Slow Start in Naples Turned Into a Good Redfish Finish

This one didn't look promising for the first couple of hours.

We left Naples early and headed into the backcountry hoping to catch the last part of the higher water. There was plenty of bait around and conditions looked good, but our first three stops produced almost nothing.

One small snook. One missed bite.

That was it.

We moved farther into the Rookery Bay area and kept looking, but the water was still high enough that the fish could get way back underneath the mangroves.

Instead of continuing to bounce around, we waited for the tide to start falling.

That turned out to be the right decision.

As soon as water started pulling out of the smaller creeks and mangrove pockets, we began seeing activity. Mullet showed up first, followed by small schools of bait getting washed through the drains.

Then we finally found the redfish.

Our first fish was sitting at the mouth of a small creek and ate a live pilchard almost immediately. The next shoreline produced two more reds, including the best fish of the day at about 28 inches.

For roughly an hour, the fishing was very good.

We finished with five redfish and three snook, plus a couple of jack crevalle that provided more excitement than we really needed.

Considering how the morning started, everybody was pretty happy with the turnaround.

The biggest factor was the falling tide. High water had the fish scattered and difficult to reach. Once that water started draining out, they moved into places where we could actually target them.

What's Working

• Falling tide
• Creek mouths and small drains
• Live pilchards
• Mangrove shorelines near deeper water
• Patience when the water is high

Captain's Take: Don't judge the whole day by the first hour. We went from wondering if we'd find fish at all to having our best action of the trip late in the morning.