Fall Baitfish Run In Full Swing

Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters Capt. Chris Myers October 5, 2009 Mosquito Lagoon Fishing Report

The fall baitfish run is in full swing both in Mosquito Lagoon and along the east coast beaches. Last week, we had our first cold front of the season push through with a couple mornings in the 50's. On a recent trip, Dan and his son Danny found the redfish willing to eat a DOA Baitbuster fished on the surface. On other days, the reds can be found in the mullet schools but only want a shrimp pattern. If your first choice of lure or fly is met with several refusals, try changing to a totally different style.

The large trout are still, for the most part, avoiding the shallow flats but plenty of trout of all sizes can be had in 2-4 feet of water around schools of bait.

Tarpon can still be found on most days but the numbers are dwindling and they will soon be gone. As long as water temperatures remain around 80, however, be prepared to see some launching through mullet schools or rolling on the surface. Like redfish, the smaller tarpon will readily smash a shallow running Baitbuster on the surface. For the larger fish, the BFL or sinking Baitbuster works better.

Along the beaches around Ponce Inlet and Port Canaveral, there is a variety of fish following the schools of mullet and menhaden. Tarpon, snook, cobia, and sharks are always a possibility and you can catch a bluefish on nearly every cast. When targeting the blues, put a large circle hook on the rear of a topwater plug. Your hookup percentage is just as good and releasing them is much easier and less dangerous. Watch for diving pelicans to alert you to the presence of bait.



On a recent trip with my friend Capt. John Kumiski, he did battle with this large tarpon near Port Canaveral.

Free Seminar at Mosquito Creek Outdoors
This Saturday, October 10, Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka will be hosting Capt. Mark Nichols, owner and inventor of DOA Lures and Jerry McBride, associate editor of Florida Sportsman Magazine. They will be ofering a free flats fishing seminar from 1-3pm. No matter what your level of fishing experience, you will be sure to learn something new from this class. This is one seminar you don't want to miss.

New Fishing Book
I had the honor of being included in the new book by Capt. Ron Presley titled Secrets from Florida's Master Anglers (Wild Florida). This book covers all aspects of inshore and nearshore fishing in Florida and gives tips and advice from twenty professional guides. Great for beginning saltwater anglers but even those of us who fish a lot will learn new tricks from this book. It is available now at Amazon.com

Capt. Chris Myers
Central Florida Sight Fishing Charters
http://www.floridafishinglessons.com/
321-229-2848

Fishing Picks Up As Weather Cools Down

As the weather has cooled down, things have picked up the last few weeks on the water in Tampa Bay. Bait has continued to be plentiful on the flats and everything has been biting to include Snook, Redfish, Sea Trout, Spanish Mackerel, and Mangrove Snapper. Flounder, small Grass Grouper, Ladyfish, and Bluefish have also been in the mix as by-catch. All species were caught on a variety of live and artificial baits on and near the flats at Tampa's familiar haunts; however for the most variety and action in a single trip, consider targeting the numerous docks and bridges along the Suncoast…



As for tactics, Redfish succumbed to cut bait rigged on jig heads when schooled up along shorelines and near the bushes on the high tide. Snook, Mangrove Snapper, and Sea Trout inhaled free lined shrimp on a 1/0 circle hook near docks and pilings with good tidal flow, and Bluefish aggressively punished topwater plugs later in the afternoon over patchy grass flats near Ft. DeSoto. The key has been mobility - moving from spot to spot to find the fish.



For those in the know - next week marks the opening of Stone Crab Season and based a couple of scouting trips; there are gone to be a lot of delectable Stone Crab Claws come 15 October. If you are brave enough to dive in low visibility amongst the sharp and spinney things around our local bridges, you will be rewarded with delectable table fair. These dives are not for beginners nor the faint of heart, but if you find yourself frustrated after taking a pounding looking for King Mackerel, it is a phenomenal way to cool off and fill the ice box.

