by Capt. Phil Muldrow
Speckled trout are doing much better and should improve right on thru the start of the winter pattern. We’ve even had a nice increase in Spanish mackerel, shark, whiting, black drum and yes, a few silver kings (tarpon). Sorry, still no cobia or tripletail action. You might get a short window of opportunity once our water temperatures hit the low 70’s. Catch’em if you can and while you can before they head on south for the winter. All of the above species should be available, active, and by no means picky in October. This has been well received by all the diehards from our recent hot summer. But the real stars of our fall revival have been the comeback kids: redfish. As one of our local guides shared recently, “I don’t know why it took so long this year, but it sure has been something special, just like old times.” So far, fall has seen lots of redfish in all sizes; fun for all. They’re ready, willing and able to take any and all baits, natural, artificial, live, cut, you make the call, dealer’s choice for sure. The reds, like the rest of the inshore gang, must have been, “sick and tired of being sick and tired” as my outboard mechanic always says.
The cooling weather pattern surely played a major part in the revival of our red fish. If our current weather pattern continues, October may just be one of our best months of the inshore year. Hopefully we’ll get a nice bait run from SW Florida and the flats, oyster bars, rocky points, creek mouths and Seahorse Reef really gets cooking in October.
Now let’s wrap things up with a brief update/outlook for our o ffshore fishing. Brief due to Hurricane Isaac and a 10 day stormy spell back in August. There just wasn’t much of a chance to get o ffshore. There was at least a three week period when no one was able to test the o ffshore waters of the good gulf. My last two trips were both half day charters and we did real well on gags but had trouble finding reds primarily because of the time restraints of a half day trip. We only made it out to 45 . but that was good enough to find some real nice gags, three or four fish over 30 inches each trip. Also, the Cedar Key snapper (grunts) continue to be the biggest ever, no trouble getting two to four buckets if you like. Don’t forget that our gag season closes October 31. Get out and get’em while you can. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and give us a break in October. My hunch is that the gags will be available and very active in 45-85. On your day trips. Red grouper will also be hungry and the best chance to find keepers should be in 55-85.
Good luck and good fishing in October and go Gators and Seminoles! See you next month, “if nothin’ don’t happen.”
FORECAST BY: Captain Phil Muldrow Native Son Charters, Inc. Cedar Key, Florida 352-543-9930