Capt. Charlie Thomason - Late June Fishing Article
The last week has been brutal when it comes to the ambient temperatures, but the water temperatures have been jumping too. This past week the water in the marsh has been in the upper 80’s and lower 90’s but don’t let that discourage you from fishing.
As water temps rise a fishes metabolism rises also, so they must either feed more or slow down and find cooler water. How do you combat this as an angler? Easy, fish early and late in the day! In the evenings fish will move up near shallower areas as the sun sets and water temps drop. Bait and other prey do the same thing. So if you place yourself in the right place at the right time you can have great success. Just the opposite when it comes to morning fishing, because the water temps are low early and as the sun rises the water temps will too. So you should fish very early till about 10:00am, this will be the prime time to fish when it is hot above or below the water.
Now if you are fishing around the rigs it can be a little different. As the water temps rise on the surface the fish will drop deeper to cooler waters. Just dropping 5 feet can make a 10 degree water temperature change and the fish will hold on that change. Interior waters normally don’t have that second option because the fish will not drop into deeper water because most of the bait they are looking for are going to say shallow. Out along the sound water depths can be around 10-25ft, fish have the option to be on the bottom in very cool water or near the surface. It will normally depend on the current velocity from the tides or the winds. Both of these factors can dissipate the much hotter surface temps and draw the bait and fish to the surface.
This week we will be fishing out along the rigs of Breton Sound and Black Bay if the winds permit. We are fishing both croakers and live shrimp. When we leave the dock we will always have four rods set up with Carolina Rigs to fish on the bottom and four rods set up for free-lining so we can fish free or with a popping cork. Having both rigs available it allows us to be versatile and in turn more productive.

This past week I was shooting for a new show called “Fishin’ Gear” which is a product review style show showcasing products to you the anglers that help you become the best angler you can be. As we were shooting MirrOlure was one of the products we were sampling.

She Dog was the bait of choice, and it didn’t take long to have a 45lb redfish crash the bait and inhale the thing!! It was awesome to say the least. We caught a few in the same size class and all on the topwaters.

The reason why I am telling you this is that the fish are really keying in on mullet right now and there is no better way to present a bait to a fish during hot water temps then a topwater. Very early and very late times with a good “Walk the Dog” action can fool some of the biggest fish this time of year!!
So pack some good drinks and have plenty of ice and head out this weekend for the Fourth Of July celebrations and catch some of these HOT FISH along the gulf coast.

Posted: June 29, 2012 at 10:54 am | 1026 Views | 0 Comments

Vew the full report, photos, or to make a comment