For more information, photos, tips, and more or to book your next saltwater adventure, contact Captain Jay Schroeder at 1-877-463-5420, visit www.cjflats.com or email reservations@cjflats.com.

Respectfully,

Capt Jay Schroeder CJ Flats Saltwater Charters
www.cjflats.com
1-877-463-5420

Apalachicola's Fantastic Fall Fishing

Richard Barton fished with Capt. Chris 9/22-9/24/09

The following fishing report was written by our very own Flats/Fly Fishing Guide, Capt. David Heinke on Tuesday Sept. 29:

Fishing Report: Now that the winds have stopped blowing from the East, we've finally found some fantastic fishing. From Sept 24 until yesterday, both trout and redfishing have been excellent. In Apalachicola Bay, all the nutrients from up north that have been washing down stream have done wonders for the bay. The benefits are now starting to show and all indications are for a superb fall fishery and bodes well for next year too.

Back to the fish, each day limits of reds and trout are almost easy. Each day we literally caught so many reds and trout, we stopped counting, but a conservative estimate would be 20-30 reds/day and at least a 100 trout! The reds have been running from 4lbs-12lbs but the bull red season is just around the corner and looking to be good. The trout are all excellent quality fish, haven't caught one under 16in and many are from 22-26in! Also in the bay are a good number of Black Drum, caught 3 on the 26th, each around 30lbs. Flounder are starting to pop back up in the mix and also the occasional school of Jack Crevalle. Off the beaches, massive schools of False Albacore (Bonita) have been reported from Apalach to Destin.

Because of the water coming downstream, clarity has been an issue--the fish don't mind, but blind casting is the successful method. However over in St Joe Bay, the water is very clear, the fishing above avg. On the 24th, I fished from Black's Island back to town and landed 16 redfish (6-8lbs) 6 of those on fly. All sight fished. Also in the mix were two 5lbs trout. For sight fishing St Joe is the way to go, but for just incredible overall "catching" Apalchicola would be hard to beat.



Richard's Girlfriend Marie!

Stripers should start to show next month and of course there is Dave's Secret Tarpon Fall Fishery that is about to start back up. In fact, hooked one just outside 10ft hole on Saturday. Wrong gear and the battle didn't last long, but a jumped Poon is a jumped Poon! That's all for now.

The weather is cooling and possibly one of the best autumns in recent history is about to happen!

Kathy Robinson
Robinson Brothers Guide Service
118 Commerce St.
Apalachicola, FL 32320
850-653-8896 or 877-6-REDFISH
www.FloridaRedfish.com

N.E. Florida Fishing Report 10-09

Ahoy there Anglers,



CREEKS:
Redfish are doing well in the creeks now. We have had some really high tides this past month. I don't like the higher tides. Sure you can go hunting for some tailing reds in the flooded grass but when they come back out of the grass they're so full of fiddlers and crabs that it's hard to get them to bite. Even our low tides have been higher than normal and when that happens the creeks that normally go dry still have water in them and the reds are still not as concentrated in the shallows where they normally are. Maybe this month will be better. Jacks are still around and using top waters on these guys are a blast.

Sheepshead are still in the creeks here and there and our best luck on them is at high tide sight fishing at them when we see their tails out of the water. We actually caught one last week that went about 11 pounds in the creeks.

Spotted trout are biting pretty good but there are a lot of shorts still and the flounder are biting a little better when you can find a patch of them. Some days they're good and some days you can't find one. This has been a terrible flounder year.



RIVERS:
Bull reds in the St. Johns make a fun day on the water. These guys can really bend a rod. Be sure to revive these fish as we want them to spawn this winter and bring us more and more of these great fighting fish. You can catch them on cut blue crabs, mullet, cut croakers or one of their favorites, live pogies

Yellow mouth trout are in a lot of locations in the rivers now but there are quite a few small ones also. Some days that's all you catch are the small ones but there are some real nice-sized ones around too. Same with the whiting.

