Florida Fishing Report: Florida Fishing Charters

The first cool front of fall stalled over us last week and then cleared the area over the weekend. The cloudy skies and favorable daytime temperatures contributed to some excellent fishing the past week.

Every trip on the flats last week produced multiple “inshore slams” (snook, redfish, trout) for anglers aboard the Bounty Hunter. Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jacks and bonita continued the marauding the bait pods just outside the passes and off the beaches along the 20 ft. contour line. The frenzies got the nod from fly anglers. Flounder and some mangrove snapper were caught off the edges of oyster bars and rocky rip raff. In Tampa Bay, mango snapper, pompano and sheephead were sucking down fiddler crabs off the pilings of the major bridges. A few oddball cobia are being taken in the 10 to 15 lb range. One fish over 4 feet snubbed our offerings on a shallow grass flat on Sunday. Bait is abundant and available in all sizes.

Redfishing was excellent going into the weekend. Once located, we were able to take fish on live sardines for periods lasting as long as two hours. Saturday it all started on the first drop of the anchor and on the first cast in which we landed over two-dozen fish on the first stop, despite 20-knot winds. The fish are moving on a daily basis, as I did not get them on the same spot on the next days, or the following days for that matter. By working the next theater of probability just north or south of where they were the day before got the thumbs up.

Snook are well on their way to their winter hangouts. More often than not, fish will be scattered throughout their range until more consistent cold fronts bring them together. However, utilizing the run and shoot offense, excellent results can be achieved. They responded instantly to live bait throughout the week. Presentations made on good tide flow that did not result in hook ups within minutes, simply indicated the fish were not home. With the cooler water, the power of the fish met it’s potential and several large fish were not to be caught by unsuspecting anglers.

Sunday offered typical post cold front conditions. After/ during 48 hours of 20-knot winds and a high barometer, what was during the week slowed down considerably. We still took some gator trout, redfish and snook, but not in the numbers of the days prior. This is only a minor set back that will be very temporary and only act to make the overall picture even better. King mackerel usually provide consistent action starting around Columbus Day and it would appear we are on track.

We took what may be our last shot at giant tarpon in Tampa Bay last week. It was a cool and windy day, which just did not feel like a tarpon kinda day. A couple of fish were spotted, but were poor targets. On the out going tide we drifted live baits through the pilings to no avail, but mangrove snapper and pompano were feeding well around the structure. As for the giants, if I run across them I will certainly oblige, but the trolling motors will be dismounted this week until spring. Juvenile tarpon in the backcountry will remain until the giants return in numbers in March.

Look for all of this action to continue and strengthen over the up coming weeks as we fall into place.

Screaming Drags and Tired Arms!

Robert McCue