This fat, and soon to be very tasty flounder, was caught in a foot of water with a 1/16 ounce glow/limeade Bayou Chub. Robert Sloan photo
Last week my clients and I worked the early and late bite and caught a heck of a lot of reds, trout and flounder. The trick was to go nocturnal. The tides ahead of our latest full moon phase were high in the mornings and low in the evenings. My game plan was to leave the boat dock at 5:30 a.m. and fish until about 10 a.m. with the high tide. Then it was back to the dock, have lunch, take a nap and head out at 6:30 p.m. for an evening session of fishing.
With that game plan the morning bite was good for fishing up on the flats for tailing and waking reds. We found one “hot” area that held reds for about three days. On another flat, one that tends to load up with reds on a high tide, we had shots at well over 50 reds per morning. Many were caught on flies, but a lot more hit 1/8 ounce weedless gold spoons.
On one particular morning we hit the backside of an island and fished both flies and jigs up close to the bank and caught several nice flounder. The best jig was a glow/limeade Bayou Chub rigged on a slow sinking 1/16 ounce jig head. These are shad-like jigs that have a paddle tail. When reeled slowly along bottom they are deadly on flounder.
Our evening fishing prior to the full moon on July 15 was excellent. The best bite was about an hour before sunset to an hour after dusk. We caught reds and trout on bone colored Super Spook Jr.’s and spoon flies. The best red weighed about 10 pounds. About an hour prior to sunset we caught a lot of small trout in the 10 to 14 inch class. But right about sunset the big trout bite was on, and it lasted for a few hours with the moon rise.
Talk about perfect fishing. My clients love that schedule. It’s cool fishing at dawn and dusk. Plus you can work in a lunch and a nap. But the kicker is that you’re fishing at the prime feeding times, not baking your brain and catching more fish. Can’t top that.
For details on fishing with Capt. Robert Sloan call 409 782 6796 or go to www.hightailangler.com.
Capt. Robert’s thought of the day: Eat right. Stay fit. Die anyway.
