Trash Fishing

I have to admit it. I love fishing. As long as my rod is bent and the drag is singing I’m a happy man. I’ve found that to be true for a lot of anglers and that’s what brought me to this month’s topic... Trash fishing.

Seriously. A ton of articles have been written about how to catch tarpon, snook, redfish and seatrout, but I can’t seem to find a thing on the art of landing ladyfish, crevalle jacks or catfish; the elusive trash can slam. So I thought I’d take it upon myself to enlighten the readers with what I’ve learned about the big three of trash fishing.

I’m really not sure how the crevalle jack got on the list. Perhaps because it has little or no food value. But it makes up for that short coming with more fight, pound for pound, than most redfish I’ve hooked. They’ll readily eat just about any live or artificial bait and they don’t give up even when lifted out of the water. The “jack attack” is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting things I’ve seen while fishing. Imagine a school of about 50 fish cruising at about 15 mph, hell bent on eating everything in their path. It’s a ton of fun to throw whatever you can in front of this moving bus. And that’s what it feels like when your offering gets taken. You’ll swear you hooked a bus! Any jack over 5 pounds is worth the price of admission. They’ll blast off for the mangroves and then 3 seconds later light the afterburners and head for open water.  hey move so fast I’ve seen anglers looking the wrong way for the fish and then ZING the line comes tight and the tip of the rod breaks off. Now that’s fishing!

There are two places in our local area that I target big jacks. Number one is the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River and a close second is the north end of Estero Bay. For some reason these two locations seem to always hold the biggest fish. In Estero Bay they seem to school more closely together then in the river but both areas are target rich environments. The easiest way to find them is to throw a few handfuls of live white bait in the water and watch for explosions, or you can simply blind cast a lure that looks like a bait fish. Always keep you eyes open for birds. The terns and gulls will usually hang right over a school of jacks hoping to pick off whatever leftovers the jacks leave behind.

Ladyfish are fun. Really! When the going gets tough and you can’t seem to buy a bite from any other species, there are almost always ladyfish to rescue the fishing trip.  They are nicked named the “Poor Man’s Tarpon” for a reason. They jump and somersault when caught and 75 percent of the time throw the hook. But don’t worry.  Just as soon as your dislodged lure lands back in the water there is another ladyfish waiting to attack it. They usually school up by the hundreds and they are relentless in their pursuit of your offering. It’s not all that unusual to catch two at a time on a lure.

For those of you that don’t already know this... ladyfish make great cut bait. I’ve caught just about everything catchable in southwest Florida using a chunk of this fish. Redfish adore it and a snook will pick it up off the bottom without much fanfare and swim off with it. I’ve also picked up huge trout and cobia using ladyfish, not to mention finicky tarpon.

Ladyfish schools move around quite a bit depending on weather and tides but the one place they seem to stay near is the grass flats out in front of St. James City on Pine Island. Once again, look for the birds. Ladyfish create quite a ruckus when feeding and they leave lots of leftovers behind for the birds to pick up. They’ll hit just about any type of artificial lure that looks fishy but make sure you move it quickly. They love a quick retrieve.

Catfish. 
Why on earth would I give you tips for catching catfish?

Capt. Rob Modys