Winter Redfish in the Waccasassa

Hey folks, the water temperature has been so cold out on the flats around Cedar Key that I took a trip up the Waccasassa river looking for a little warmer water. The trout and redfish swim up the rivers and streams this time of year seeking food living in that warmer water.

We left the ramp located five miles up river from the mouth. That river hasn`t seen any development at all. It`s just like it was hundreds of years ago. We rode down to the mouth and snuck in to the coastal edge of the northwest side and into the East Pass.

The Pass is a natural cut that winds its way a few miles around in the mangroves and oyster bars and eventually opens up on the Western Gulf side. Very shallow. Excellent redfish habitat.

We poked around inside there for two hours tossing cut mullet and Gulp shrimp lures with no luck. Didn`t even see a fish. No bait fish schooling. Nothing. The water temp was just too cold. We headed back up the Waccasassa and stopped at an entry to a tidal stream and plugged there for a while with no results either.

We then ran almost all the way back to the ramp and pulled off to the side of the river and anchored up among some fallen trees and a little creek. As soon as we cast mullet and lures we hooked into redfish. One after another. My guests floated cut bait and I jigged Gulp Shrimp. Reds took both real quick.

We caught 12 reds in the last hour of our trip. None were the legal keeping size of 18 inches. They were from 16 to 17.5 inches each. With each one released we hoped the next one would be large enough to take home.

Karen Bastien shows off a beautiful multi-spotted rusty red, just before releasing it back into the Waccasassa.

Mike and Karen Bastien told me they had never seen Florida in its natural unchanged beauty like their trip out and back on the Waccasassa. It`s truly some of the last frontier left in Florida. Karen learned how to "jig" a lure along the bottom and snag redfish. The picture is of Karen holding a beautiful multi spotted rusty redfish.

I can meet you at the park there in Gulf Hammock at the dead end of Hwy. 326 and we could ply the waters of that old river where the water temperature is just a little bit warmer. Bring your camera. Capt. Dan 352-221-5463