Winter Redfishing
Fri, 11/25/2011 - 21:54 | 
chasintailchar
Winter on the flats and backwater creeks of the Cape Fear often offers the savvy sight fisher everything he or she has been waiting for all season simultaneously. Flat calm mirror like conditions without a ripple to be seen often making it hard to delineate where the water stops and the Carolina blue sky begins, comfortable temperatures, perfect sun angle, gin clear water, and least I not forget... fish in incredible numbers.
As I sat at the dock rigging up for today's adventure with anglers Elizabeth and Jason Dean from New Hampshire, I sat on the poling platform as nervous energy pulsed through my body and snapshots yet to be taken of smiling faces above big healthy Redfish pulled from the clear cool water, flashed before my eyes. I was awakened from my pre-trip dream state in time to see Jason and Elizabeth walking toward the boat, creating small ripples on the calm surface as the floating dock undulated beneath their feet. An epic day was ahead of us, and as much as I wanted to go through my sometimes lengthy meet and greet and explanation of the day's plan routine...I was being pulled by unseen forces to get underway and arrive at our destination before anything had a chance to change.
As the little Beavertail flats skiff eased off plane in less than a foot of water well outside the flat we intended to start fishing, it became evident that the Redfish were following the same plan, as we ran over a school of well over 200 upper slot fish, sending them scurrying in all directions and leaving the soft mud bottom clouded in mud puffs for what looked like half an acre. As I hopped up on the platform and explained to Elizabeth and Jay that I had probably just blown any chances of getting them a fish on this flat, I saw a huge ring of nervous water about 100 yards off the port side toward a little indentation in the grass bank that signaled our hopes were't dashed and there was a separate school of perfectly happy fish waiting for us a short distance away.
As we poled up sun to the winking pod of Reds, I noticed a push beside the half exposed oyster bar immediately off the bow. Before I could announce the surprise school lazily finning 10 yards in front of the boat, Jason declared he was on them too by swiftly pitching the unweighted jerkbait slightly ahead of the school and beginning a quartering retrieve. A second or two passed before the calm undistrurbed surface erupted into a froth, and the drag on the little spinning reel began sing. After several strong runs, the soft mud flat now resembling the sludgy brown residue left at the bottom of a hastily consumed bottle of Yoohoo was lit up with fish scurrying in every direction as Jason’s upper slot Red was gently cradled into the boat.
Jason and Elizabeth fished 3 separate schools all within a stone’s throw of one another, hooking Redfish after Redfish on topwater plugs, jerkbaits, and gold spoons. As the tide began a hard push to flood, we finished the trip running the marsh guts, allowing the two to survey the backwaters and do some sight seeing.
I expect big Winter schools to be cooperative on the sun drenched shallow flats off the Cape Fear for the remainder of the Winter. Really all we need is sun, and light winds to put together a tremendous sight fishing trip for you. It really is the best time to experience this fishery!
God’s Blessings…
Capt. Todd Streeter
Cell: (910) 338-6711
