Looking to catch some trout try fishing small patches of rock grass. Over the years I’ve called it kelp but technically it is a form of sargassum that grows on hard bottom that is made of limestone. Trout use this grass to hide in to ambush bait. Set up a drift to fish a patch of it and if you catch a trout stick with it. Sometimes I’ll make a pass through it with out a fish but on the next drift I may catch two but if I do not catch a fish for two passes I will move. A cork rig with a glow soft plastic has been the best bait.  Redfishing has been good on the incoming tide. South of Homosassa I’ve been getting them with a cork and shrimp. North of Homosassa  I’ve been catching them on cut bait like pinfish or mullet. One over looked bait that has worked well for me over the years is cut lizard fish. While trout fishing it’s common to catch them and I would save a few for redfish bait. They are tubular and easy to chunk with a knife, a nice piece  will cast a mile. Let it set on the bottom and wait for a good pull. Off shore the gag grouper bite is very good on live pinfish in 18 to 25 feet. A little further out at 35 feet is a excellent mangrove snapper bite with some nice fish coming to the table at 15 to 20 inches. Live shrimp is the best bait. Incoming tide this weekend will be in the afternoon. 

With a significant cool down this past week look for warm water fish to start their way into the rivers. Snook are usually the first ones along with snapper and black drum. This is the last month to keep a legal snook but expect most of them to fall short of the 28 to 33 inches slot range. To target them I like to use a 25 lb. floro carbon leader because of their sharp gill plates and abrasive mouths. MirrOlure MirrOdines are one of my favorite lures but have caught plenty of them with soft plastics and live baits. Target dock, the edges of deep holes and blow downs ( fallen trees). On the flats near creek mouths target trout with popping corks or jerk baits around rock grass. The inshore grouper bite using plugs should be very good thanks to the winds blowing the floating grass out. Tides this week are going to be on the poor side because of the east wind and high tide early morning of dark in the evening due to the tide change. 

William Toney
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