Nature Coast, William Toney 12/13/2016

With foggy conditions this morning I moved my trip till midday to be on the safe side. Winter time is when fog can come in at any time of day, I’ve witness it roll in with the sea breeze in the middle of the afternoon. A good GPS can make or break a safe ride back to the river but cannot tell you about unseen rocks, markers or fellow boaters so be safe and travel at a slow speed until good visibility prevails. The trout fishing is scattered over the near shore flats, creek mouths, backcountry bays and spoil islands. Rock grass is a plus when looking for good trout water. Moving water is best, but incoming tide is my favorite. Some of the best baits have been MirrOlure LIL’ Johns, D.O.A. 5.5 jerk baits, popping cork rigs and suspending plugs. The best colors are new penny, glow, bourbon, red/white and watermelon red flake.

Sight casting for redfish is very good right now because the water is a clear as it can be. The water temperature has dropped to the point that the nutrients that can cloud it have moved on. Flats edges with deep water near by are good places to pole your boat to find redfish. Look for pushes and wakes on a calm day to indicate that you are in a productive area. Redfish will move the shallow water as they feed. Don’t be fooled by mullet that will move the water but in a small wake and meandering pattern. Fly’s with a crab pattern in white during the morning are easy to track with your eye but as the midday sun reaches over head , I will tie on a darker crab/shrimp pattern. A tail hooked live shrimp is also very good but mind the splash it makes when casting to the redfish. Lead the fish further on the cast with live shrimp.

The rivers are holding a few keeper mangrove snapper, small reds and small snook. Fun to catch when your waiting on the fog to lift. Incoming high tide will be late evening this weekend.