Catch saltwater trout like these on topwater

By William Redmond
from The Fishing Wire

They could very well be one of the most underrated sport fish of the Gulf Coast. Lacking the sturdiness of a snook or redfish, speckled trout are known for their soft bodies and paper thin mouths, but once these fish reach about 24 inches, they earn the nickname “gator trout” for an undeniable ferocity most clearly displayed in their treatment of topwater plugs.

Monster trout like this one are tough adversaries, unlike their smaller cousins. They readily attack big topwaters like the Heddon Spook.

From a boat or on foot, casting surface plugs for speckled trout ranks as one of the most popular angling pursuits for shallow water anglers throughout the Sunshine State’s Gulf Coast region. Capt. Jason Stock, who guides from a flats skiff and a kayak in the Tampa Bay area, knows well the trout’s penchant for attacking topwaters. For him, the entertainment value is tough to beat.

“It’s so visually exciting,” Stock said. “When they pop it, there’s no question. He may blast it, miss it and come right back for it again.”

Stock’s a fan of Heddon topwaters – typically the Spook Junior in calm conditions and a One Knocker Spook when a summer breeze puts a little motion on the ocean and requires an audible trail to help the trout track their target. A 7- to 7 ½-foot medium- action spinning outfit with 25-pound braid and a 20- to 30-pound fluorocarbon leader will handle even the 7-pound-plus monsters. At any size, Stock said, trout are crafty fish, so seamless attention is a must.

“Be ready, because they might hit at the end of a long cast,” he said.

Trout are widely dispersed throughout Gulf of Mexico coastal environments, but Stock has three favorite scenarios:

Daybreak

Easing up to island edges or onto the top of a skinny grass flat just as the sun starts to “pink out” the sky, Stock expects to find big trout hunting finger mullet, sardines and anything else they can catch in a foot or so of water. Dimpling pods of bait are a sure sign, as the food source won’t go overlooked by hungry trout.

Stealth is a must in this shallow habitat, as big trout are keenly aware of their vulnerability to porpoises and ospreys. Here, especially, long rods and thin-diameter braid play essential roles in achieving the long casts needed to reach these fish from a distance they can tolerate.

Note: Minimize your movement in a boat, as pressure wakes will alert the perceptive trout. Likewise, wade with soft, sliding steps rather than a noisy, stomping pace that sounds like thunder beneath the surface.

Smaller trout are always part of the game–keep this size for the pan and let the big females go to spawn.
For either Spook model, Stock likes the bone, chrome and black/gold colors. It’s the same for the new 3 ½-inch Chug’n Spook Jr., which creates more surface commotion while still retaining the ability to do the classic walk-the-dog retrieve. Stock often employs a slow, steady retrieve with a 1-2-3, 1-2-3 cadence that produces the enticing walk-the-dog action. Resembling a wayward finger mullet, this Spook display will draw some of the most indescribably violent strikes you’ll ever see.

When it’s on, this shallow water trout bite will have you begging the sun to delay its ascent, but once the big orange ball rises high enough to start warming the meager depths, the daybreak madness quickly wanes and it’s time to move on to Scenario Number 2.

Midday

During the heat of midday, anglers often ditch their trout pursuits and turn their attention elsewhere. Stock, however, knows that trout don’t depart the area – they simply relocate. In most cases, the fish will move away from the shallow flats and slip off the outer edges of adjacent bars.

Settling into potholes and grassy trenches in the 4- to 6-foot range, the fish usually require a little more coaxing before they’ll venture topside. This is where the One Knocker and the Chug’n Spook really shine, as this low-pitch rattle speaks to the trout’s belly and the added surface disturbance makes the lure easier to locate and track.

Tidal movement always benefits predators with food delivery, but incoming cycles really stimulate summer fish with cooler, oxygenated water. Also, Stock said weather can profoundly influence the midday action.

“Approaching storms will often get the fish going,” he said. “They might chew really good right before the rain comes and then also after the storm because that rain cools the water.”

After Hours

Particularly at dawn and dusk, noisy floating plugs do the job on sea trout along the Gulf Coast.

Nighttime offers a twofold benefit for trout anglers. For one thing, lower light reduces visibility and thereby makes the fish more approachable. Moreover, the abundance of dock and bridge lights offer countless targets where Stock finds trout ambushing tide-born crustaceans and baitfish that flow past the illuminated areas.

