Ed Mitchell Outdoors

I’ll still trying to get used to how different fishing the flats is from fishing the Northeast coast. Perhaps the single biggest difference is patience. Yes, you need patience on the flats. Along the beaches of New England its a game of keeping the fly wet. You’re constantly sticking and moving, sticking and moving. But down here its a game of waiting for opportunities. Holding your fire, until you see the whites of their eyes.

Patience on the Flats – Dave’s 45 minute redfish

Yesterday, that point was driven home again. My friend Dave send me an email in which he described the latest in his never ending effort to catch redfish. The fishing was slow so Dave positioned himself in a spot on the flats where he felt redfish were apt to show.  And then he waited, waited, and waited. Forty-five minutes later a 32″ red slid into sight. Dave got him. Amazing! Patience on the flats. It pays off.

Well, Dave got a real nice one, a 31 inch redfish on a fly. That’s a beaut for our flats, I swear. Here reds average 22-26 inches, with a few going 27-28 inches. So any red over that is a true bonus. I’ll guess Dave’s fish is eleven pounds plus.

Dave’s 31 inch Red on a Fly.

Charlotte Harbor is mainly a nursery area for juvenile reds. Bigger spawning reds do show up, however, typically arriving in August and staying around well into October, depending on the severity of fall cold fronts. But no one told this fish. Perhaps our unseasonable warmth has convinced him to hang around.

By the way Dave sight-fished up a big fat sheepshead. Yes, on a fly. That doesn’t happen very often either.

Sheepshead on a fly