As we step into September water temps slowly start to cool down and the fish start to transition into their early fall and winter haunts. This time of year you can actually spend a whole day on the water without suffering from heat exhaustion. For me it doesn’t get any better than working docks and deep water mangrove shorelines with artificial baits and putting together a nice stringer of fish, this is normally the month when we can start to do that again.
Soft plastic paddle tails like the Marsh Minnow from MirrOlure and the paddle tails from Strike First Lures will both get the job done this time of year. Snook will start their push towards the rivers and deep water canals and feed on almost anything along the way.
There might not be a better time of the year to catch that snook of a lifetime than September. As they push towards their winter haunts they feed heavily in anticipation of winter cold fronts and depleting food supplies.
The Redfish bite can only get better from the spring so hopefully they’ll school up and feed heavily on the flats as the summer bait hatch finally grows up. We usually start to see new schools on the flats this month.
Big gator trout return to shallower waters to feed and the flounder bite picks up significantly on areas of hard bottom as well. Towards the end of the month we may start to see some kingfish off the beaches and the gag grouper will start to push in shallower and feed more aggressively in the cooler waters.
September will still be a little warm on the front end, but normally by the end of the month things will be in full fall swing. Take advantage of the changing conditions and pay close attention to transitional areas as this can be an incredible month on Florida’s west coast!
Catch Capt. Michael Anderson every Saturday morning for Reel Animals Saturday on 970WFLA from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and Sunday mornings on AM620 for the T.A. Mahoney Co. Reel Animals Radio Show from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. or to book a trip call 1-866-Gamefish. Check local listings for Reel Animals TV.