After fishing some of the rising tides this week with a fair level of success, we decided to sleep in and do an afternoon trip to catch the last of the outgoing. We mixed it up fishing some new and old spots that have been good to us during the warmer months in the past. We found out early that besides Flounder, that Croaker, Whiting, Sea Bass and Ladyfish will happily engulf the Gulp swimming mullet as well. After weeding through these fish, we went looking for Reds. Once we found them the bite was outstanding. We caught Reds from 16" up to 32" for two hours straight. We usually don't catch little ones with big ones, but they were all one hungry happy family today. We caught fish in one foot of water up to 14 feet. Daniel said his arms hurt, but it was his best fishing day ever. He actually got the hang of feeling the jig bounce along the bottom, and detecting the bite. It was a great day, and we could hardly stuff his swollen head back into his favorite Gulp hat!
Excellent! Bouncing jigs along the bottom w/conventional artificials is an easy tactic to simulate with a fly rod. You just have to have the right flies and fly lines - something we've discussed before. And 1-14' of water is the perfect range of depths for a fly fisherman. The deeper the water, the more advantage you gain on conventional tackle due to your ability to cover more water faster, with less effort, and without moving the boat as much. But fly fishing in saltwater is closely akin to bow hunting vs. rifle hunting: the comparative ranges of the gear dictate some modification in techniques, but it's pretty much the same after that.
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