| Homosassa: Sept. 6 - Ward Trulock called me from his office in Georgia and left me a voice mail saying he was coming to Homosassa to fish even though a major tropical storm was headed our way. Plans to catch some redfish were made months in advance and Ward had promised John Mosley that he would treat to him to some great fun and fishing on board the Flatfisher I, my 23 foot custom flats boat. Ward’s words were a storm don’t bother us, were coming Locklear, so get ready! |
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Homosassa was a ghost town. All weather predictions forecasted the storm would directly hit Homosassa with a flood surge of 3 feet above normal and 40 plus miles per hour winds. This was the last week of scallop season and MacRae’s Motel was fully booked. However, the only people there were my party on Friday night. |
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MacRae’s Bait House was open at 7:00 am and we were the only boat that left from there shortly after. The skies were gray and it was still very dark as we cruised the river and out into the bay. I made a quick stop and picked up some pinfish from my traps. The tropical storm had been given a name but it was still more than 150 miles away and tracking towards Tampa Bay. |
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As I shut off the Mercury Opti-Max and timed it all the way up, I prepared to use the pole to guide the boat to the destination and let the east wind do the pushing. We were on the skinny water flats in no more than 3 feet of water, so the 10-15 mile per hour wind produced waves no higher than 8 inches. These were perfect conditions for fishing. |
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For the next 3 hours it is hard to describe what happened other than to say that both Ward and John had the best day of redfishing ever. Both of these guys are in their 50’s and have fished most of their lives and admitted that the constant action was awesome. |
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The first two redfish were very special and the largest of redfish that Homosassa produces on any given day. In fact all of the 43 redfish landed were at least 7 pounds and the largest about 15 pounds. We took time to take some photos and were careful to release each fish, watching each bull redfish swim away. |
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The battles took place using Power Pro 6 pound diameter/20 pound test line. A small 1/0 Owner hook tied to a 24 inch section of 30 pound Ande Monofilament leader was all that was needed. Johnson gold spoons and pinfish were the best baits. |
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The action was so good that many of the hooked redfish were followed by perhaps a dozen or more hungry redfish trying to take the bait and biting at the line as it zipped through the water where strands of eel grass appeared to be food to hungry school. |
This made me think we need to try a Top Dog Mirrolure. I removed all the treble hooks and put on one single hook. When I tied this onto Ward’s rod, he made the first cast and several spalshful strikes erupted on the water’s surface. Those redfish tore up that lure repeated times and put many scratch marks to prove that redfish do have some sharp teeth. It was surely a day to remember. This action should continue throughout September.
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About Capt. Locklear
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