Jacksonville Tailing Redfish
Capt. Ron Schurr
August 25, 2009
Jacksonville - Saltwater Fishing Report
Last week we experienced higher than normal tides. The combination of a new moon and ocean swell caused by hurricane Bill helped push in enough water to allow the marsh to flood. Flooded marshes in Northeast Florida mean tailing redfish in the spartina grass, hungry fish nosing for fiddler and marsh crabs on hard-bottom flats normally not covered by water. This style of fishing is as exciting as it gets since you are stalking and sight casting to redfish. Friday and Saturday we had a late morning high tide around 5.4 feet, which is the minimum height for flood tide fishing. I took a friend who had only fished saltwater one other time on Friday, so he had no idea on what to expect or how to catch these spooky fish. We rigged our rods with Berkley camo tube lures and Exude crabs, both rigged weedless. We pulled up to a likely flat and waited for the remaining water to flow in.
Within 15 minutes, we saw the first redfish tailing.
Notice the tali on the right side of the picture.
After some coaching and a few missplaced casts, Joe was able to drag the lure close to a nice tailer and crash, fish on!
Saturday I took another friend, who is a great angler, but was also a newbie to flood tide tailing redfish. Brad picked it up pretty quick, getting 2 mid slot fish.
We will have opportunities for this unique style of hunting/fishing until the water temps drop, usually around late September.
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