Redfish in Englewood: Lemon Bay Flats, Oyster Edges, and Low-Tide Pods

Lemon Bay is small water by Charlotte Harbor standards, and that is exactly why it is a fine redfish bay: six miles of protected, mangrove-lined aquatic preserve where you can always find a lee shoreline and a moving tide. The reds work a tight rotation of oyster bars, grass flats, potholes, and mangrove edges.

On the lower stages of the tide, fish position on the outside edges of the bars and in the sand holes, and in the cool months, December through February, negative morning lows turn the bay into a sight fishery, with small pods tailing on the exposed grass and pushing wakes across the shallows.

A weedless gold spoon is the search tool; a chunk of cut ladyfish or mullet soaked on a pothole edge is the closer.

On the flood, the fish slide under the mangroves, and the summer program becomes chummed live sardines or cut bait pitched tight to the roots along the preserve shorelines and the spoil islands flanking the ICW. Fall brings the year's bigger fish as over-slot reds stage around Stump Pass and the bay's south end.

Approach is everything in water this shallow and clear: drift or pole the last hundred yards, keep the trolling motor on low, and make long casts to the edges of working fish. Launch at Indian Mound Park, the free four-lane ramp on Lemon Bay (see the boat-ramp directory), and get bait at Fisherman's Edge on Placida Road.

Englewood water falls in the FWC's Charlotte Harbor region; verify current rules at MyFWC, and expect the 18–27-inch slot, one fish per person, two per vessel. Light tackle does the job — a 3000 reel, 10–15 lb braid, and a 20–25 lb fluorocarbon leader.