A variety of baits work in this scenario and topwaters certainly have their place in the game. Walk a spook past the edge of a dock light and the result may look like someone dropped a coconut into the water.

Of course, the pinnacle of nighttime trout fishing is the full moon phase when the silvery beams bring the dock light affect to the entire coastal region. Anglers are still better concealed than they are pre-sundown, but trout enjoy the cooler feeding period with plenty of visibility for targeting those bait schools. Stock said he uses his ears as much as his eyes to locate the full-moon action.

“You can hear the smaller mullet getting blasted,” he said. “Look where there’s activity, ease in slowly and anchor off the mullet schools. Or, if you’re looking, just drift through the area and fan cast.”

In any of these scenarios, remember that those giant “gator” trout that love Spooks are typically females. Handle these fish with great care and consider releasing your bigger trout. Returning these breeders to their coastal habitat will help perpetuate the awesome topwater action.

Redfish can be tough to land

Barnie White and his partner Chad Dufrene were named champions of the 2013 IFA Grand Isle Redfish Event on Sunday, Aug. 25. For the win, the team takes home a fully rigged Ranger Banshee Extreme powered by a Yamaha Outboard, valued at $30,000, and qualified to fish the Series Championship Oct. 25-26.

When sight fishing is tough, breaking out the noise-makers can be the trick to luring fat Louisiana redfish.

To win the tournament, each team weighed in two fish under the Louisiana maximum length of 27 inches, so beyond just catching fish, teams must catch fish as close to the maximum length as possible while releasing any overs. White and Dufrene weighed in two fish for 16.47 pounds.

The morning began with rain and wind, which continued throughout the day. Not only did the conditions make fishing more difficult, but it also slowed travel and prompted the team to fish a back-up area closer to weigh-in.

“The spot we actually started fishing was our backup spot in Venice,” White said. “Conditions just went from bad to worse. We had torrential rain and heavy wind and decided to stay closer. It saved us about 2 hours of fishing time.”

The team started out throwing jigs with soft-plastics suspended under a Paradise Popper Xtreme popping cork. Sight-fishing these redfish was impossible because of the heavy cloud cover, rain and waves. Those same conditions also make it more difficult for the fish to feed, so the anglers needed extra noise and surface disturbance for attraction.

The Extreme Popper makes a lot of noise

The Paradise Popper Xtreme features a deep concave face that produces a big splash when twitched, plus two brass beads on top and three specialized plastic beads on bottom. The beads click together to simulate the sound of shrimp popping. The wire that runs through the unit is high-grade titanium, which resists bending or kinking and is up to the task of catching multiple big bull reds without failure.

“Cheap popping corks don’t hold up as well,” White said. “The Popper Xtreme makes a lot of noise, a lot of ripples on the water, produces the right sound, and can handle big redfish all day long.”

One key to that popping cork’s longevity and consistence is two metal grommets, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the foam cork. These grommets prevent the wire from cutting into the cork and diminishing the sound.

Another important factor for fishing a popping cork in low-light conditions is leader length. While many anglers use leaders 2-feet long or longer, White keeps his leaders at around a foot.

“Shorter leaders work for two reasons,” White said. “If you’re fishing a long leader, fish can swallow the jig easier without you knowing it, and we have to keep these fish alive. If a fish hits on a short leader you know it immediately. The other reason is that fish are drawn to the sound of the cork, so you want the jig where they immediately see it when they come in to investigate. You don’t want to make them hunt for it, especially in low-light conditions.”

Barnie White and Chad Dufrene found a pair of “toads”, super fat reds that earned them some $30,000 in prizes.

Another factor to the team’s success was matching the size and colors of the baitfish the reds were feeding on. Using a glow-color, 4-inch plastic and glow jighead created the appearance of a small pogy. White says that anglers need to take into consideration the light level and water clarity when selecting colors. If the light level is low and the water stained, the fish need all the help they can get seeing the bait, making black or glow-colors more important than matching the exact colors on the prevalent baitfish.

“If you cut the lights out at night in my shed where I’ve got glow-colored plastics and jigheads hanging up, you can see them,” he said. “I know in darker conditions when the water’s a little murky, I know that bait is putting off some light.”

