20 redfish and at times we had two on at a time! The spot was not much to look at but small mud minnows were scurrying around a creek mouth where we found these fish which we guessed was the attraction. Interestingly, some redfish were reddish in color and others were silver. My belief is that the silvery redfish are ones that just came out of the deeper, cooler water of the harbor.

Patience, confidence and persistence are more important than technique for colder weather fishing. Approach the shallows with stealth and you will be surprised at all the fish you don’t see that bite your line!

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040.   Come live the waterfront dream.  Boating, fishing, sailing….its all a way of life!

To see an in print version including pictures and modified by the editor, go to www.WaterLifeMagazine.com

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Let’s start with speckled trout which will be the easiest fish to catch regardless of wind, warmth or cold. Trout will be found hanging around drop-offs in 3-5 feet where there is a grassy bottom. You can drift a grassy flats area or motor until you see a bottom change from shallow to deep. The steeper the “wall” on your drop the better the fish like it. I like to watch for drop-offs that have grass showing on the bottom. When using your sonar it is important to take it out of auto-mode and reduce your sensitivity. Otherwise you will receive false signals on the bottom and in the middle of the water column that you will think are fish or grassbeds. Another important thing to remember: Your transducer is likely 1-2 feet below the water surface. You need to subtract that depth from your sonar’s reading to know the true depth. The trout are very depth specific and 1-2 feet of variance makes the difference in where they stage to feed.

For trout fishing, the best approach is to anchor the boat on the high spot and fan cast the deeper water on the drop off. I use my power pole to quickly set up and move as the bite dictates. Great areas to fish are the bar and grass flats outside of Bookellia, Turtle Bay and the Gasparilla area. The edges of the ICW provide high/low bottom terrains as well, that hold lots of nice trout. Casting jig heads with plastic swimtails or live shrimp will work every time but focus on your bottom machine. Lazy drifting across large expanses is peaceful and relaxing but focusing on the drops will produce more and bigger trout.

Snook fishing in March is often some of the best of the year but is very weather dependent. Snook will need at least a week of consistent 80 degree weather to get active. They have wintered in deeper areas and move across the shallows once our waters are well up in the 70’s. The first place they position are on deep holes adjacent to the flats and only on high tide. Here again the high-low transition point from shallow to deep is where they stage. They will make their move on sunny days with high tides and the first snook of the season are usually the biggest. Maybe it is just because the large snook have let their guard down over winter but March is typically when I catch the 15-20 pound snook with some regularity. The boat positioning mind set is the same as trout, position your boat shallow and cast to the deeper spots. However you are fishing open water on grass flats for trout but focusing on mangrove areas and sand holes for snook. Anything 3 feet and deeper next to the flats is deep to a snook. For bait, spoons and plastic swimbaits work well but nothing beats a live shiner. If you are lucky enough to find live pilchards on the flats in March then likely the water is warm enough for the snook to be on the move in the afternoons. Snook inhabit every mangrove area whether it is near the beaches, in the rivers or the backcountry around the harbor.

There are always other fish that share the same waters with redfish, pompano and jack crevalle being the usual suspects. Use your depth finder to pick out trout spots and your eyes to detect a snook haven. Stake your boat high and away from where the fish are. Often, the fish will be disturbed by your arrival but settle in after some time if you are patient enough to wait for the bite!

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040.

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