Again another blowout day on the Big Bend. I can’t remember the last time we’ve had so many late fronts, it’s been at least once a week. I will say the clean days out there are very productive with big sea
trout and nice slot redfish.

The only inshore species that I’ve been struggling with is snook. I have caught a few, cast to a lot of them,
and looked at many. One of the top live baits for our area is threadfin herring. It can take a lot of time and effort to sabeki them, but for Snook it’s a no-brainer. They will go out of their way to eat this bait. The other that’s readily available at most tackle shops are mud minnows. I’ve had success with them, and live finger mullet. Finger mullet must be cast netted so they take some time to get.

One of my favorite baits for snook is the D.O.A. 5.5 jerk bait. I spent a few days with the owner of D.O.A. Mark Nichols and he took Seth Horne from In The Spread and me on a tour of the facility that makes his baits. It was impressive to see the number of soft plastics that are made there and the amount of ingenuity that goes into all of these fish-catching baits. Those of you who have read my reports over the years probably know I talk about the 5.5 glow jerk bait a lot, but after seeing all the colors, patterns, and glitter, I felt like a hungry snook that wanted to eat everyone.

Mark handed Seth and me a bag of various D.O.A. baits to encourage me to try some that I’d never used before because of my angling syndrome. I get used to thinking that this is the best – and only – color that’s gonna work. I believe that those of us who spend a good deal of time fishing know what I mean.

When this weather lets up I’ll let you know how they work.

If you plan on fishing this weekend the trout bite is good on the inside. With an outgoing tide most of the day, target the shallow edges of deep water creeks or river mouths. For redfish, fish the incoming tides on the western-facing points.

Incoming tide will be late afternoon.

Homosassa Inshore Fishing Report from Captain William Toney

To schedule a fishing charter or shore lunch excursion with Captain Toney, visit his website. A third-generation fishing guide in the Homosassa area, a member of the Homosassa Guides Association, and author of the Homosassa Inshore Fishing Report each week in NatureCoaster.com.

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