Lures do the trick on productive day

GO FISHING is a look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Billy Nobles, left, with "Reel Animals" partner Mike Anderson.

This week has brought reports from north to south that redfish, trout and snook are on the move. We have had several reports that large schools of redfish are here. The trout are everywhere, and the snook are poking their heads out. It looks like things are back to normal, and from the reports, the catching is phenomenal.

Mike and I spent this week in Stuart with captain/inventor/mad scientist Mark Nichols of D.O.A. Lures. On Tuesday, we went out with captain Jim Ross looking for cobia cruising with the manta rays. I had never seen a manta ray up close, but they look like a nuclear submarine just below the surface. The biggest one we saw had to be pushing 3,000 pounds. We saw a few small cobia, but there were no takers.

The next day we were with Nichols. The task was to shoot three shows in one day. The most we had ever done was two, and that wasn't easy. In the first hour we had the first show done after catching tons of pompano and jacks. Then it was just a 300-yard boat ride for show No. 2. In two hours we had plenty of decent bluefish, six redfish to 25 inches, and four just undersized snook.

Next, a 2-mile boat ride and show No. 3. On this one, trout was the target, and I must say captain Mike and Jerry put on a clinic, just spanking Mark and me. In just more than an hour, we were done, with a baker's dozen of trout in the 18- to 20-inch range. Not the 10-pounder we were looking for, but with a 25-knot wind it wasn't too shabby.

All of the fish that were caught were on D.O.A. products from just the pinch weight for the pompano, C.A.L. for reds and snook and even the world-famous original D.O.A. shrimp for the trout. What a day, and all I want to do is say thank you again Mark Nichols for another wonderful day on the water.