We knew we'd be up against it due to the moon phase of the past week or so. Full to half-full moon up for most of the night and deadly high mid-day temperatures give the fish an excellent opportunity to feed all night and look the other when no matter how well a bait is presented to them during the daytime. Repeat client and good friend, Tyler was not intimidated. We kicked the day off watching 20 - 60 lb. tarpon lazily roll at first light. For about 45 minutes we pitched live shrimp, blue crabs, and baitfish as well as artificial presentations to them. A few sipped down the blue crabs but gave us the slip as a bony-mouthed tarpon will sometimes do. By the time the sun cleared the horizon, the tarpon activity declined and we moved onto the flats. Within minutes we were staked out on a school of black drum in the 5-15lb. range. After a few missed hook-ups we finally landed one around 22" and a slot red before the school moved on. From there it was pretty much all sight fishing. We had a few opportunities at large trout and snook cruising the flats despite the tough moon phase and Tyler followed directions perfectly to sight-fish a couple of over-slot Mosquito Lagoon redfish! They are plentiful but demanding in the clear shallow water and closely adhering to the direction of your guide is all but imperative. In the late afternoon, we returned to the main channel to try our luck with the bull reds. On light tackle, we landed a few more fish including another over-slot redfish and we had an absolute monster on the 6500 penn that somehow managed to break us off on some structure. From seeing schools of black drum and redfish to rolling tarpon and cruising snook, despite the tough moon phase, we had a heck of a good time.