by Capt. Dave Stephens
Well, with fall in full swing hopefully we will get a little relief from this heat. The rains have started to subside with the exception of some passing storms. The cooling water temperatures and shorter days will have some of our fish on the move. One of the main species will be snook. Of all of our game fish, these guys are more effected by the water temp changes. This does not mean that the fishery will be poor, it just means you have to change your approach. Late fall is one of my favorite times of year for big fish. Some of the places that will be holding fish will be some of your deeper creeks. Also, with the lower amounts of rainfall, the saltwater will start pushing up the rivers. Residential canals will also see a large number of fishing taking up residence. The flats will still be holding good numbers of fish and I recommend focusing on areas that have deep-water access.
The cooler water will start to get our bigger speckled trout schooling up. During the warmer months the bigger trout seem to be more scattered. This is the time of year you can locate larger schools of bigger fish. If artificial fishing is your type of fishing, this is the time of year for you. Early in the morning the top water bite can be very good and big trout can be aggressive on a strike. As the sun gets up higher, try switching to soft plastics. The color of water plays a big part in what colors I chose to throw. If I’m fishing darker stained water, I throw a darker color. Cleaner more clear water, I’m using a lighter color. If the weather conditions will allow you, try drifting. This allows you to cover a large area of water.
Probably one of the most overlooked fish will be migrating down south this time of year. Spanish mackerel, in my opinion, are a great game fish and you can normally find them in large schools. Normally these guys are pretty easy to find. One of the most effective is looking for birds. A school of feeding macks will have plenty of terns and gulls trying to get the scraps. Trolling is also an effective way of catching these guys. Smaller spoons work very well, just remember to use a small piece of wire. One more thing, bring a deck brush, your boat will be a mess! I hope these few things will help you to keep the rods bent this fall.
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