By Brent Bensmiller:
As we transition from summer to fall, the bite will pick up drastically. Temperatures are slowly going to drop and fish will be much more active, moving around the flats and into the bay. Focus on fishing the passes and nearby mangroves or any type of structure. Big schools of snook, jacks, and reds will be hanging here as bait is swept in and out. Bait will be all over the beaches, inlets, and into Estero Bay. Due to the abundance of bait inshore, fish will be well fed and a bit more picky on what they choose to eat. Rigging up larger baits such as finger mullet, pinfish, or pilchards, will entice more strikes.
Kayak fishing skinny water in the bay will be productive during September. Get out on the water early and paddle the flats, sight fishing game-fish or cast along the mangroves. As always, fish the deeper holes, as they will hold more game fish. Casting your bait under the mangrove trees will be more productive, but you are likely to get hung up quite a bit. It can be frustrating at first, but once you master the technique, you will be pulling fish out of every spot. When fishing the mangroves you should use 30# fluorocarbon leader, as it’s a good size to still get strikes but keep you from getting cut off by oysters and barnacles. Once you hook up to a fish, keep the rod low and if the fish runs into the mangroves, put the rod tip down into the water to avoid line rubbing the prop roots on the tree.
Redfish and snook can be found throughout the bay and inlets during the fall. Most of these fish will be around slot size and bigger, so leave the light tackle at home and bring out the medium setups for these lunkers. Big bull reds will be around the inlets and near oyster bars and more than willing to eat almost any bait you throw their way. Snook season opens up September 1st and will remain open until November 30th. If you would like to keep a snook, make sure they are in the slot range of 28-33″ and purchase a snook permit from FWC. You are allowed to keep 1 snook per day, but we recommend releasing them so we all have a chance at catching some monsters in the years to come. Give us a call and we will put you on some snook and redfish this fall. Tight lines out there!