by Capt. Matt Mitchell
Some weeks on the water, fishing can be just tougher than others. This was certainly the case with this past week’s extremely slow tides. A 16-hour super slow tide incoming means getting creative and working hard to find a bite of any kind. Clients generally don’t book vacations around tides, and as a guide, you simply have to produce fish, no matter how bad the setup.
Days like these, trout and flats fishing is often the fallback plan. Bouncing around normally active spots, all it takes is one hot spot to get the rods bent. Trout, ladyfish, Jack’s, and Spanish mackerel brought us some action closer to the passes. Once we had some fish, we would switch it up and do some snook fishing. Catching a few snook here and there in the last few stops kept everyone smiling, even though it was hard as a guide knowing how good this bite could be.
Morning trips were a little tougher than the afternoon trips as the tide was much lower and offered fewer options. Once the water got up a bit, throwing live shiners through the sand holes brought a little better action. Potholes around our many oyster bars brought a decent snook bite, while potholes on the flats were a good bet for trout.
Bouncing around nearshore was even a little slower than normal. Public wrecks in the 30ft range were most productive. Chunks of shrimp on a 3/8th jig head caught lots of jacks, sheepshead to 20 inches, and even a few pompano at one stop. The catch of the week on my boat was a 36-inch cobia that ate a shrimp chunk intended for a sheepshead. On a small 2500 reel, this was quite the epic battle and truly an epic battle that made the trip.
Fishing day in and day out during our busy season requires always getting it done, no matter the setup or the conditions. Keeping your head down and grinding to find the best bite you can for your clients is just part of being a guide. We are lucky enough to have an incredible fishery where, almost no matter what, there is something to catch. As we get back to 4 tide days and our water is now in the magical mid-70s, things will get much more consistent.
Capt. Matt Mitchell moved to Sanibel in 1980 and has lived in St. James City since 2000, when he started his fishing charter business. He spends over 300 days a year “living the dream” fishing. For questions and info: bookings@captmattmitchell.com
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