Spotted trout along the rock banks and grass edges with structure. Bomber Long-A's, MirrOlures and Skitterwalks are working good and of course live shrimp on slip-float rigs are a favorite among anglers.

A few black drum are still in the rivers from the St. Johns to Nassau River. Quartered up blue crab or dead shrimp will get them into your boat.

There are some nice sized Mangrove snapper in the rivers this year. Great tasting fish. They'll eat dead shrimp, live shrimp and live mud minnows.

Believe it or not, there are sheepshead already biting this year in the river. A lot of small ones but some real nice ones too. We caught 16 one day and boated 33 on another.
A few flounder here and there in the rivers. Live mullet or Gulp shrimp will get you hooked up. I like the 3" Gulp in the Natural color.

Croakers are all over the river but they're still small East of downtown Jax. If you want the larger Virginia croakers now then just go South of Jax. They're catching good numbers of them around Marker 18 down towards Doctor's Lake. They're be here anytime now. They are every year. That's why I'm almost completely booked up for October and am booking for November trips too. Every year during the October, November and December the flounder, sheepshead, black drum and big croaker feast I work 6 days a week.





JETTIES:
Sheepshead are already biting out at the rocks and I hope that's a very good sign for this year's season. Usually I start targeting the sheepshead in the river in September and then at the jetties in October but we've actually been catching them in the rivers and creeks back in July and August and they're some real nice ones at the jetties already. Hard fighting fish. Loads of fun. You'll have to catch a bunch of blennys while sheepshead fishing but that's normal for this time of the year.
Bull redfish are about everywhere out at the rocks. Please be sure they can swim off. Vent them if needed.

Along with the bull reds the black drum are still out there but the numbers have slowed down. I think it's because of the warmer water again. In mentioning the water temperatures, you'll also have to contend with a few sharks at the rocks. Not many though. They're slowly leaving.
I haven't seen any ringtail porgies but I'm sure they're there by now. Black margates are being caught along with the sheepshead and they're good to eat also. They look like a cross between a black drum and a sheepshead.

Whiting should be out in the sand outside the jetties. I just haven't been targeting them but they should be there right now. Small to medium croakers out there also. On the incoming tides the mullet are going out toward the ocean and when you see thousands of them you'll see the tarpon and big jacks just tearing them up. We had two tarpon almost come into the boat
a few days ago. One hit the boat scattering the mullet and the mullet came into my boat. The larger jacks are pinning the mullet up against the South tip of the rocks on the outgoing tides.



MILL COVE:
Spotted trout and redfish are the best fish going on in the Cove now. There are a few flounder but not many has made it in the Cove this year. Yellow mouth and a few small whiting in there also.
Tarpon are still around in there though.



SURF:
Whiting and a couple of pompano here and there mixed in are biting in the surf. There are a few reports of some real nice black drum to 12 pounds in the surf along with a few redfish.

Take care, be careful and be sure to bring your trash back to the boat ramps. There's always a trash can or dumpster back at the boat ramps. Please don't let plastic bags, and paper blow out of your boats. Our waterways need all the help we can give them.

You can say what you want about the South but,
you never hear of anyone retiring and moving up North,,,

Captain Vic Tison
Co-Host of WOKV's 'Just Fishing' Radio Show, Saturdays 6:00am to 8:00am
United States Coast Guard Licensed Captain
International Game Fish Assoc. Certified Captain
Regional Director for the Florida Guides Assoc.
Member of the National Assoc. of Charterboat Operators
Member of the American Professional Captain's Association
Sponsor of The Inshore Saltwater Anglers Club

Vic2Fish & Adventures, Inc.
P O Box 28208
Jax., Fl. 32226
904-699-2285
Web Site http://vic2fish.com

Neither Captain Vic nor Vic2Fish & Adventures, Inc. claims any responsibility for any injury or loss of property arising out of any party using these Fishing Reports.

