by Capt. Bart Marx
Hello Fellow anglers September in S.W. Florida. Looking at the offshore possibilities with the bait balls starting to slowly migrate to the south, the king mackerel will follow close behind, along with the Spanish, when the waters start to cool down from the low nineties to the high eighties. My grandpa Scribner “Pop’s” told me “Kings at 72°” and it is still with me today. Also, the end of the month is a full moon on the 28th. This would be a great time to get rigged up for night snapper fishing. There are areas that we know. Go just at sunset, get your boat in position, and start your chum slick then get your rods ready for some fun! Yes, bring your inshore flats fishing pole, with a long leader and just a hook, to battle with the mangrove snapper that will rise to the chum looking for a feast that you will present to them with a hidden hook hidden. Frozen baits, like unused white bait from a recent day trip that you saved or some frozen shrimp too. Keep the chum going and send some of the frozen stuff along, with the hook, too. Some guys like to bring their own lights, but I feel that would not be much help on a full moon. Just saying, ya know. Also, doing this you may encounter some of the groupers gag or reds closer to the bottom. Depending how deep you are fishing and the type of structure, yellow tails may show up to the party.
This month too, you may see in the daytime some permit show up on reefs close to shore. Depending on the conditions there could be some breeder reds coming into shore to feed up to return offshore to spawn. In the past S.W. Florida has been known as Red October. They will be here soon. If you are wanting to get out into the deeper waters my SCARAB is set up and ready to fish. It is capable of hauling six anglers and there is a porta-potty onboard for the ladies. We supply all the bait, licenses, poles, and tackle for our guests. We use local boat ramps closest to our guests, so it is convenient for them; from Englewood in the northern part of our region, to Pine Island in the southern end. Most of our trips leave from Placida, close to the toll bridge going to Boca Grande. From there it is just ten minutes to the Gulf of Mexico where we head out to waters teaming with fish.