Anglers finding lots of trout

Anglers finding lots of trout
By CAPT. TERRY FRANKFORD - Special to The Herald


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tool goes here Anglers aboard the Reelin and Chillin have cleaned up on trout this past couple of weeks. Redfish have also been around, but a few trips we couldn’t find them.

Thank goodness for the trout. A flounder or two have showed up to tighten a line or two as well. A few mackerel are in the bay and are showing up along the beaches if you can get past the windy conditions.

We found the trout on open grass flats in water depth between three and six feet deep. The water surface temperature was between seventy, and seventy-five degrees. I noticed that due to windy conditions we didn’t catch in low visibility waters - I had to get several miles away from the passes to get on the fish.

I used seven-and-a-half foot, medium-action St. Croix rods, Okuma Inspira reels spooled with 10-pound test line. Finally, I used an 18-inch, 20-pound test monofilament leader (Big Game) tied to a No. 4 Owner circle hook.

Three tactics worked at different times:

Ÿ Free line the shrimp, no cork, no weight. Hook the shrimp at the tail end coming up from the bottom first. This will give you more casting distance having the head forward. Set up with the wind behind you, and cast the shrimp high to catch the wind. The farther away from the boat the better.

Ÿ Add a popping cork about three feet up from the shrimp. I prefer the Billy Bay Pop N’ Gurgle style - it’s set up for distance casting. Pop the cork every ten seconds or so to mimic another fish or bird hitting bait on the surface.

Ÿ Add a No. 4 split shot a couple feet up from the hook (no cork), twitching it every now and then.

There is nothing wrong with using live sardines if you can net them. Also, artificials work great. My favorite is the Halo Shrimp also made by Billy Bay. On one trip I had four anglers rigged with two on live shrimp, and two on Halo artificials. The trout caught were even between the two baits with a few mackerel caught on the artificials only.

(Capt. Terry Frankford, Reelin & Chillin Charters Inc., can be reached at 941-228-7802 or e-mail terry.frankford@verizon.net. Web site is www.charterfishingsarasota.com.)