Chumming Brings Great Results

Fishing Report 09/30/2009 – Capt. Terry Frankford


Snook, redfish, seatrout, mangrove snapper - a few species caught aboard the Reelin & Chillin this past month. Bait used was mostly green backs caught in the surf just off North Lido Beach. Chumming the green backs brought great results on several trips with snook and redfish topping the list.

A Fish Tail aboard the Reelin & Chillin
With out a doubt I did have a few really great trips, however on a six hour trip with Peter Paris, and Joe Dovener the three of us had a bang up time. Things started a little slow until I cast a green back to a sandy white spot near Long Bar. The bait was out for only a couple of seconds before a nice twenty-nine inch snook picked it up. A fantastic fight considering I had only eight pound test line. Then things slowed a little until we went to a location south of the Siesta Key Bridge. We started chumming green backs and bam another snook just at twenty-nine inches hit my bait again. It's very rare for this Captain to catch two slot snook on the same day. I can catch plenty of snook, however the five inch slot limit really makes it hard to put one on the table. Well it seemed as the fishing was over for me, however Peter and Joe tore into the jack crevalle and redfish. All the reds were in the slot, and I believe these two anglers caught around six or eight. For some reason I couldn't get on a red, but hey - it's just as much fun for me seeing these two anglers having a blast as it is to catch them myself (almost).

I did a few trips to the near-shore reefs for mangrove snapper. We had no problem catching our limit of five per person. The first couple trips I used green backs for bait and the snapper loved them. Strange thing is on the last trip a few days ago they wouldn't touch a green back. Lucky for me I had several dozen live shrimp that produced our limit of snapper. These offshore mangrove snapper are a blast to catch on light tackle. They range anywhere from two to four pounds on the average, and are tasty on the table.

Chumming Live Bait - Wake em Up

First let me explain the bait:
Scaled sardine: Silver body with darker back gray, blue, or green. Body is thicker/heaver than the thread thin, making for better casting distance. The eye is twice the size as the thread thins. Scales do not easily fall off, and with a good running live well they will last all day. Easy to keep on the hook, and stays alive for quite awhile.

Thread Thin: At first glance it looks like the scaled sardine, however when compared it's easy to tell the difference. They have the silver body, however it's much thinner. It's belly is deeply curved compared to the scaled sardine. Part of the dorsal fin has what looks like a long piece of thread towards the rear, hence the name. The scales shed easily, and despite a good running live well they don't last long especially in the warmer months. Easy to throw off the hook, and dies fairly quick.

Crazy thing about these two types of bait fish is they have several names like whitebait, greenies, greenbacks - I'm not sure why, I think it's just the neighborhood you come from. After netting a few times and comparing the two you will soon know the difference, and just give them any name you come up with.

Chumming:
The reason for chumming: Fish are lazy - one bait cast close to a lazy fish may not do much, however if there are a dozen or so baits flopping around the surface the fish are likely to get excited and start feeding. Chumming live baits can be against a mangrove shoreline, into a hole, or even on your favorite grass flat.

What to use: My preferred chumming tool is a hollow whiffle ball bat that has the top cut off at an angle. A wood or rubber stopper stuffed inside towards the handle will keep bait from getting stuck down inside the handle. I grab five or ten green backs - give them a little squeeze - put them in the bat and throw them into the fishing hole. If it happens the way you want, it won't be long before you see fish snapping the surface munching down on these baits.

As a norm you have to keep chumming every few minutes or so to keep the action going. It seems that you throw a few out, you get a fish - throw a few more out you get another fish. Just keep the chumming going and you'll keep the fish active. Give it a try - you'll be glad you did.

Tight Lines & Good Times,

Capt. Terry Frankford
Reelin & Chillin Charters Inc.
941-228-7802
terry.frankford@verizon.net
www.charterfishingsarasota.com



Peter Paris and Joe Dovener with a couple nice snook