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Night Is Right For Full Moon Fishing

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By RAY MARKHAM

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

Updated: 09/16/2008 12:12 am

GO FISHING is a daily look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Ray Markham.

Recent unsettled weather makes fishing predictably unpredictable and "abnormal." Bait schools, scattered by high winds and rain, regroup after several calm days. But what's normal for a full moon week in September?

Snook can be finicky feeders any time, but particularly on full moon weeks during the daylight hours. However, nocturnal plugging of my home waters of Terra Ceia with a MirrOlure Top Dog has produced some explosive strikes and some impressive linesiders over the years.

One moonlit night a few years ago I dunked my Gheenoe, "Fishgirl," in the water behind the house and headed out into the bay. A night heron perched on an overhanging mangrove limb at the mouth of my canal anxiously waited for a baitfish as the tide continued dropping toward the bottom. The sounds of the night were incredible. Thousands of jumping mullet surrounded me as I stealthily slipped through the water, powered only by my Minn Kota trolling motor. Gator trout were busting baitfish that entered the potholes, and snook were pounding the mullet everywhere!

The 3/4-ounce plug was perfect for long-distance casts that nearly soared into the next zip code. The extra distance offered by the lure put a comfortable distance between the fish and me and any accidental noise that I may make that could be transmitted through the thin skin of my boat.

The results of the night were impressive for any given day - seven snook over 30 inches, including a 40-incher that towed "Fishgirl" past an anchored johnboat occupied by a father and son who, judging by the hooting and hollering, were in the process of landing a monster themselves.

Ray Markham co-hosts

"Florida Sportsman Magazine Radio Live," Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. on WWBA, 1040 AM, and may be reached for charter at (941) 723-2655.

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