Fishing: It’s all about the Conditions
When you fish in the salt you learn fast that fishing is all about the conditions. The tide, the wind, the weather, water temperature, the sun and the moon, man everything has an impact. In the last post we looked at the hunt for “tailing” redfish and the conditions needed to make that possible. Let me add to that.
Last light on the Flats
Unfortunately the night after our successful trip was riddled with thunderstorms, making any outing impossible. The next night, however, looked promising for those amazing “tailing” redfish. The thunderstorms had started earlier in the day and were played out by twilight, although a light seabreeze gave us reason for concern. But with fingers crossed, we forged ahead anyway, reaching the flat about 7PM. Fanning out, the three of us covered over 400 yards of water in total. The search was on for “tailers”. But after an hour it came apparent that the redfish were not going to show. Damn.
We had to face it, the conditions weren’t quite right. Yes, the light seabreeze was one problem, but I think the tide was the real issue. We had low water alright but the tide was still going out. Not good. Why? Last time it was the first of the incoming that lit the fishing fuse. This night the incoming wouldn’t happen until after dark.
Why would incoming help us? The flats were too low and too warm at the moment. The flood would inject a slug of cooler water. And moreover the incoming creates turbulence and current over the sandbar, pushing food onto the flat. That sparks the fish to feed, especially along the inside edge of the bar. Yeah it’s all about the conditions.
