When it comes to luring fish, sometimes it’s best to ‘just let it sit’

Brody, the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog, had a birthday on Friday. He is now 10 years old. In human years, Brody is now older than I am. That is pretty old!

 

On Saturday, my son Elliott and I decided to go fishing. Brody, who was still feeling the effects of his birthday party, said he wanted to sleep in.

 

Our plan was to sight fish for redfish at dead low tide. It took us about 30 minutes to fuel and prepare the skiff. Just as we were about to launch, Brody came running down the dock and jumped on the boat. Elliott laughed and observed Brody still runs pretty fast.

 

After a short run to a shallow area with several oyster bars, Elliott deployed the trolling motor, and we began searching for schools of redfish. After a bit of looking, a large school came into view. In the clear water, we could see the fish really well. They were all pretty small, maybe 15 inches or so.

 

Elliott cast a Z-Man Finesse TRD several feet ahead of the school. The whole school spooked but they did not go far. Elliott replaced the Finesse TRD with a Z-Man Trout Trick, which is a much longer lure. This time he cast the lure well ahead of the school and just let it sit. The school did not spook and slowly swam towards the lure. Then one of the redfish ate it.

 

For the next hour, we used the “just let it sit” technique to catch-and-release several small redfish. 

 

Upon returning to the dock, we unloaded the skiff and began walking back to the house. Brody spotted a pair of large redfish milling around in the shallows. Without much thought, I cast the Z-Man Trout Trick toward the redfish and let it sit. One slowly swam over to the lure and ate it. The fight was a bit of a fire drill. By sheer luck we managed to land the big redfish. After a quick photo, we carefully released the redfish and watched it swim away.

 

When the water is clear and the fish are spooky, try the “just let it sit” technique. It really works! 

 

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