What a difference a few inches of water makes. I have been on the water a few times recently with various levels of success. One area I fished the tide had fallen enough to make fishing downright tough; I had a difficult time maneuvering through the marsh because of the low water levels. Some redfish were still present but the tide had the fish concentrated in deeper flats and bayous within the marsh but they were not actively feeding.
I fished another marsh that was slightly deeper, only inches deeper, with better success. The redfish were in schools of approximately 10-15 fish in 1′-1.5′ of water. After the schools dispersed I moved into a couple deeper bayous and sight casted to single fish that stayed behind waiting for an easy meal as the rest of the tide sucked out. There is not as much shrimp in the marsh as there had been the last few months but there is plenty of mullet still mulling around.
A couple more strong cold fronts should push the remaining shrimp out of the marsh and the reds diet will start to consist mostly of mullet, crabs, and other finfish. I ended the day with 7 reds between 20″-29″ all on the fly rod. I also lost a few fish due to break offs and pulled hooks.
I fished during a strong outgoing tide. The winds were light early and water clarity was slightly stained, which made spotting fish fairly easy. As the tide reached its nadir and the wind speeds increased the water clarity deteriorated rapidly. Flies of choice (pictured below) were a white and chartreuse grass shrimp and white pearl gotcha that I tied a few days earlier.
I also shot a bunch of video that I will post after I get a chance to edit it so stay tuned.
