My buddy Tim (Secret Spot) invited me to go fishing on Tuesday. We launched out of the CRB ramp at 6:15am in his nice 16' Scout. The plan was to throw artis early and then find some live bait to fish afterwards. We headed over to Piney Point and mullet were everywhere. I was using the Spook Jr. in bone and Tim had a Top Dog in silver/black. I caught a small trout at 6:45am. Five minutes later I caught a 17" red. Tim had a good blow-up on his lure but no taker. We moved on and picked up some live bait just north of Port Manatee.

After loading the livewell, we headed over to work the spoil island. At 8:05am, I caught a 12" trout on the spook and Tim caught a small jack on a DOA paddletail in glow color. He threw that exclusively, which paid dividends. Another 12" trout for me on the spook at 8:08am. One minute later Tim caught a 10" trout. An 11" trout for Tim just another minute later. Trout were thick there, but most were small. At 8:20am, Tim caught a 12" trout. One minute later, another 12" trout for Tim. I caught an 11" trout on the spook at 8:24am. I switched to the 3" RT mullet in smoke/gold halo and caught an 11" trout at 8:32am. One minute later, Tim caught a 13" trout. A very small trout for me at 8:37am. A 10" trout for me at 8:41am on the smoke/gold halo. Three minutes later I caught a small jack on the spook. At 8:49am, I caught an 8" trout on the 3" RT mullet in shadflash.

Catching lots of small trout but no real size unfortunately. Finally, a decent trout of 17" for me on the spook at 8:54am. Tim caught a 19" snook at 9:16am on the DOA paddletail in glow. Two minutes later he picked up another 19" snook on the same lure. I finally caught a 17" snook at 9:19am on the 3" RT mullet in redfish color. The bite started to slow. Tim caught a 12" trout at 9:52am. We are still working down the edge looking for the potholes. Two minutes later and Tim caught a 12" trout and me with an 8" trout. At 9:58am, Tim caught a 15" trout. Another 12" trout for Tim and a small jack for me at 10:01am. Another 12" trout for Tim at 10:05am. I caught a nice 19" trout four minutes later on the redfish colored mullet. At 10:16am, Tim caught a 14" trout. We are in really shallow water now coming up on a large flat. Tim threw out into the middle of the flat and a good fish inhaled his lure when it hit the water. It was a nice redfish. He fought it well and got it in the boat at 10:29am. She measured 24". Tim caught a nice little bonnet head at 10:44am.

We switched over and began throwing live and cut bait on the pothole edges. I caught an 18" snook on live bait at 11:08am. Fifteen minutes later, my line began moving off quickly and it was fish on. It was a good fish. We finally got a look at her and it was a nice red. She fought very well in shallow water and we got her in the boat. She measured 29". Tim hooked and landed another nice bonnet head on cut bait just after that. Another boat had pulled up near us and was also throwing live bait in the potholes. For a while there, they were literally catching one snook after another. A guide boat came in near them and they began to catch fish too. This place was loaded with fish.

At 11:45am, Tim caught a 21" redfish on cut bait. Eight minutes later he caught a nice 24" snook. We are both throwing cut bait now and Tim catches a 24" snook and I catch a 22" snook at 12:12pm. It was getting good. We could see big fish near us patrolling the edges. At 12:20pm, Tim hooks and lands a very nice snook of 33" that gave him a great battle. Ten minutes later, my line starts to move off and I just hold on. The drag begins to scream and a large snook explodes from the water about 30 yards away. She gives me all I can handle and we finally got her in the boat. She also measured 33". I am starting to dig this cut-bait fishing. We had worked this area thoroughly before with artificials but were not having this kind of success. I picked up a 21 1/2" redfish at 12:36pm. Twenty minutes later, we saw a large snook cruising right next to the boat. Tim flipped out a few yards ahead of her. He felt the take and the fish bolted away from the boat. Another good snook on the line for Tim. He fought the fish well and the fish battled hard. He got her into the boat. She measured 31". We stayed another hour there but had no more luck.

We headed back to CRB. The water there was very coffee-colored and I worked the flat all the way in but had no luck. We worked a mangrove edge near the ramp but again had no luck. We headed back to the house around 3:30pm. It was a great day. We caught some good quality fish and had a blast doing it.

Great report!

That's a great day! Nice report. Were you using cut mullet?

Great report! Dave using cut bait!!! I can't believe it. :thumbsup:

Yea you wouldn't have believe it huh Barry. It was a nice change of pace. we used cut threadfins.

Great report! That's one awesome fishing trip! Just wondering, did you use a split shot or anything to bring the bait down or no weight at all?

barrynfla wrote:
hell has frozen over :evil:

Yea. I was using a pretty heavy split-shot to keep it on the bottom.

Sounds like a great day man. Thanks for the report

Great fish Dave! I can't believe you were using cut bait! A couple 30+ inch snook is a great day :thumbsup:

Nice fish! :thumbsup:

great report....I am going to try some cut bait soon and give my hands a rest from walking the damn dog all the time. I need to practice throwing my net some and hit the water....just wondering, I dont know if it matters but , how are you doing the cut bait exactly, cut in halves or just the tail off, or are you using the middle portion. I am kind of new to the cut bait for snook and reds , and would like a little guidance on how they prefer it. I know this sounds a little crazy but i have only really used cutbait for sharks and i usually just cut off the very end of the tail so they cant swim good and bleed out slowly...and specifics would be great.

Always a great report from you! I was watching Reel Animals and a guest captain was showing how he used cut bait. They were using large white bait...only used the section closest to the belly and chum the rest. Then they would hook through the belly and not thru the main body...so the rib bones would keep the hook in place for the most part.

that sounds like a good strategy, almost what i would have done if I hadn't heard anything...cool deal, thanks