By Capt. Ric Liles
Fishing Columnist
I get a chuckle out of people that get on my boat expecting to catch 1,000 fish with half of those setting state or world records. I really love their optimism, as I am the ultimate optimist, but be a little realistic.
On one of the trips I ran last week we had excessive winds from a direction that would not let me fish the spots I wanted to, or at least not let me fish them properly. I explained this was a problem and exited the area where I had spent a lot of time lately, moving on to fish more sheltered water that had produced fish for me as well.
We could not fish the flats, because the chop had one of my guys starting to feel a little ill. We were at high tide and the wind, because of its direction, pushed more water into the area than there should have been.
The result was the fish were way back under the mangroves and very hard to get out. Not to mention that the water was so turned up from the wind that it looked like chocolate milk. We still managed to boat a dozen snook, a couple trout, a redfish and nice mangrove snapper. I felt pretty good considering the conditions.
Now, go back to my opening statement. After the trip we were on the dock — by the way we came in early due to motion sickness — when one of the guys tells me to call him when I find out where the fish are. That still makes me giggle. With the cooler temperatures on the way our fish will soon be in transition, staging themselves in areas before they make that last push for the rivers, creeks and canals seeking the warmer water.
Just a little FYI, “Tampa Bay’s Fish Radio Show” on WQYK 1010-am, hosted by myself and Capt. Greg McCullough, has moved to Sundays from 7-8 a.m. We are a live call-in show and would love to hear from you.
Until next time, good luck and be safe on the water. Remember: don’t let your kids be the ones that got away, take them fishing.
