Gotta love fall fishing, even under hurricane Michael's high tide. The redfish were stacked in areas around drains with flowing water, and were most aggressive about sunrise. There bite tapered off on topwaters around 9am. After working a few drains, my buddy and I decided to try and find some trout. But we couldn't wade most of the areas that have been producing all summer long because of the 2-3 feet of additional water.

We headed to some small sand flats in the back marsh thinking we may find some fish pushed up back there. There was a lot of bait in the back marsh, but after 3-4 wades in the back country we didn't even get bit. So we made our way back out to the hard sand and grass beds of the south shoreline. We found 2-3 spots that were wadable. Now because of the cooler temps and a stiff 15-20mph NE wind, we decided to wear our waders. That may have limited us to certain areas, but we were comfortable. Finding small rafts of finger mullet lingering on the surface we decided to give it a try. Almost immediately after getting out, our topwaters were getting knocked around. trout from 16-18" started exploding on One Knocker Spooks. Finishing the wade close to the bank we found a couple more reds and a few rat reds.

After discussing what we had seen with the given weather patterns and tide condition, it's almost natural to think you have to make big adjustments in you game plan. Cooler bay temps, howling north wind and elevated tide suggest the fish will push back. But that is not always the case in these early fall fronts. Yes, many places of our summertime areas can be hard to fish under these conditions and may not look right upon arrival. But, like we learned today if the signs are still there it is worth the try. To quote my buddy, "what's the worst that can happen, we don't get bit and have to make a move LOL!"

The moral of the story is don't be afraid to try old areas if the new ones aren't producing. Find the signs, and try it. The signs were in the back marsh, but the fish were not. so we doubled back to the old areas we have been fishing for the last 5 months.

Nice post and fish. Good job.

Nice fish.