Tom Woodward Reports from Titusville on 10/05/01:
I told you about the finger mullet run going on in the backyard, with peak activity seeming to occur late in the day with a prevailing northeast wind. The schools first appeared when I returned from Miami on Sept. 16th (when I caught those snook right after the tropical storm). Then I saw the little mulies again about a week ago (as I reported, me only got a ladyfish; the rig wasn't producing). That time, the mullet were being harrassed by tarpon and large mystery fish right next to my dock. Boom, boom, boom.
There didn't seem to be a lot of activity in the last few days, presumably because the full moon was giving game fish more play time after dark. By last night, the moon was coming up a good bit later, making late afternoon a more active period, I suppose (the steady northeast wind didn't hurt, either). I think I've figured out why the northeast wind is the ticket, too. Obviously, the easterly winds push bait pods to my side of the river. That's easy to deduce. But then you realize that all the schools are heading north, toward the nearest inlet, as part of their fall migration. The northeasterly breeze creates what amounts to a cross-headwind; tough for the little guys to push against, since the wind creates surface current against them. So they stack up in my backyard, I think, because that point of land -- next door to the north -- creates a nice eddy for the mullet to catch their breath. It's the only shoreline anomaly for a mile or more in either direction. Now, not all the bait hides inside the corner of the wall (they're scattered around the docks, with some of the fish well offshore), but most of the waves bounce off my neighbors' wall to the north, so the calm spot is faily sizeable. And the big sandbar, farther offshore, knocks a lot of swells down, too.
So, what do you think of my theory? Pretty scientific, huh? I walked out on the house deck this morning, when a very light breeze was wafting offshore from the west (most of the river was a mirror), and I saw countless pods of finger mullet all the way out to the channel. No wind pushing them to one shore or the other. Kinda proves my point. East wind? The fish would be pushed to my side, but nothing to stop them from going north. They haul ass. Southeast wind? They really haul ass. West wind? They're probably hauling ass on the far shore. So the money conditions are late afternoon (when there's a good breeze) and wind from the northeast. Only took me five years of living on the water to figure this shit out (although, due to the net ban, the bait schools are probably much more noticeable now). Remember also, this is something that occurs twice a year, spring and fall.
Oh, yeah. Something about a fishing report. Well, for a couple weeks I've seen the baitfish, but the ideal conditions and obvious gamefish activity have been off and on. At the same time, I've tried to convince FB to come out after work to drink a few and toss a few. Yesterday afternoon, he took me up on the offer. I split from work about quarter till 5, getting home by 5:30 or so -- time enough to straighten up the house a bit, I thought. But as soon as I got out of the truck, I saw a friggin' sea of finger mulies in the backyard. Went upstairs, changed, grabbed a rod & lures, and called FB on his cell phone. Told him to get there fast and walk straight to the dock. I'd already be out there.
So by the time he arrives, I've caught two jacks on a Chug Bug with a fly trailer (they hit the trailer, of course) had two other hits, and seen more bait and more explosions than at any time during the fall run. It was murder and mayhem, man. FB arrived and promptly caught a jack on a Gambler, also from the end of my dock. As Billy Loh would say, he's freakin' on the dock. He's freakin' on the bait. He's freakin' on the explosions all around us. What a time we had.
Before long, it became apparent that the really big frenzies were occurring past Wally's long dock to the south. So we moved our base of operations. Over there, it was surreal. Bait everywhere, schools of 5-10 lb. fish -- in unison -- launching themselves up through the bait pods. FB saw two do it within 15 feet of him. Snook. No doubt. Others a little farther away, attacking in groups of 6-10, had a more yellow cast about them. Redfish. Going completely airborne like they were trained at Sea World. No shit.
I switched to a 4" shad tail. Boom. Six-pound redfish pulled me all over the lot, including several times under Wally's dock. It was a fine fish, and a good release. And it confirmed that some of the airborne mystery fish were indeed reds. Then FB had one on, something huge, for a couple of seconds. The hole in the water was six feet across.
By the end of the carnage we had 5 jacks, one red, one ladyfish and a trout. Along with at least one Trident sub that got away. Had we switched to the shad tail earlier, I believe we would have had more. And remember, all of this happened in probably less than an hour. After dark, as they always do, the mullet all but disappeared. Maybe that's the cue for them to head north again, wind or no wind. You got me swingin'.
Anyway, FB brought Dixie chicken dinners and I supplied beers, and we lived like kings for a little while. We even considered the possibilities of a Bokeelia-style "trip" at Wood's house for a few days in the future. Sounds good to Wood. It was great. It was memorable. It was a blast.
Have a great weekend. Go Gators. I'll be lookin' in the backyard this evening, and all weekend.