By: Chasten Whitfield
Late September into early October redfish in this area come together in large groups to have a meeting for the just past trick-or-treat season in late October and into early November. The first few weeks of November will be a great time to treat yourself to these left-over pumpkins!  These meetings of pumpkins take place in and around the mouth of Manatee River.  Most of us are not invited to these meetings but if you show up with easily accessible pilchards this time of year that can be caught at the nearby Skyway Bridge, you can invite yourself and lure away a few from their meetings. In all seriousness however, this year has been the âperfect stormâ for red tide and poor water quality. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), has issued a catch and release only for redfish and snook which I totally support, as it will allow redfish and snook to grow to a healy population once again. The sport of catching these beauties is still here, however, we canât take them with us. So, start your morning off by showing up at the Skyway Bridge and catch your pilchards. The water quality north of Cortez has been good, bait fish have been plentiful, and surviving the day being in a live well. I have been doing my fishing near the Skyway in McGill Bay and Terra Ceia Bay and doing well with all of our typical inshore species. Snapper have been very aggressive and plentiful over grass potholes while chumming for redfish and snook. These are all my favorite fall pumpkins to pick. Here is a photo of our family friends picking their pumpkins!