Recent heavy rains from Hurricane Helene stained the water in our bays and left areas close to the Intracoastal Waterway dirty and silty. As a result, sight fishing might not be very good for a while but the artificial lure bite should be very productive.
On high tides, look for trout and redfish to be right up along the edge of the shoreline looking for mullet, bull minnows and the like. This is a great time to work your favorite topwater lure parallel to the bank, making sure to cover any inflows, creek mouths and other features that may hold fish. If fish are not committing to surface lures, then jig and soft plastic combos or small, weedless gold spoons make good alternatives.
On low tides, the dock fishing has been lights out. Big schools of upper slot redfish have been hanging around the deep ends of docks. While you can catch these fish using artificial baits, they will be much easier to catch on live or natural baits and, as a bonus, you’ll have shots at other species of fish inhabiting docks such as mangrove snapper and flounder. After positioning yourself on the up current side of the dock, let your baits drift with the tide to the fish. A medium spinning rod and 15-pound braided line will handle the majority of fish while still giving them a sporting chance.
Red snapper season is open on weekends through November and that’s good news because the inshore bite has been on fire. These fish are far more spread out in the bays than most people realize. I catch lots of four-to-eight pounders in water depths ranging from 15-30 feet. When fishing in water shallower than 20 feet, I’ll either flat line a live bait or fish a ½-ounce jig and 5” soft plastic jerkbait. In depths up to 40 feet, I like to use a ¾ ounce lead and a live pilchard, pinfish or chunk of cigar minnow. Of course, red snappers will also eat many other forms of live and natural baits.
In the bays, be on the lookout for cruising schools of big jack crevalle. They’re easy to spot because they push a huge wake when on the flats and typically destroy any baits or lures they encounter. Be sure to have enough rod and reel to handle them because they are absolute maniacs when hooked. Topwater baits and other surface lures are the most fun to throw at them and you will usually have several fish fighting over your plug.
If you have questions about what's biting, how to catch them or would like to book a trip of your own, then give me a call or shoot me an email. Tight lines!
