New moons can cause strong currents, put the fish off

Some days, fishing is just tough. Friday was one of those days. Brody (the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog) had an appointment with the veterinarian. Given my recent health issues, Brody insisted that I not fish alone. So, I asked my old friend Brian Newby to join.   

 

Brian is a skilled angler and I expected we would catch a bunch of fish. However, the new moon tides and no fish-finding dog conspired against us. 

 

New moon tides are unusually high and low. This results in significant water movement and very strong currents. Sometimes, these conditions put the fish off. On Friday, the fish would half-heartedly strike our lures and we would not hook up. 

 

It was frustrating but we kept fishing and adjusting. Our day turned for the better when we started fishing in 15 to 20 feet of water. For some reason unknown to us, the hungry trout were deep. The bite was not hot, but we began to steadily catch and release quality trout. Brian was casting a 1/10-ounce jig with a Z-Man StreakZ 3.75. I was using a 1/6-ounce jig with Z-Man Finesse TRD.  

 

We used two different lures and retrieved them with a different cadence. We both caught fish.  

 

With trout checked off our list, we shifted our focus to redfish and flounder. It was our hope to complete an Inshore Slam by catching all three species.  

 

After a bit of looking, we found a school of redfish underneath a dock. Brian skipped his lure under the dock and a redfish ate it.  

 

After a quick picture we released the redfish and went in search of a flounder. On the ride to our next spot, Brian switched to a chartreuse colored lure. We laughed about flounder loving chartreuse.  

 

Upon arrival, we began working our lures adjacent to a rock- and oyster-covered bank. We accidentally caught a few more redfish and trout.  

 

Fishing was tough but we managed to put together a decent day. I told Brian I needed to get home soon. We agreed to fish for 10 more minutes. On the next cast, Brian caught a flounder to complete the Inshore Slam.  

 

Fishing was tough. Fishing with an old friend was great!

 

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.