October is here, which means the inshore bite is hot! The weather is beginning to be a bit more comfortable for us fishermen and the fish. In our area, the big snook have started to make their way a bit closer to the islands, bays and the mouth of creeks. The water temperature is gradually cooling and this really triggers a feeding frenzy for our inshore species. I still like throwing live green backs for snook through October, because one good cold front and our green backs will disappear. Moving water is key for catching snook out here. There are quite a few fishermen who have been catching nice size triple tail in the channels and bays along the crab buoys with live shrimp.
Sea trout are finally starting to show up in our shallow waters. With such shallow water around Bayport, the sea trout always move out to deeper water during the heat of the summer and usually hang out in 10 to15 feet of water. They are being caught right now in 4 to 6 feet of water with all types of artificial lures. You can’t go wrong with a 1/8-ounce jig head and a white fluke.
In my opinion, the biggest topic along the Nature Coast right now would have to be the redfish bite. Redfish spawn between August and November. As the spawning months go along, these big redfish get hungry and the bigger ones are a bit easier to get to eat. These redfish are chewing anything you throw at them right now. They seem to be in their normal spots, along the rocky points and islands and hanging in the tidal creeks around good grass. I still like throwing cut mullet for the reds right now, or free line a live pinfish and give him a haircut. What I mean by give him a haircut is, trim his tail fin and top fins down with some scissors. This makes it harder for the bait to hide and they put off a lot more vibration in the water, which drives the redfish crazy. As always, hope everyone has some time to get out and catch some good ones, Tight lines.