EACH NEW DAY

By Capt. Rami Ashouri . March 4, 2022

We had a great week of flood tides this week but the fishing between Tuesday and Wednesday could not have been different.  One day, there were fish tailing everywhere feeding furiously, and the next, not a fish to be found until the very bitter end of the evening.  It just goes to show that the flood game isn’t always a cake walk.

For Tuesday, I was pleased to wake up and see that the tide was well above average.  I had forecasted that it was likely to flood due to weather conditions, despite a relatively low predicted tide number.  Like Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) says in Anchorman “sixty percent of the time, it works every time.” I’ll just call it luck on that one.

Not only did it flood, it flooded good.  I was planning on taking out Kenny, and a friend of mine, Shawn, who would be experiencing a flood tide for the first time. On the way out, my buddy Steven mentioned that he was lacking a ride, so I made sure it was fine with Kenny and Steven and offered to bring him with us.   While the IPB is certainly capable of running four grown men on plane, no skiff can handle such a load for poling.  We were going to have to head to some go-to wading spots and try our hand.  We arrive at the first spot, jump out, and split ways.  I opt to hold a camera rather than a rod, which produced some pretty good results (see the media page and watch “Spartina AlterniFlorida” for the full scoop!).

The first flat didn’t have much life on it, but Steven nabbed a decent fish.  The second flat was gangbusters.  We pulled up into a creek that permeates the flat.  It was a spot I hadn’t been to in several years.  Not for any other reason than sometimes, its good to just let a spot be.  Fish have fins, and boy do they move.  We follow the fish from area to area, year after year and its good to let a spot rest and not hammer it too hard.

The results were pretty obvious.  As soon as we got onto the flat, the fish were there and fired up.  Several slurps and splashes gave away the reds’ positions.  Within minutes, Kenny hooked up to a great fish.  No sooner did it come unglued than Steven connected to his second fish on for the evening.  It was a solid upper-slot fish which was released to fight another day.