White said the team started catching fish immediately that morning, and had 14 1/2-pounds in the livewell within 45 minutes. Considering the weather and knowing they had enough weight to be in the race, the team headed back to weigh-in with several hours of fishing time remaining.

Bluefin Tuna are great to eat

You don’t need a big sportfisherman to chase summer bluefin

Jigging up a bluefin tuna is super summertime sport, and fish this size can be handled without resorting to big game tackle.

Summertime presents an interesting fishing opportunity for outboard boat owners in the Mid-Atlantic region as schools of small-to-midsize bluefin tuna take up residence on the middle grounds. That means that boats incapable of making the run to the edge of the Continental Shelf and the many submarine canyons that attract yellowfin and bigeye tuna, have a shot at catching those species’ very substantial inshore cousins.

Bluefin are hard-fighting gamefish that can grow to four times the size of their next largest relative. These summer fish tend to weigh between 30 and 100 pounds with some as large as 250 pounds. They are truly big game, so be prepared for a fight if you’ve never caught one before.

Bluefin are highly regulated and therefore U.S. restrictions on seasons, sizes and bag limits must conform to the plan developed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

To fish for bluefin, you must have an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Angling Permit, which is issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). You can purchase a permit online by going to https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/PermitList.asp, paying the $20 fee with a credit card, and then printing it out on your computer printer. The permit is for the boat, covers all anglers aboard and is good for the calendar year in which you purchase it. There are no individual angler permits required.

Lots of delicious steaks in hand–but only one per boat per day is permitted.

Since conservation of bluefin tuna is paramount at this time, commercial and recreational fishing is tightly controlled. On the recreational side, retention is strictly limited. Currently regulations stand at one fish per vessel per day, larger than 27 inches and smaller than 73 inches. The season is open until NMFS estimates that the quota has been reached, although that is not expected to occur until later in the year. With these restrictions in place, the fishery is overwhelmingly catch and release. The good news is that bluefin have an extremely low estimated release mortality rate, but care should always be taken when handling them.

The Yamaha crew joined Captain Jim Freda of Shore Catch Guide Service recently for a day of bluefin tuna fishing aboard his twin Yamaha-powered 28-foot Parker® Sportcabin. We left from Manasquan Inlet, N.J. in the dark for a slow ride to an area of lumps about 50 miles offshore, carefully watching the radar until the sky started to lighten with the rising sun. We arrived in an area where the water changed from a dull green to a clear, green/blue color, and the water temperature bumped up a few degrees. There were slicks throughout the area, oily calm spots amid the waves and chop, created by tuna and bluefish feeding on the schools of baitfish below. You could actually smell the fish, a pleasant watermelon type of aroma, when we got into the area. Tuna chicks, small dark colored sea birds that flit across the surface picking up pieces of baitfish that float to the surface, were present by the hundreds. These are things offshore fishermen call “signs of life” and when we stopped, the depthfinder lit up with massive schools of baitfish near the bottom in 180 feet of water.

The initial plan was to troll spreader bars, small plastic lures and cedar plugs, a very effective method of catching bluefin, and when we stopped Freda began prepping the boat by dropping the outriggers. While he was doing that, he instructed us to grab the jigging outfits and drop a variety of jigs to the bottom. As soon as the first one hit and was lifted and dropped a couple of times, the line came tight and we were into our first bluefin of the morning. It wasn’t a big one, but it fought hard, running line off the jigging outfit at will. Then a second one was hooked, and Jim put the outriggers back up and grabbed a jigging stick. The tuna’s response to the jigs was good enough that we never switched to trolling. The tally by morning’s end was nine tuna at 50 pounds, one 40-pounder on ice in the boat, and the rest released. Four of the bluefins released were tagged with ICCAT research tags, something Capt. Jim does on a voluntary basis.

