As you can guess, guys, we’ve had a pretty rough go-round of weather this week. Rain and wind kept things scattered as far as charter days go. The inlet itself was absolutely terrible. The water was filthy and full of seaweed, debris and the current was ripping beyond belief. I tried it on several tides, and so did a lot of other captains, networking together there wasn’t a bite to be had among us a couple of the days.

We’ve all had to move to the backcountry to save our trips, and luckily the fish back there are fired up. If you’ve ever wanted to experiment with cut bait, now is a great time. We’ve caught lots of snook on cut ladyfish which is not a normal technique for me and the big jacks and redfish are still fired up on finger mullet. Trim the tails so they stand out.

The key this week is clean water. Find it and you’ll find big schools of snook. Once I found clean water with just a hair of current on leeward, protected mangroves, I personally saw the biggest river school of snook I’ve ever seen in my life, around 60 solid fish.

That school is why I keep saying cut bait. These fish were smart and leery, and I had to scale down my leader. Once I’d found them, I backed off and fished somewhere else for about 30 minutes. Then I came back and let pieces of cut bait soak right where they were patrolling around 5 feet off the mangrove line. Be patient with them. I also want to mention that this is a place that I have never fished before and was able to access due to the high water levels. This particular spot is normally skinny skiff territory only and was 3-4’ deep. I think the best part about this report and what you can get out of it would be to explore new territory and have fun exploring new areas while you can take advantage of the high water levels. Remember the fish are doing the same.

If you’re looking for something different to do for the kids, there’s lots of sharks on the flats right now patrolling as well. Seen some as big as 6 feet.