Went out today even though the wind was up pretty good and we were unsure whether the fish would be biting after we had a big cold front go through last night.

We went up to Anna Maria Island, near Bradenton, an area we’ve never fished before. It was so windy we had to hug the lee shore most of the time. The fishing was darn good , however, as we landed about 40 fish in 5 hours on the water. I was thrilled that one of my newer Clouser Minnow ties in Fl Blue, Black and White absolutely ruled. I caught one fish after another, driving my buddy Ray crazy. On my fifth cast of the day I hooked and landed a decent Redfish in 18” of water. That’s rare, as usually you have to see them and sight cast just ahead of them to get their attention.
The pics below are of a very decent Sea Trout I got later on, and please notice the Blue Clouser still in it’s mouth. Finally, near the end of the day I landed a Grouper on that very same fly, first ever for me in inter-coastal water.
That yellow thing in the pic is a drift sock, which we throw overboard to slow us down in the wind.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2004 at 9:49 pm by siestafred and is filed under US Fly Fishing Reports. You can leave a response.