Went out for a late exploring expedition with friend Eddie. We got on the water by 11:30am when the sun got a little higher and the air temps got a little warmer. Our goal was to find some redfish in the skinny waters of my backyard, the 1,000 islands of Cocoa Beach in the Banana River. Our spin gear was rigged with D.O.A. shrimps with the tails clipped off and rigged backwards on a weedless worm hook, I also inserted rattles in the head of the shrimp. For the flyrods we had dark redfish sliders and a spoon fly. While poling a shoreline that I rarely fish, we immediately see a redfish cruising along the bank, Eddie flips his glow/coppercrush belly artificial shrimp over to it and the fish crushes it like there’s no tomorrow! After landing the fish and a quick photo and release we keep poling further back into the backcountry of the 1,000 islands and into new areas that I’ve never been. We saw a good amount of redfish and found some cool backwaters that hold fish but they were not interested in Eddies the spoon fly. I end up getting one to eat a slider and Eddie pops another on the D.O.A. shrimp. The fish are now starting to tail more feeding on shrimp and crabs that are in the thick grass, time to start tying up some crab and shrimp patterns and get ready for the Wintertime tailing redfish!! Trout are abundant in the deeper channels as well, D.O.A. shrimps or CALS on a jighead will do the trick casting along the edges of channels.
Hope to get on the water with you and enjoy our great year round Redfish fishery that Florida has to offer!
-Capt. Willy Le
