After a tough Monday of fishing, I was racking my brain about why. With some idle zone deep thoughts, I had remembered that we had a high-pressure system that helped block hurricane Delta from Florida, and big high tides caused by this week’s new moon.

Putting the grey matter to work and understanding the environment helped me the next few days, I had better fishing by moving further back into keys and giving the spots a little more time to produce fish.

Big incoming high tides will push redfish further into the backcountry and the last hour of the incoming tide is the best bite.

Another trick to put a few more trout in the box is to use a cork rig and cast it straight off the bow, working it in one spot. This means just popping it and letting it sit as the boat drifts past it. Casting directly in front of the vessel’s drift works 90% of the time, but in a tough bite, this will produce trout. 

On some of the rocky points, there has been a decent sheepshead bite. As we get into late fall, the bite gets better until the sheepshead move into the rivers and nearshore rock piles for the spawn. A cork with a shrimp on a jighead will get the bite. The cork sometimes will not submerge, just leaning over on its side when the sheepshead takes the bait.

High incoming tide will be in the afternoon this weekend with the new moon. 

Homosassa Weekly Fishing Report from Captain William Toney

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