That magical
time of year is here again known as the “Tailing Reds in the Flooded Grass Flats”. That means
stalking for hungry feeding Redfish that wave at you on the flats. The hunt is on! It can be fished either by
Boat, Kayak or walking in and wade fishing. It’s the only kind of fishing we do
here by means of only sight fishing. The season runs approx. 5-6 months from
about May through early November. Best time being August to mid-October. My
earliest tailer I ever caught was on April 26th. Did you know that there
are approx. 70-80 flood tides per year? I’d say probably about half of those
happen when it wasn’t expected and or during the nighttime. You can look for
the flood tides around the new and full moon periods. The magic high tide mark
to look for is 5.4 ft. at Mayport Bar Pilot. But!... if you have a strong east to NE wind for a
couple day before it supposed to flood than you can get one of those unexpected
floods. We can also have the opposite effect if we have a west wind.
Atmospheric pressure and rain fall also have an effect on the tide. So the best
thing to do is check your local forecast and NOAA tide predictions and
observation charts. The flood tide can last
anywhere from 2 to 5 hours depending on were you go. We opt to use a 6 to 8 weight
fly rods in most cases with a typical 30-35 ft. cast at the tailer with a fiddler Crab fly
imitation on the end of you leader. This
kind of sight fishing is know to get your adrenaline and heart rate pumping and is highly recommended for a fun time!
