Capt. Bill d’Antuono
The Fall fishing season is finally here and that means the fish are on the move. Cooler water temperatures signal massive fish migrations offshore. Water temperature and season changes mean an active fishery and fish changing their habits. This can mean targeting a seasonal fish or targeting red grouper in deeper or shallower water. One specific fish we will be targeting in the next few months is cobia.
Cobia are few and far between during the summer, only popping up around full moons nearshore to get an easy meal on the sea turtle hatchlings. But in the cooler months, it is not uncommon to see these offshore warriors in the dozens. Soon we will be battling monster cobia in cold water; we still have a few more cold fronts to go until the run is fully on.
Red grouper will also be moving around. This summer we saw an awesome rebound in the shallower depths from 45’-80′. This is great news considering our nearshore fishery was decimated in recent years due to the red tide bloom. Look for red grouper to stack up at the 100-foot mark. Red grouper will bite just about anything pre-full-moon but I like to fish with 3 different baits. One being any type of live bait such as a pinfish or spot tail grunt. The second being squid on a chicken rig, sometimes they just love to bite squid. You can also add some thread to the squid in what I like to call a “meatwad”. The third bait I like to use for targeting red grouper is a 4-6oz jig tipped with a plastic paddle tail. This will allow you to actively fish spots instead of sitting there getting “baited” by smaller fish. Use these tactics above and you will be catching red grouper no problem.
As fishermen we get excited with the change of seasons and with fishing it is inevitable they will change. Stay ahead of the weather patterns and environment that fishing intrinsically absorbs us into and you will be rewarded. I want to wish all the guides a great season going forward and keep those lines tight and those spear tips sharp.