[DBStoots]

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.

 

[lemaymiami]

Great report as always.... I was there yesterday and after a few different "dry holes" I ran my anglers up into the interior where we finally found a few nice snook (our first was 24"). Unfortunately that bay came equipped with a bunch of small deerflies that absolutely ran us out of there (one of my anglers had the airline lose his bag so all he had was a pair of shorts and a few t-shirts with him...). Bare legs around deerflies doesn't work real well at all....

 

[Scott Kor]

Wow! That's the bluest redfish tail I have ever seen! Beautiful!

 

[bonehead]

I've been dying to fish this area... you guys think I'll be okay if I just take it real slow? Primarily concerned about running into submerged oyster bars. Here in Miami we don't have that problem lol. Fishing out of a 17ft maverick master angler... (11in draft approx.)

 

[DBStoots]

It can be tricky to say the least of you don’t know the area or don’t have FMT on your machine.

 

[bonehead]

I’ve got a Simrad go5 (no chip...), it gets me home but doesn’t exactly have the best charting, might have to ask a couple friends to show me around.

 

[Boneheaded]

Try to follow someone out of chokoloskee bay, then take it out and around to points north and south, no sense winding round the inside with that great riding hull