So, the day I got here I tied into 2 nice Snook within a few casts, figured it would be a great week…figured wrong! A red tide hit on the 2nd day and it is a mess, dead fish everywhere, smells like a sewer! Walked over to the beach this morning to check out the carnage, very depressing, thousands of dead fish. The pics show what the tide has washed up.[:/]
Red tide can also be a health hazard for us. When I lived and worked at Cape Canaveral, a red tide event would leave people with very irritated eyes, and with a dry, hacking cough. And those were the people without respiratory problems. Those with pre-existing issues practically had to evacuate to escape whatever was in the air. The closer you got to the surf, the worse it got.
Looks bad, not as bad as I have seen it in my 20 odd years of fishing SW Florida. Only one trout, a couple of grunts, the rest are all small baitfish that are much more affected due to small size and not being able to travel away from the red tide.
Don’t let this ruin your trip. The desirable species such as snook, tarpon, mackerel and others travel away from the area to better water. The good news for you is that those waters do not contain near as much bait so the fish are hungry in those areas they have retreated to.
The retreat to two areas, offshore, outside the red tide area and deep into the back waters where there is little mixing of the incoming water on the incoming tide. Think of how much water can move through a small inlet like stump pass as compared to how much water is in lemon bay. Think also of fresh water washing from creeks that keep the bad water from getting to far into the bay.
Drive a few miles up the road to Blind Pass beach, fish the bay side. Wading is possible, but again, a kayak is worth the money to save the trip. Lemon Bay park across the bay is another very wadeable place with a long flat along a nice drop off. Places like Forked creek will have fresh water in them pushing the tide back as well as being far from the pass so the likelihood of red tide getting in that far are nil. If it’s there, well it will look like the beach, mangroves full of dead fish, crabs having a feast. Again, a Kayak will open up all of the docks with the snook hanging out under them.
Beach road watersports has decent kayaks at the best price.
On the incoming tide, fish deep in the bay, as the tide begins to go out, the bottom half will have better water exiting the pass and you can get closer to it and still have good fishing. In the last hour you should be able to score at the pass or close by.
Here is a link to a map showing where the red tide is, you’re right in the thick of it. A drive to Bonita Beach or Lovers Key could be well worth it.
http://myfwc.com/media/4073138/Midweek0928.pdf
That’s all I’ve got, so…good luck. Worse comes to worse, drive away from the tide.
Thanks Troll, I’ll see what I can do. Heading north tomorrow for another week, hopefully better.
And yes, mostly bait are dead, a few trout, lady fish and mackerel but not many game fish.
Reports are good out of Ft. DeSoto. Check Florida Sportsman website for the area. I have seen you post there.