Ok fishing fanatics–are you ready for some great fishing? October will have more than just tricks or treats. As the water temperature begins to drop (already about 5 degrees from a month ago) you’ll start to see the trout, mackerel (Spanish & kings) redfish, bluefish, cobia and gag grouper bite getting better every day.
The trout and redfish are moving into the shallow flats. Start out early in the day or later when the water temp is cooler. Work the rock piles, grass flats or any nice-looking shoreline. I like to use top water plugs like the Zara Spook, in the bone color for some explosive strikes, or a popping cork with either a shrimp or three-inch Gulp shrimp in the pearl white. These baits are also great for locating fish.
With the stone crab traps being put in this month, it means there will be thousands of chum spread out in the Gulf. What does this mean you ask? Well, with the cooler waters and the chum, the gag grouper will move into these areas. If you can navigate through this gauntlet of buoys, you’ll find some great grouper fishing. I love to troll some of my 15-30-foot-deep spots with short diving plugs. Rapala and Y-Zuri make some great plugs. Run these down to the right depth of the plug and be ready for a drag ripping fight. When trolling slows, anchor on some of these spots and start bottom dropping with either live fresh cut baits or frozen bait like thread fin herring. I use 60-pound mono with a 4 to 6-ounce lead attached to a 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook. Hold on tight to your pole or you might lose it. Also, with circle hooks do not set the hook, just reel-reel- reel. A lot of times, I’ll just let Rodney rod holder do the work–he doesn’t get excited and set the hook.
Scallop season ended Sept. 24th. They were spread out a bit. You may have had to move a few times, but all it took was some persistence to bag some of those tasty morsels. In this picture is Capt. Mike and myself with “The Outsiders” with a nice catch of scallops.
Get out there on the water and make some memories with friends and family!
Capt. Joel Gant operates Fishdaddy Charters out of Hernando Beach. Coast guard licensed, insured and Federal permitted. He knows the local waters like the back of his hand, and works both inshore and offshore trips. Check him out on facebook or you can reach him at (352) 279-1615. Visit his website, www.fishdaddycharter.com