Log It In: Pick the Best Days to Go Fishing

Anglers who have fished for years, and largely in the same places, come to know the fishing and what to expect under most conditions. It’s rare that an angler ventures out to fish in poor weather, or on poor tides.

I’ve been fishing seriously for over 60 years in Florida freshwater and saltwater and early on—in high school—recorded my results and conditions in a hand-written fishing log. I laid off at times when fishing familiar places, because I thought I had things figured out.

I did keep fastidious records whenever I was learning a new fishing spot, or began fishing for a species I had no experience with. When I moved from Miami to Stuart, you’d better believe my log-keeping ramped up, for the Indian River Lagoon and especially for pompano surf fishing, which was especially subject to weather conditions because there was “no place to hide.” Within a year or two, my notes proved that surf water conditions meant everything, perhaps with only water temperature being more vital because of this popular fish’s southerly migration when local waters became too cold.

Entries in my log always included the basic but vital weather conditions—cloud cover, air temp, water temp, wind velocity and direction, barometric pressure and eventually I carried a simple pocket thermometer, like a pool thermometer, to check water temps. But it goes beyond that—moon phase and position relative to the Earth is important. If you do not pay attention to the Solunar Table, consider doing so, especially when freshwater fishing. In my avid bass fishing days, I learned that a good bite often happened when the moon was “under” or “over” the Earth. My entered data strongly suggested it.

In the salt, most anglers pay much closer attention to the tides, particularly when flats fishing, and the moon phase which affects tidal heights, and tidal current. I always make note of spring versus neap tides for example.

General water conditions deserve an entry, too. And by cross-checking your data on wind direction and velocity against the appearance of the water, you’ll quickly discover what the wind can do in a particular place. Does it muddy it up when out of the west, but not when out of another direction? That’s key information, because muddy water conditions can shut fishing down altogether or at least force you to fish differently.

A prime example I learned long ago was that 80 percent of the time, a persistent west wind (preceding cold fronts) in Florida Bay killed the sight fishing on flats, and even slowed the bite down in nearby channels. Conversely, once the wind swung to the east to southeast, it quickly cleared up and fishing recovered.

Always make note of the way fish swim in relation to tide flow direction. Usually, foraging fish on a flat swim into the tidal flow, but not always in some places. I became convinced at one point having made many observations in my log that bonefish and tarpon were more inclined to swim straight into the strongest current (which is typical on full and new moons) than during the weaker neap tides. Biscayne Bay shoreline flats saw weaker tide flow and the fish tended to meander more, according to my observations. It’s a good idea to make sure to note the time fish start appearing—you may discover that some flats have early arriving fish on a rising tide, such as bonefish or permit, and other spots are better later in the tide. In fact, looking back on my log entries, it is readily apparent that there are rising tide flats and falling tide flats.

Write It Down

Here are two log entries I made in the past 20 years, one for surf pompano and one for night fly fishing for snook in the St. Lucie River (with a charter customer):

Date: March 16, 2006

• Start time: 7:00 a.m.
• Place: Normandy Beach, Hutchinson Island
• Winds: Southeast at 10- to 15-mph
• Water color: misty green (ideal)
• Tide phase: high tide at 11 a.m.
• Moderate chop, clean break on second bar
• Air temp: 68 early
• Water temp: 72 at start  to 74 by noon
• General: some light sargassum weed, nothing major. Sandfleas showing in the wash. A couple of other anglers on hand, typical weekday numbers. Fished three rods, baited with salted cut clams and live fleas. First hookup at 7:30, followed by 7 fish landed (5 of legal size) over the next 4 hours. Very few whiting around, only caught 2 small ones. No junk fish at all. Did see a few spinner sharks come out of the water, 200 yards out.  Did not relocate elsewhere once the bite stopped at noon. Checked two other beaches and water conditions were identical to Normandy. Two anglers at last beach reported catching 3 and 4 pompano.

Date: July 9, 2017

• Start time: sunset
• Place: St. Lucie River from mid river to Sandsprit docks
• Fished Jim and a partner charter
• Winds ideal out of the east, light
• Air temp: 91 sunset
• Water temp: 85
• Water conditions: off-clear and tannic, perfect
• Tide phase: falling entire 5 hour trip.
• Moon phase: 2 days before new moon, good current
• General: small snook rising under the lights at Blue dock before full dark. On small minnows. We hooked 4 and landed three of them, biggest 25 inches. Left there to fish Benihana docks and Jim landed a 26-incher. Crossed the river just north of the Dime bridge and found nice seatrout on two docks. Took two fish on No. 6 shrimp fly. Went to the bridge and dredged no. 2/0 mullet patterns on sinking lines. Only a few snook were popping baits. We had 2 grabs, lost one but landed a 32-incher. Not many mullet around, finished up the night by the ramp, all docks there covered up with small snook. Got 6 or so to the boat mostly 17 to 21 inches. Left at 2 a.m.

The Supporting Cast

In your general observations be sure to note the number of non-target fish you see, and also the “supporting cast,” such as birds of prey, or perhaps stingrays, crabs, sharks, porpoises, and other animals that are on hand. They are all predators and strongly indicate good sources of food. When I sight fish on Florida Bay or Biscayne Bay flats, I am encouraged to see them—my catch numbers are almost always higher in their presence. I say almost because nothing shuts down a school or hungry seatrout, redfish or pompano like a pack of “Flippers” or too many sharks.

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