 A friend of mine, and fellow captain, called me last night and asked me if I had a charter today. When I told him that I didn't, he asked if I would be interested in taking my little boat (Ranger 169 Ghost) out on the negative low tide this morning and check out some water in New Port Richey that he and I had never fished before. We've both been fishing here for years and we'd always discussed this area but neither of us had actually taken the time out to fish it and see what was there. It's out of the way, super shallow, and full of boat damaging rocks. But, it was a challenge and I was up for it.
We started the day by getting as shallow as we possibly could, which still left us 1/4 mile off of the shoreline, and worked South with the wind. Oh yeah, did I mention the wind was blowing a solid 20knts with stronger gusts? It didn't make for ideal sight fishing opportunities but being able to fish with another angler that has as much or more experience as me was worth it to me. Sharing ideas, tips, and techniques is always welcome in my book. Capt. James was throwing a Gulp Shrimp on a Mustad weedless hook and I was throwing a gold spoon. On Capt. James' third cast he hooks up with a lower slot redfish. Game on! I thought we were gonna' slay them in an area that neither of us knew much about. Man was I wrong. I finally switched to a Gulp Shrimp as well and did manage a few hookups but lost all the fish that couldn't resist the tasty imitation shrimp. Later in the day and 6 miles of shoreline later, Capt. James hooks up one more time with a decent redfish. That would be the total for the day. Not what we really wanted but it did help us eliminate some water that we will know NOT to check out in the near future with paying clients on board. Believe it or not, that in itself was worth the trip. It's just as important to me to know where not to go as it is to know where to go. That helps make for more successful fishing charters for both you and I.
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