The Time Is Now

October is one of the best months to fish in the southern United States. This transition month signals the migration of marine life along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, creating a feeding frenzy and a great opportunity for anglers in more ways than one.

The obvious opportunity is an abundance of feeding fish congregating in the path of schools of bait. From the mullet run on the Atlantic to the shrimp migration of the Texas and Louisiana marsh, these two annual migrations give anglers the opportunity to catch any native fish they desire. Some of the more popular game fish include snook, tarpon, speckled trout, redfish and flounder. The flounder will also be making their annual voyage to spawn in open water, which makes them extremely easy to target.

In addition to making fish easier to locate, and catch, the second opportunity is not as obvious.  However, I feel it is one of equal importance to hone your fishing skills. The time is now to learn or fine-tune your skills fishing with lures. With aggressively feeding fish, this is the best time to gain confidence throwing plastic, and as the saying goes, “fool’em, don’t feed’em.”

As a lifelong angler, I’ve utilized just about every legal means to catch fish, but none are more rewarding than tricking them into eating something that is not natural. Sure, as a youngster I just wanted to catch and that was very rewarding, but until you make the switch you will never know the feeling I am referring to.

Soft plastics will pay the most dividends when it comes to artificials. They are tried and true lures and some of the easiest to use. They will also save you money because, unlike a live or dead shrimp, you can catch several fish on one lure.

To hone this down even more, paddle-style lures, or swimbaits as they are often called, are the most simple to use for the novice angler. Depending on the area and structure you are fishing near as well as the strength of the current, you will either choose to rig these on a jig head or a weighted weedless hook.

A great attribute of the swimbait is it can be very effective on a steady retrieve. For the beginner, you can just cast, reel and catch. It can literally be that simple.

The jerk-style or “fluke” soft plastic is also very effective, but takes more effort to fish and you will need to develop “the touch” when working the lure. It’s is not that difficult, but it does take a little practice to produce that erratic action fish love.

This fall, pick up a few packs of soft plastic lures, grab a few jig heads, and leave the bait bucket and stinky dead bait at home. The time is now to catch fish, gain confidence in something new, and save money doing it.

Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Knockin Tail Lures with the built-in tail rattle, Controlled Descent Lures and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com.