Windy Fishing Days

It was no surprise that the flag was standing straight out at the ramp.  The bay and inlet at St Augustine looked like a chocolate milkshake instead of its usual blue-green brilliance.  Things did not look good.

To top this off, the tide was still incoming and almost high – the exact opposite of what I like to fish.  But I was determined to get out and get the fishing monkey off my back!

There were several big charter boats anchored inside the inlet mouth – their fishing parties were obviously not wanting to get out into the 4-6 foot seas.  They opted for the bluefish or whiting that have been thick there for the past month.  I watched, but did not see anyone catch a fish.

So, I headed where I normally go on a flood high tide in cool water – into the back waters where the shallow water will warm quickly in the sun.



The tidal flat, full of oyster rakes and Spartina grass were completely flooded.  The tide had started moving out, and I knew I would not have but an hour or two to fish.  The northeast wind tends to really blow water out of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) on an outgoing tide.  Low tide can be as much as two feet lower in a wind like that.

A deeper channel meanders through this flat, visible at low tide, but hidden at high tide.  This is one of those places you have to investigate at low tide so you know where the fish will be located.  The channel has enough water to navigate at low tide, but the entrance to the flat and to that channel off the ICW has a big sandbar that can’t be crossed once the tide is about half down.  You need to be out of there or you get to stay until the tide comes back in – a good six hour wait.  (Does this sound like the voice of experience?)

I used my trolling motor and kept the boat positioned to fish a couple of runoff shoots that fed the outgoing water off the flat and into the channel.  Reds, trout, and a variety of other fish will prowl the flats at high tide and then move off the flats to deeper water as the tide begins to drop.  They don’t want to be stranded in a tidal pool any more than we do!



I used a 3/8 ounce jig head with a Gulp chartreuse 4 inch swimming mullet.  These baits get a little pricey – especially when pinfish grab the tail and bite it off.  But, they do work for me, and I can keep the pinfish away if I keep the bait moving.

I use an erratic retrieve – a couple of pops with the rod and rell about twice.  The bait moves back to the boat in an up nad down fashion.  In almost every instance I get bit while the bait is dropping down

I fished alone, which makes pictures hard to come by.  But I did catch fish, and I did manage to set a redfish up for a picture.

In that one location, an area about thirty yards in length and width, I caught redfish, seatrout, bluefish (yes, they are even back in the flats!), and a jack crevalle that would weigh about ten pounds.  A school of these big guys came through and gave me thirty minutes of fighting!