Chilly On The Hill = Hot Offshore
Between the first and second week of this month, we should get our first frost of the year and some cool nights that will start to drop the water temps into the lower 70s and upper 60s. This is just the beginning of the love, with November and December getting better, respectively.  October starts the process of corraling the fish into the feeding frenzy we all know as fall and winter. All species of pelagics and species in the reef complex will quickly get the message that it’s time to party like rock stars on the vast schools of bait that congregate starting in October. (Nearshore) gag fishing in the 15 -25 mile range will really start to heat up, and the deeper water bottom fishing will produce solid numbers of large gags, reds and scamps along with all the other bottom dwellers including hog and red snapper. Even if you have to take an extra person, keep someone on the light line every time the boat stops⌠especially if you are in the 150- to 250-foot depths, specifically for wahoo. This is when the large schools of wahoo will start piling into our region. It is not uncommon to get doubles and triples if you have baits in the water. A flat of frozen Boston mackerel or a few dozen live menhaden are good bets light line, as well as for the bottom. If you catch too many for the live well, put the rest on ice as a fresh dead bait. These fresh dead menhaden are deadly on the red snapper and grouper, and make great chum. Slice up some menhaden “chips” (as thin as you can cut them), and throw the “chips” out one at a time. Don’t be surprised if you clean a wahoo and find a lot of “menhaden chips” in its stomach.
If you are fishing inshore, a dead cigar minnow on the light line, with no weight, is a proven killer for kings and dolphin⌠and a frozen cigar on an 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jig head under a sliding float is often the ticket for the king bite 30- to 50-feet deep.
It will be chilly heading out in the morning, and coming back to the hill in the evening, but take some rain gear to keep the wind beat down, and smile all the way home with your cooler full.