Artificials Specialist Gives Full Moon Fishing Outlook

Capt. Ray Markham of Backwater Promotions reported good numbers of fish have been caught over the past few weeks with a number of different lures.

He said a good variety of fish has been caught, including snook, trout, redfish, flounder, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, cobia and ladyfish.

"We’ve seen some tarpon rolling in the lower Tampa Bay over hard bottom, but they have not been on our target list ... yet," he said. "Redfish and trout being caught have been aggressive at times, and finicky at others, but while you may have to work at it a bit, over the course of the trip the cooler begins to fill."

He said for most anglers, MirrOlure TT slow-sinking lures and CAL Jigs with Shad tails on CAL ¼-ounce jig heads have filled the bill for limits of trout and redfish.  Also, night glow-colored soft plastic baitfish patterns are Markham's first choice. For hard baits, he prefers natural colors of MirrOlures.

"Color seems to be secondary in preference of the fish," he said. "These two subsurface lures have filled the bulk of our limits. Some of the new soft plastic lures from MirrOlure called Lil’ Johns have made an excellent showing when in areas where needlefish and ballyhoo are present. The jerk bait style lure is tough and durable and stands up to numerous fish on a single lure."

Markham said water temperatures in the morning have been running around 74-76 degrees. Afternoon temperatures are in the low 80s, getting fish very active and feeding on surface lures that are thrown later in the day as the sea breeze fills in.

"Catching fish on the surface is exhilarating, as you’re able to see most fish come to the surface and slam the lure with a sometimes violent strike," Markham said.  "A few of my favorite top water lures are the MirrOlure Top Dog, which gives a zig zagging ‘walk-the-dog’ style action, 7MR MirrOlure which is a floater/diver that produces an incredible flash when twitched, and 5M MirrOlure propeller bait. The profile of this lure is a good imitator for many baitfish on the flats, but the new 10M MirrOlure prop bait, a shorter, stubby baitfish imitation that more resembles a shad or scaled sardine in profile has been exceptional when there is a slight chop on the water, drawing strikes from some monster trout up to 29 inches in length this past week."

He added another top-producing rig is the DOA Deadly Combo, not truly a surface lure, but a combination of a clacking float with a DOA Shrimp suspended under the cork by a leader varying in length based on the depth fished.

Finally, Markham said slow tides this past week with the quarter moon slowed the fishing, making us work for our fish, but coming up toward the full moon on the Monday, currents will pick up and fish will stage up on ambush points.

"Fish get more aggressive with brisk moving water, and most species will become ambush feeders using the water movement to sweep shrimp, small crabs, and baitfish to them with the tide as they hide on ambush points preparing to feed," Markham said. "Trout may not use points, but humps or depressions on the flat to wait for food. Redfish are more of a bottom-grubbing fish, looking for crabs and worms on the bottom. However, with moving water, reds will feed on baitfish and shrimp as they move with the tide, so use these kind of baits to cover water where reds settle. "

Capt. Ray Markham runs the Flat Back II out of Terra Ceia and can be reached for charter at (941) 723-2655.