Use a jig to catch bluefin tuna

Jigging is an extremely effective method for summer bluefins, especially when the bait is low in the water column. We were over schools of sand eels, small thin-bodied fish that swarm by the millions and tend to hug the bottom, diving into the sand to escape predators. When the tuna are feeding deep, trolling near the surface is not very effective. However, dropping jigs to the basement puts you right in the middle of the action. It is loads of fun because the specialized rods and reels used for this fishing are small, light and make fighting tuna both fun and challenging. The reels are all packed with thin 50- or 65-pound test braided line so you can get the jigs deep and feel them easily. The jigs vary in weight so you can get to the bottom and stay there regardless of the current or drift speed. We were using 200-to-260 grain jigs made by a variety of manufacturers, letting them hit the bottom and then bouncing them up and down rhythmically.

When a tuna grabs one, the drill is to reel like crazy until the line comes tight and then set the hook hard. After that, you have to hold on because you are likely in for quite a ride.

Before you go offshore for bluefin, you should have your boat prepared. Your engines should be in top condition, fuel tank topped off, all your safety gear checked and easily accessible, and you should have more than just the basic emergency equipment. An EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) and a life raft are musts. There are valise-type rafts available for smaller boats that are easy to stow and deploy should an emergency arise. Take the use of PFDs very seriously, especially if the water is rough. Remember, you’re likely to be be a half hour away from rescue help by Coast Guard helicopter and two hours away by Coast Guard boat at the minimum.

When packing your gear, you should be prepared for three possible techniques: trolling, jigging and chunking. Trolling is usually the top producer earlier in the bluefin season when bait and tuna tend to be closer to the surface. Jigging comes on strong as the surface water warms and tuna do more feeding below the thermocline on baitfish like sand eels. Chunking can work from midseason through the fall. This technique usually requires anchoring the boat and using sardines cut into small pieces as chum and whole ones on your lines as hook baits.

You should also have a large enough supply of ice on board to cover a tuna that could run to well over 100 pounds in your fish box. Bluefin can spoil quickly if not properly cared for, and it would be a shame to ruin a delicacy because you didn’t plan ahead. When you get a retainable fish on board, it should be bled while alive. The next step is to collar the fish (remove the gills and organs inside the body cavity) and finally get it on ice, completely covered, until you get back to the dock to cut it into loins and steaks.

Of critical concern is picking a weather window for your trip. While many modern small outboard boats with twin engines are quite seaworthy and can easily handle moderate sea conditions, you have to take safety and passenger comfort into consideration. It’s not much fun getting thrown around a small boat in four-to-six foot seas. Make sure you hook up with the best marine forecasting services, and check them religiously before you make the call to head offshore.

What size boat can make the run to the bluefin grounds? You’d be surprised. During the day we had outboard powered boats fishing around us that varied from 23-to-38 feet with single, twin and triple engine applications. So if you’ve always wanted to catch a tuna and you’re up for running your boat a couple hours from shore, this is your chance.

Sailfish can be caught fly fishing

A World-Renowned Angler and Teacher Talks About Getting Started
from The Fishing Wire

Only a handful of fishermen have attained the reputation and status of Capt. Jake Jordan in the world of saltwater fly fishing. He attained his incredible bank of knowledge by catching almost every oceanic gamefish that swims on the fly. How many people can you name who have caught salmon sharks in Alaska on a fly rod?

Sailfish are a perfect target for the saltwater flyrod. Fast and acrobatic, they readily take a fly when lured into range with teaser lures.

Jordan has over 40 years of experience as one of the top flats and tarpon guides in the Florida Keys. He pioneered a series of exclusive saltwater fly fishing schools for bonefish and billfish, taking small groups of anglers to exotic locales like Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Exuma where he instructs them on how to fish for, and successfully catch, the world’s premiere gamefish with fly tackle. The remainder of the year he splits between his home in North Carolina, where he charters for red drum and false albacore during the fall, and Marathon, Fla. in the spring, where he takes charters for his first love-tarpon. His clientele fish exclusively with fly tackle and they include some of the most accomplished anglers in the world as well as newcomers who want to learn at the hands of one of the true masters of the sport. During the winter months, he is a featured speaker and presenter at the top fly fishing shows around the nation.

“When I started taking charters fly fishing in the Keys the 1960s, there were probably not more than 20 fly fishing guides in the world,” Capt. Jordan recounted. “And they were ALL in the Keys!”

