October is a great month for drift fishing in Fort Lauderdale. There’s a lot of variety on the reef this season and plenty of action. Kingfish are abundant just about anywhere from 40 ft of water out to almost 200. This is the best kingfish bite of the year for us South Floridians. Massive schools of baitfish (mullet, sardines, threadfin herring) also inhabit the reefs this time of year, making for a great deal of available food. There are some pods of larger blackfin tuna also patrolling the reefs. Tuna shy away from heavier line/gear, so stick with using lighter tackle and fluorocarbon leaders if you are targeting tuna. Whip jigs work very well on days when the bite is tough. Drop to the bottom and jig fast and hard half way to the top. Rinse and repeat. Or try the butterfly jigging technique, slower jigging nearer to the bottom, is working well and getting good bites on deep fish. Jigging can entice a more aggressive bite, especially for the larger predatory fish, because the fish have to make a split second decision to grab the bait or let it escape. The trick with jigging is to present a bait that a fish just can’t turn down. Another exciting fishing proposition this month is that cobia are migrating down the shallow waters of our coastline. Cobia are famous for following behind sea turtles. Or they are often caught on the bottom following nearby a sting ray. Keep on the lookout for a cobia to swim right up to the boat while you’re drift fishing and have a pitch bait ready. Cobia are curious fish and we all know what curiosity did to the cat.
In the afternoons and at night, bottom fishing for snapper and grouper gets really good. Yellowtail snapper and red groupers are biting good, with a few mutton snapper mixed in too. We anchor fish on our night trips, chumming the water and fishing the bottom. Yellowtail snapper are smaller fish, 1-2 pounds on average. If you get them chummed up and feeding, you can catch a ton of them. Regular cut chunks of squid, kingfish belly and silverside minnows are all good baits for yellowtail snapper. With yellowtails, the more chum you throw out there, the better your catch. Fish a bigger bait on the bottom for mutton snappers and red grouper. A ballyhoo plug works very well or catch a small grunt and drop it back down alive. Bottom fishing in November will certainly keep you busy reeling in fish.
Good luck to everyone fishing this month. I’ll sea ya on the water.
Capt. Paul Roydhouse
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