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Last backcountry trip of the year with my buddy Shannon. The water temperatures are inching up and the skeeters are getting angry! Launched at Outdoor World at 6:30 a.m. just as the sun was peaking over the tops of the mangrove shoreline to the east. We ran the Lopez River as we planned to fish one of the small lakes in the backcountry. Low tide at the Chatham River entrance was about 9:40 a.m., so we would only have a few hours of falling tide. We fished a couple of spots along the Lopez River that looked promising on the MFD (using the FMT chip)--water channels between the shoreline and oyster bars, snags in the water, points, etc. We used a variety of baits from soft plastics (paddle tails, GULP! Shrimp and Jerk Shads, DOA Shad Tails, etc.), to
live shrimp on jig heads, Live Target mullet swim baits, and more. Most of the redfish were caught along mangrove shorelines or small islands. We eventually made our way to the entrance to the lake we wanted to fish where we caught 4 juvenile jewfish. Once in the lake, we caught several small snook and had some shots at small tarpon. All told, I think we had 11 species for the day including a dozen or so snook 8 reds including 2 slot size and a couple of trout. As if most often the case, moving water and structure were key. Here are a few pictures from the day.