The flats and backwater areas throughout the bay continue to hold plenty of speckled trout and redfish. Small topwater lures fished along the shoreline at high tide have drawn strikes from redfish and some of the larger specks. Most of my success has come while working soft plastics over broken grass in 2-5 feet of water. Look for the redfish bite to keep getting better and better – especially in the shallows – as we transition into the fall season.
Near the inlets, passes and along the beaches, expect to find lots of action this month. Schools of pilchards, sardines and red minnows are sure to have hungry Spanish mackerel, tarpon, jacks, bonita, redfish and other predators lurking around them. If you can see fish blowing up on the surface, then try casting jigs or plugs into them and see if they will eat. I’ve been randomly catching flounder throughout the bays but they should soon start getting thicker around the inlet as they move toward shallow structures offshore.
Inshore shallow water structures such as docks, seawalls, bridges and rock piles are good places to catch a tasty dinner. A lot of these spots are holding mangrove snapper, sheepshead, redfish, flounder, speckled trout and other species. Try fishing several different spots with artificial lures as you cruise along or stop in a specific area and chum the fish up to you. The area’s features will dictate what’s likely to be the most effective strategy and, of course, personal preference and your target species also come into play.
The red snapper bite was a little off both inshore and nearshore this summer, but it has improved somewhat lately. With water temperatures steadily cooling off, fish have been on the move and lots of them are taking up residence inshore on wrecks and reefs in depths of 20-50 feet. You’ll get a lot more bites when fishing with light tackle, but you will lose some of the bigger fish from time to time. I use 20-pound braided line and a 30-pound monofilament leader and that handles the majority of the fish I hook.
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!
