Great Weather, Not so Great Fishing

This angler named Dave caught a 16-inch flounder at the T-dock just one day before the season closed on them.

Good morning all you fishing fanatics, hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, the weather was great! Fishing not so much, but great weather. Todays report is going to be a bit short as not too much has been happening at the inlet as a whole due to the very dirty and tannin-stained water flowing out of the intercoastal and mixing with the silted-up ocean water, and the lack of mullet to keep things happening. There are mullet around, but just not thick as they were in previous weeks. There are fish around but you have to hunt for them, or just put in some time and wait them out for the cleaner water. The water temperatures have dropped down some to more of where they should be this time of year also. 78-80 is what is showing along the coast now, also with the NNW winds the ocean swell will be pretty calm, and should allow it to clean up some more. Bluefish, jack crevalle, snook, ladyfish, redfish and flounder are the species I saw caught over the weekend, but they were scattered everywhere. And remember folks, flounder are CLOSED from October 15th to November December 1st when they open back up. So here we go with the action spots.

North Jetty

ver here the action has been kind of slow, but there are several species being caught, and mostly on the cleaner incoming tide, as the outgoing has too much fresh water in it for the fish’s likings. Beach side they were catching some nice spanish mackerel on live greenies freelined or with a small bobber to keep the bait on top. Most were in the 14-18 inch range. Bluefish and jack crevalles and lady fish make up the others being caught on the beach side. Any bait of artifical lure will work for them. The bluefish were in the 13-15 inch range. Also I did see some small 15-16 inch black drum caught on Saturday on live and dead shrimp. It’s getting to be that time of year for them to move in along with the sheepshead as the water cools down some more. Also if the water cleans up some more with the cooler temps, the pompano should show up again. They like it to be in the 75-78 degree range. Cut shrimp, sand fleas and fish bites will do the trick for them.

Also on the incoming tide both Saturday and Sunday there was a pretty good snook bite on live shrimp, BUT most of them were under sized, and a lot of them were of the smaller species we do see this time of the year that never will get big enough to keep. Most people don’t know it but we have five different species of snook in Florida, the common snook, which is what we catch all the time and are the biggest species in the Atlantic, the smaller ones we see in the winter months are the small scaled fat snook, large scale fat snook, tarpon snook, and the rarest of them the Sword spine snook, which is mostly a brackish water fish, but they do come out in the inlet when the water gets bad in the river. There are 12 species of snook in the world, 6 species in the Atlantic, and 6 in the Pacific, with the black snook being the largest of the snook species. A little snook education for you all. Moving on.

South Jetty

Over here it has been an incoming tide bite only for the snook and redfish along the entire jetty shoreline. Live baits, pinfish, pigfish, shrimp and mullet are doing the trick. Most of the fish have been undersized, but there are some nice slot sized fish being caught. There have also been some nice catch and release redfish being caught too. Outgoing tide on the beach side in the pocket area there have been some nice flounder showing up for those fishing small finger mullet. Quite a few small ones too. I spoke with a friend of mine who was able to catch a nice 24 inch flounder last week! Also note, flounder are closed from October 15th to December 1st, when they open back up. Also there have been reports of some pompano around in the clean water. Not to mention the pesky catfish and some small nurse sharks as well. At the tip they are catching some nice bluefish and jack crevalle on cut baits and artificials.

T-Dock area

Fishing back here has been kind of a hit and miss deal, with middle of the cleaner incoming tide being the time you want to be here. Small mangrove snapper, and undersized mutton snappers are still being caught around the dock pilings on live and dead greenies, which are plentiful back here. Spanish mackerel and some bluefish are being caught as well for those tossing small artificial jigs and spoons to the channel area. The snook bite back here has been kind of off for the most part, both night and daytime periods. Not much happening. Another species I did see caught back here was a very nice 16 inch flounder caught on Saturday! Live greenie did the trick for that lucky angler. With the water continuing to cool down, they will be on the prowl, it is the time of year for them to show. Also note, flounder are CLOSED from October 15th to December 1st where they will open back up!

Surf Area, both sides

When the water is a bit cleaner there have been reports of some nice pompano being caught, along with some nice whiting. Cut shrimp and fish bites are doing the trick for them. Also, bluefish and spanish mackerel are being caught for those fishing with silver spoons and small swim baits. Also the blues will bite cut bait. If you are lucky enough to find some mullet in the surf, snook, reds and tarpon are a good possibility. Cast netted mullet and medium to large swim baits will entice a bite. Also to note that it is the time of the year for the sharks to be around as well, blacktips, spinners and Bull sharks are always around following the schools of mullet, so you may also encounter them!

So there you go my fishing friends. It’s not a lot, but it is something to keep us fired up. As the waters continue to clean up, and cool down the action will get better. This week is supposed to be much cooler than it has been since April, and the winds mostly NNW, we should see the water cool down more and get our “cool water” species going good. Grab your gear, some bait and find your favorite “spot in the sun” and enjoy the day, and catch some fish!

Snookman.