Cold fronts bring low tides and redfish tails

It seemed like the usual high flood tides of late summer didn't want to go away this year. Oh sure, a couple of cool fronts brought the marsh water levels down a bit. But for many days in October, a low tide looked like a normal high tide. Not the best situation for spotting fish - especially if you're a kayak angler.

But November has brought us some substantial fronts and much lower tides. And many happy, tailing redfish! I've only had but once chance this month to hit the marsh - and it was pretty successful.  But judging from several friends who've been out this past week, the fishing has kicked up a notch.  

If you can plan your trip a couple days after a cold front, when the wind settles down, the skies are still clear and blue, and temperatures moderate, it can be golden!  In the warming sun, baitfish and small crabs, along with some residual shrimp, find refuge in the shallows. But unlike a few weeks back, there's no grass to hide in.  It's here you'll find the Spottail Elvis looking for an easy meal. And for skinny water enthusiasts, easy to spot.

Fish recognition. Knowing what to look for:

• the tail or backside of a fish
  
• a dark shadow that looks out of place in the shallow flats
• a tell-tale swirl and splash – sign of feeding
• tiny shrimp and baitfish leaping out of the water near a grass line
• a wake that moves in a slow, steady path

If you spot a fish that looks like a pumpkin, it's certainly a redfish.  But sometimes reds can develop a dark coloration in clear water.  That's why I also look for dark shadowy figures.  If the fish has stripes or a whitish tail, it's likely a sheepshead or drum.  Don't ignore either of these, they do eat flies and make a good fight (and good eating, too).

It's important that you make your cast count.  Despite what you sometimes hear, you never cast AT a redfish.  Here's the better approach:

• note the direction and speed at which the fish is moving.
• cast a few feet out in front and a foot or so further back, so the fish doesn’t spook
• slowly begin your strips when the fish gets closer

As for fly selection... it's debatable as to whether to go light or heavy.  Some fly anglers think a fly that sits in the mud and kicks up mud - like the Borski Slider - gets the poisson rouge excited.  I prefer a fly that has a soft landing, with a hook up.  Something like a Bendback (especially the Prince of Tides variant), or a bead-eye Clouser or Pink Charlie, a LaFleurs Charlie with small brass eyes, Kwans, Merkins, bendback-style Seaducers, and so on.

You might be tempted to throw spoon flies.  After all, when have redfish ever turned down a spoonfly, right?  Well, in late Fall and early Winter, the water gets pretty clear and there's often an abundance of baitfish, fiddler crabs and even small shrimp.  The poisson rouge can get somewhat selective.  "Matching the Hatch" does apply in this case.  

Of course, there's one fly pattern that I always use for skinny water reds and that's a popper.  Even if it's not as effective as submergent flies, the opportunity to witness one of the greatest spectacles in marsh fishing - a red hitting a topwater - is just too tempting for me!  My favorite is Pete Cooper's Perch Float Popper.  In late Fall and Winter, I usually go with darker colors like green/white or purple/yellow than the standard red/white I use in Spring and Summer.  I also do a batch of a dozen at a time and that lasts me Fall through Spring.  Unless I'm lucky and get many trips and many reds.  In which case I need a second batch by New Years.