Anglers who spend more time poling and less time powering frequently get more shots at skinny water redfish.

When fishing the flats, it is always a good idea to cast to potholes. In deeper water, try working the edges of oyster bars. If fishing is in the doldrums, McComas recommends chumming the potholes with chopped ladyfish, or crushed threadfins or pinfish. “Sometimes when their tails are down, it’s one way to get them happy,” he says.

Throughout the sound, boat anglers who do not have a flats boat, johnboat or another very shallow-draft craft need to be cautious and pick their spots when fishing a falling tide.

Pine Island Sound offers good redfish action throughout much of the year. Reds aren’t bothered by the summer heat, and they tolerate cold snaps well (unlike snook, which become increasingly lethargic as the water temperature drops). Many anglers would say the premier month is October. This is the time for fast and furious action as huge schools of reds move through the sound feeding voraciously and preparing to spawn.

Even on its best days, however, the sound is a place where careful presentation can mean the difference between chasing fish and catching fish. Poling all day long—which is what Steve Bailey does to get on fish—might not be your game, but regardless of how you tackle the flats here, it pays to be stealthy.

SEALING THE DEAL

According to Robin Ramming, manager of the Bait Box on Sanibel, the deadliest bait for Pine Island reds is a baby blue crab from half-dollar to silver-dollar size. But these can be hard to obtain and also expensive. Pinfish, sardines and shrimp are all effective live baits. A chunk of dead ladyfish is a great dead bait.

The best artificials include gold spoons, plastic shrimp, green-and-white minnow plugs and soft-plastic jerkbaits or jig tails. Local outfitter Mike McComas also recommends a shrimp-tipped jig.

The most popular flies for Pine Island Sound reds include the usual suspects and a couple of less-common patterns. Steve Bailey, one of the area’s top guides, puts chartreuse-and-white Clouser Minnows at the top of his list. He has developed his own, sparse-hair version with fluorescent orange eyes. Bailey ties his Clousers on a Mustad 3407 saltwater hook, size No 2.

Also high on the list are Deceivers, tied in yellow-and-white or chartreuse-and-white. Other favorite flies include crab patterns, snapping shrimp, cockroaches, copper spoon flies, chartreuse gurglers and my own pattern, Norm’s Crystal Schminnow, a pearl-white shrimp-minnow tied with Crystal Chenille or Estaz.

McComas says one of his top producers is the Fugly, invented by him and the late Pete Billani. “It’s a little bit like a blue crab,” McComas says. “The body’s deer hair, it has some orange hackle coming out the back for claws, and bead-chain eyes.”

FS