Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Clearwater Fall Fishing 2010





Falling into Fall!

10/25/2010

What a busy few weeks! We had a nice cool down for a while and that put the fish in a frenzy! There have been many trips and many fish caught so here is the lowdown on what is going on out here right now and what should be going on over the next month.
First, let's talk about the nearshore/offshore activity. When the tides aren't the best for inshore, we have had lots of activity within three miles. The Mackerel and Kingfish bite is going crazy. I have been on large Mackerel for the last month, some over 5 pounds! The Kings are mixed in as well as Bonito, Barracuda and plenty of Sharks. The Sharks are very aggressive, eating a lot of the Mackerel we are reeling in. I have been tying on some heavy wire leader and hooking the Sharks too. Sometimes that will calm them down a bit so we can catch our target fish! I am using longshank hooks with 40 or 60lb leader. Starting a chum slick is important. Once I get anchored, I will cut up a few baits and steadily chum. It doesn't take long to start getting a strike. This is all relevant to the water temps dropping into the high 70's and lower 80's. The Kingfish bite should continue to get stronger through the fall as long as we don't get too cold too fast.
Grouper reports are starting to get better too. The 20 foot range is littered with small Red Grouper and a few Gags. Out to 50 and 60 foot depths is where the majority of keeper gags are right now. They will begin to migrate in over the next few weeks. I have some good numbers within ten miles, once we get into the right water temps.

girl with redfish

On the inshore front, there are lots of Redfish in the area. They are in large schools, in the deeper drop offs, adjacent to some of our passes. This tends to happen each year around this time. It is spawn season so many large Redfish will come in from offshore and hold in big groups. The only problem is that there aren't many schools of Reds on the usual flats right now. Since most are around the passes, there are several small or 'Rat Reds', on the flats. We have been corking baits through the potholes on the outgoing tides. It's nice to see the Redfish population holding steady, although, there were a couple weeks in September where the fish were just gone. They definitely respond better to the stronger moon phases.
Trout are still hanging on the deeper grass flats. Moving water is best. They are mostly smaller fish in these areas, with a keeper on occasion. The larger Trout are starting to show off of some of the spoil islands in Dunedin. Nothing like the winter fish populations will be, but still fun to get a couple here and there. I am still using live bait for all of the fish in this report. Threadfins, greenbacks and pinfish. As we get into winter and the bait starts to retreat, we will throw a mixture of jerkworms on 1/8 ounce jigheads. They work well now as well for locating fish. Once found, we can really get them going with a few handfuls of chummed baits. Then it's drags screaming and lots of smiles.
Don't wait to call me and set up your trip out on the water. The weather is great and we're all getting busy, so let's get you fishing and having fun. Call now at 727-365-7560 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              727-365-7560      end_of_the_skype_highlighting  or e-mail to brian@captbrian.com. See ya soon...

Capt. Brian

Capt. Brian Caudill
727-365-7560

braincandle2@yahoo.com
http://www.captbrian.com/

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