The Florida summer is officially over and fall has arrived. With that comes some awesome fishing.
This time of year, kayak anglers need to pick and choose days to get offshore given that it’s still hurricane season and some of the first fronts of the year will start making their way in. In October the mahi mahi bite has been very solid with anglers catching some nice 15 to 20 pounders on an east wind from 250 to 320 feet of water. Some will be in schools of only 2 to 6 fish, but they will be feisty and hungry. Try keeping an extra pitch rod on your kayak in case you run into these schools. Use 40lb fluorocarbon leader tied to a 3/0 circle hook and a live pilchard or a flashy Yozuri lure.
The kingfish bite has also been good but scattered. Some nice 15 to 20 pounders have been caught shallow from 60 to 120 feet of water. Some nice solid 30 pounders have also been landed in 160 feet of water. I always use 40lb mono leader to an 8 inch trace of wire to a 3/0 J-hook and a stinger. Make sure the stinger has slack so that your bait can swim naturally.
There have been scattered blackfin tuna reports off Fort Lauderdale and Miami on the jig over the deep wrecks. You can get some nice 10 to 15 pounders doing a small drift over the wrecks. My jig of choice has always been the pink or purple and black. You can also get lucky and jig up a nice African pompano and amberjack over those wrecks while fishing for tuna. The glow in the dark tiger striped jigs have always been my go to for reef donkeys.
You can still get the occasional wahoo around the moons on an outgoing tide around the South Florida inlets. Look for the color changes in 180 to 250 feet of water.
For those freshwater anglers looking for some nice peacock bass, the reports are that there have been some very solid sized peacocks landed in lately which is good news for anglers. I recently landed a stud 8 pounder in Pompano Beach. I always use live shiners as my go to bait for peacocks. With light tackle these fish pack a punch. Top water lures in the bigger lakes and ponds have also been pretty decent for peacocks.
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Joe Hector
954-895-4527
Extreme Kayak Fishing Inc.
www.extremekayakfishing.com
joe@extremekayakfishing.com