Morning everyone, while I do like keeping spots close to the chest, this one is too good not to share with this small community.
Been making runs down to Ingram Bay with the skiff and have been on a consistent trout bite when the tide and wind are cooperating. To fish the way I am going to describe, you need a good flow of tide, with incoming or outgoing, that hasn't seemed to matter much, just that there is good tidal flow.
I set up off the point, specifically Dameron Marsh point, about 200 yards or so. There is a large sand flat that runs out, 2-4ft depth, with grass mixed in up to a transition point. YOU NEED TO FIND THE TRANSITION OF GRASS TO NO GRASS, THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS. Once you find the transition from sand/grass to all sand, start to fish it.
How to find a spot to fish; I find it easiest for explanation and for new comers to go ahead and anchor up after you find the transition. Anchor up about 30 yards inside(over) the grass, to allow you to cast over to the areas where there is no grass, since that it where the fish have been. I start by working the face of a clock, hit everything in your reach that looks fishy. But most big fish, over 22", have come from casting towards the bay, out into deeper water, and working it back over the sand flat. Too often I see people working tight to the shoreline like you would redfish back in the NC marshes. I haven't seen that produce in this area. If you are not getting any thumps, I would move out into the bay more. Again, I have not seen the large fish tight to the shoreline, they are a few hundred feet off.
How to fish your spot; While I would rather fish the long rod exclusively, I use plastics for speed, presentation style, and to find the profile for that day. I start with a 4" paddle tail(Backwater Candy Electric Chicken has been the ticket lately on a 1/4 or 3/8oz jig head). You cast out, let it sink, and hop it, swim it, jig it, let it sit, make it erratic. Sometimes a slow retrieve gets it done, just play with it until you start to feel the thumps. Once you feel thumps, I would work the spin rod until I caught a few, then swap over to a sink tip 8wt with a bright clouser and use the same techniques for retrieval that I dialed in with the spin gear. If I find one fish chewing, I know the window is open. But the window is typically twice a tide cycle and only a few hours, been fishing the morning cycle due to the water temps.
Water temps that have been working. 75-77 degrees. That has all been before noon.
If you have a trolling motor and are a more advanced angler, I would hunt and pick towards a group of pilings a few hundred feet off the marsh, they have also been producing. Over this sand flat, there has been huge schools of bait getting blown up by birds and fish, and working the schools is a sure fire way to connect. If you wanted to catch bait and use them to fire schools up after the bait has left the area, that is another trick to turning the fish back on.
I make the run from Dale City at 0330, get to the ramp(Cooper Landing) around 0530-0600, make it to the spot by 630 to catch the am bite. Earlier the better for water temps and car traffic. Don't really see many boats fishing the skinny water, but I suspect that the area is just not a tourist area which is A-OKAY with me, another good reason to hit that spot. There is actually a tarpon video on YouTube that was shot right on that marsh, so I suspect that later in the summer is when my targeted species will change from trout to the poon.
I am happy to help out with any questions about what has been workin for me.
Tight lines boys and girls!
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