September Fishing Report

The flats and backwater areas throughout the bay continue to have plenty of speckled trout and redfish to target. Small topwaters fished along the shoreline at high tide have done really well on redfish and some of the larger specks.  I’ve done better when targeting eating-sized trout working soft plastics over broken sand and grass in 2-5ft of water. Look for redfish fishing to keep getting better and better, especially in the shallows, as we transition into October and November.

 

Near the inlets, passes, and along the beaches, you can expect to find lots of action this month. Schools of pilchards, sardines, and red minnows are sure to have hungry Spanish mackerel, tarpon, jacks, bonita, redfish, and many other powerful predators lurking around them.  If you can see fish blowing up on the surface, try casting jigs or plugs into the commotion to see if they will eat.  We should start to see the flounder moving towards the Gulf soon as well. I have been catching them randomly throughout the bays, but they should start getting more frequent around the inlet as they move toward nearshore structures in the Gulf.

Inshore, shallow water structures like docks, seawalls, bridges, and rock piles are good places to catch a tasty dinner. A lot of them are holding Mangrove Snapper, Sheephead, Redfish, Flounder, Speckled Trout, and others. You can always cruise through and fish several different spots with artificial lures, or you can pull up on one area and chum fish up to you. It really depends on how the area is set up, which is more effective. Personal preference and what type of fish you want to target also come into play. 

The red snapper bite was a little off across the board inshore and nearshore in the Gulf this summer, but of late, that has started to improve. With water temperatures steadily cooling off, fish have been on the move. Lots of those fish are taking up residence inshore on wrecks and reefs in the 20-50ft range. You are going to get a lot more bites on light tackle, but you will lose some of the bigger fish from time to time. I use 20lb braid and a 30lb mono leader, and it handles the bulk of the fish I hook. Chumming with live pilchards or chunking cut cigar minnows is a good way to get wary fish up off the bottom and gives you a better shot of landing big fish on light leader. Position yourself up-current from the reef and let the bait naturally sink back towards the reef. 

If you have additional questions about what’s biting or how to catch them, or if you would like to book a trip, I encourage you to give me a call or shoot me an email. Good Luck!