By: Capt. Billy Norris
September gave us the first real hint that summer is finally starting to let go here in Southwest Florida! Our first cold front pushed through and dropped the temperatures down into the 70s for a few days, and that little bit of relief was enough to get everyone thinking fall. Gulf temperatures have started to come down too, backing off from the 90-degree range into the mid-80s, and that slow cooldown is beginning to shift the fishing in the right direction.
Offshore, we saw a big push of blue runners and spanish mackerel show up, and whenever that kind of bait and activity moves in, the sharks are never far behind. We caught a ton of sharks over the past month, including bulls, tigers, blacktips, and more, and there was no shortage of chaos once those fish got fired up! We also wrapped up the tail end of goliath grouper spawning season, and we put a serious beating on those fish with catches ranging from smaller 20- to 30-pounders all the way up to the true giants pushing into the several-hundred-pound class.
The mangrove snapper bite has been fantastic, continuing the strong run we had been on the last couple of months. We were catching the kind of big snapper you normally expect to see way offshore, but we were finding them much closer in, with a lot of quality fish in the 15- to 22-inch range and getting close to limiting out on nearly every trip. Mixed in with all of that were plenty of porgies, some hogfish, and some nice gag grouper, which made for a really well-rounded offshore bite.
In the backwater, most of the action this past month came from snook and juvenile tarpon, and both species kept anglers busy. As we move deeper into November and the temperatures continue to ease off, the backcountry bite should only improve. Redfish and trout should start becoming a bigger part of the mix, with trout especially worth looking for in the deeper channels and over the grass flats as conditions settle into more of a fall pattern.
Looking ahead, this is the time to get ready for even more of that fall variety to start showing up. As the water keeps cooling, we should start seeing cobia, kingfish, and tripletail become more regular players, and schools of permit should begin stacking up on the nearshore wrecks and reefs. We should also see pompano moving through the passes and along the beaches, and if the cooldown continues, November has all the makings of one of those months where every trip can offer something a little different and every day on the water feels like the start of the best part of the season. It’s finally starting to cool off and the bite is hot, so get ready for an awesome fall fishing season!