Jordan has developed cutting edge techniques for casting, hooking and fighting big fish of every stripe, and has personally released blue marlin that would have crushed the current fly rod 20-lb. tippet world record except for his personal conservation ethic-he will not kill a billfish anywhere for any reason. In recent years, he developed a night fly fishery for Florida Keys tarpon that produces more hookups and releases in a three-month period than most guides can account for in a year. He has revolutionized the techniques for fighting big fish on fly tackle, and the technique is slowly catching on with other types of light tackle fishing.

The Yamaha team recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Jordan about what stepping up to saltwater fly fishing entails for a newcomer. When we arrived, he had just finished washing his favorite skiff, a Yamaha-powered 20′ Jones Brothers built just a few miles away from his home. The boat is aptly called the Fly Reel.

Captain Jake Jordan is one of the nation’s top saltwater fly fishing guides, with venues in North Carolina and the Florida Keys and travels worldwide.

“I spend a lot of time at fly fishing shows and fishing clubs giving presentations on topics from tarpon to sailfish to blue marlin,” said Capt. Jordan. “Interest in the saltwater aspect of the sport is growing, especially interest in catching big fish with fly tackle. Most of the anglers I come into contact with are either accomplished saltwater anglers with spinning and conventional gear who want to try something more challenging, or anglers who use fly tackle in freshwater and want to make the move to salt. Anglers in both categories have some learning to do, but it has never been easier to access the information you need or obtain personal instruction.”

Jordan is not only an International Federation of Fly FishersTM certified instructor, he was a member of the organization’s original board of directors back in the 60s. He said that any angler new to the sport will benefit from casting lessons.

“Learning to cast the right way from the beginning is much preferred to picking up bad habits that have to be unlearned later,” said Capt. Jordan.

“There is a major difference between casting with fly tackle and spinning or conventional,” said Jordan. “With spinning and conventional, you are casting a weighted lure that pulls light line, monofilament or braid, off the reel. It’s the complete opposite with fly gear where you are casting a light, often wind-resistant lure called a fly with a line that has a forward section weighted to pull the fly behind it. You’re casting the line instead of the lure, and the dynamics are very different.

“The front 30 feet of most fly lines is weighted and tapered,” Jordan explained. “Fly lines are rated (10-WT, 12-WT, etc.) for a specific rod designed to cast that weight line. You wouldn’t use the same rod and reel for sailfish as you would for bonefish any more than you would use an 80-lb. class standup tuna outfit for casting poppers to striped bass. While the rating system might sound confusing at first, it’s actually quite simple. The first thing you should do before you run out to buy fly tackle is identify what your main target species will be, and then get some good advice on the appropriate rod, reel and lines you will need to fish for it. You can do this at a fly fishing show, a local fly shop or in the fly tackle departments of big box stores where they have experienced and educated fishermen on staff.

Sails are capable of lightning runs and greyhounding leaps, making line handling a real challenge with fly fishing gear.

“You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get quality tackle anymore,” he continued. “High performance fly rods are available for a fraction of what they used to be, and there are a host of very affordable fly reels to mate with them. I’ve worked with Temple Fork Outfitters to develop rods of a quality level that would have cost well over $500 a few years back, but now can be purchased for less than half the price.”

Where can a neophyte go for casting instructions? There are hundreds of books and videos for sale from great fly fishermen like Joe Brooks, Lefty Kreh and Stu Apte. You can do a keyword search on YouTube® and pull up hundreds of free videos on all phases of fly fishing in saltwater. Do a search for fly fishing shows and you’ll probably find one or two good ones in your area where you can meet casting instructors, fly tiers and compare rods, reels, lines and flies from dozens of manufacturers and pick up some great deals, too.

“Probably one of the best resources you can find is the International Federation of Fly FishersTM website www.fedflyfishers.org,” Jordan suggested. “They have videos, seminars, libraries, lists of casting classes held all over the country by FFF-certified instructors, youth classes, fly tying how-to and much, much more. It’s the ultimate information source and a great place to start.

“Fly fishing is a challenging and highly rewarding way to fish for almost any gamefish. Once you get bitten by the bug, you’ll be hard pressed to put down your fly rod for any other type of tackle,” Jordan advised. “With the right gear, knowledge and practice, you can catch pretty much any fish that swims.”

For more information about Capt. Jake Jordan, visit www.jakejordan.com and be sure to sign up for his regular fishing reports blog – it’s fascinating!