Getting ready for a big Memorial Weekend, I’ll do the best I can to help all the anglers be successful in their quest for a fish dinner.

For the best action, head west toward the Foul Area, about 5 miles northwest of the St. Martins Keys. Use soft plastics on a 1/8th jig head and cast them ahead of your drift. The dark grassy bottom is the best to target sea trout.

In this same area on a long drift, you will pass by small rock piles that will have gag grouper, white grunts, mangrove snapper and spanish mackerel. To target the rocks, pull off the soft plastic and use a fresh shrimp to put some grunts and snapper in the box. These fish eat well and add up quickly so be careful how many you put in the box because it can be a pile on the cleaning table. I like these small fillets pan fried and used as fish tacos. It’s an easy way to feed a small crowd and it’s hard to beat fresh fish. 

For redfish I’ve done best by casting cut pinfish up under the mangroves on an incoming tide.

Position the vessel so you can free line the cut bait with the tide, so it gets way back in the overhang of the mangroves. I always watch the line for a slight jump in it, and when that happens reel down until you feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook. Keep the rod tip low so as not to tangle the limbs of the mangrove until the redfish is in the open, then put the pressure on the fish.

High incoming tide will be early morning this weekend.

Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day, remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice so we can live the life we have in the U. S. A. 

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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