The Promise of Fall

By October 16, 2009Fishing Reports

Last Updated on October 16, 2009 by Capt. Jason

The weather man says that fall weather is coming tomorrow. He said the same thing two weeks ago. I want to believe him this time but it’s hard to do considering the excessive heat we’ve had to deal with this past week. However, this time it looks like his prediction is for real. So, I’m excited. Luckily, although the typical fall fishing hasn’t arrived yet, typical summer fishing has been great. Spanish mackerel, bluefish, bonita, sharks, trout and a few nice snook have been willing participants every day. I just can’t wait for cooler weather so that the redfish will begin schooling up in great numbers again.

This past week we had catch numbers in the 50+ range of mackerel, trout and even some awesome upper slot snook. Even though the water temps haven’t dropped yet from the summer heat, the snook’s internal clocks are telling them to start heading for the creeks. And that’s exactly where we’ve found them. Trout on are the grass flats in 4-8 feet of water and though they are typically smaller while water temps are still warm, we’re getting plenty of keepers for dinner. The mackerel have been veracious and all have been keeper size near the area passes.

This weekend’s cooler weather, should the weather man be right, could be just what the doctor ordered to kick off another great fall redfish bite. Every Fall, with the cooler weather, redfish group up in hordes. It is tremendous fun finding groups of fish in the hundreds that are turned on by the higher oxygen levels that cooler water temps bring. Prowling the grass flats, they seek and destroy any editable nugget they can find and when they run into us, we wreck ’em. The Tarpon Springs and New Port Richey areas really come alive in the fall with redfish. Areas with shallow turtle grass flats with patchy bottom, oyster bars and submerged limestone rubble mixed in are places where these newly schooling fish will gather. The crystal clear water that the cooler water temps bring help us find the fish as we can often see them rolling on their sides, flashing their signature copper sides, from a distance. We’ll approach the fish slowly and quietly so not to disturb them and present them with scaled sardines which they have a hard time refusing.

High temps in the upper 70’s are predicted for next week! It should be a blast. Bring a light jacket for the morning run out and then enjoy Florida at it’s best in shorts and t-shirts by 10am. Nothing beats Fall fishing in the Tampa Bay area.

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