FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – On day one of the FLW Redfish Series out of Fernandina Beach, Fla., anglers experienced some of the toughest fishing of the season.
With just 78 teams recording legal keepers, 50 teams returned to the dock empty handed in this Eastern Division event.
Since Georgia’s upper slot-limit mark is 23 inches, most teams are opting to run south down the Intracoastal to the St. John’s River-Jacksonville area, where they can stay within bounds of Florida’s 27-inch slot limit.
What’s giving anglers fits, especially those from out of town, is tidal timing: being at the right place at the right time, given such a quick change in tidal conditions. Most anglers agree that the first hour or two of incoming tide is the key time, because the fish are both concentrated and active in tidal pools and creeks. But once the tide gets up to a point where it floods the massive tidal marsh fields, the redfish check out of the creeks and move up into hundreds of acres of flooded grass, making them very hard to pinpoint.
This only gives teams anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours of premium fishing time in the morning on the incoming tide, depending on where they’re fishing and the draft of their boat. If things don’t go just right within that small window of time, conditions only get tougher as the day goes on.
Several teams in the top 10, like that of Tim Shabareck and John Hobales,
have discovered an afternoon high-tide pattern to complement their morning low-water pattern. Thursday, their afternoon pattern helped produce one of their key keepers that currently has them tied for second place.
“That’s what team work is all about in this sport,” Hobales said. “In practice, Tim went to work on the low-tide timing of things, and I went to work on the high-tide timing of things, and yesterday it all came together perfectly. Hopefully we can do it again today.”
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:26
Temperature at takeoff: 78 degrees
Water temperature: 85 degrees
Expected high temperature: 91 degrees
Wind: SE at 10-15 mph
Tides: low – 5:49 a.m.; high – 12:14 p.m.
Day’s outlook: sunny, breezy and hot