William Toney

If I was writing a country sound the first lyrics would be “some days

are good and some days are bad”. That’s how the fishing has been. I’ve

been targeting sea trout on the shallow ribbon rock that is in the

Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. On low water the rock piles

that were once a key that has been washed away from storms and large

tides are exposed to the sun that is moving north. The sun warmed

limestone bottom is where late winter, early spring trout will school

up. In the crystal clear water it reminds me of a bone fish flat south

of Homosassa. Poling my boat I can spot these schools of beautiful

fish as a dark patch that swings somewhat on the incoming tide. To

spot them and not spook them is the Holy Grail of trout fishing on the

Big Bend. Setting up on a bunch of trout is tougher then redfish

because trout blend in on the yellow bottom and once you bust them

it’s hard to set up on them again.

Snook are open at the end of the month and they are on the outside

edge. Deep channels with a hard rock point that has moving water are a

good spot to target. The nearshore rocks are a hit in miss with

sheepshead, grunts and a few spanish mackerel. Incoming tide this

weekend will be in the mid afternoon.