Well, I keep thinking that that fall has arrived only to have the temps heat up again. The air temps may be warmer than usual but the water temps have dropped a good bit from their bathtub like temps of a few weeks ago. The cooler water temps have the fish happy for the most part and that has me happy for the most part as well.
Snook:
I don’t know if snook are still on the beach or not because I haven’t checked there for them but they are everywhere else for sure. They are spread out on the flats and there are concentrations of them near the mouths of creeks and rivers. They’ve been eating pretty well on the last part of the incoming tide. We’ve been using greenbacks under corks near the mangroves for them.
Redfish seem to be a little more confused by this weather than the snook do. One day you’ll get into them real good and the very next day they vanish. This should be the time of year where they begin to group up in large schools again but the constant change in the weather, from hot to cold and cold to hot, seems to have them unsure of what time of year it is. With that said, we’re still getting some nice fish on low water near some area sand bars but we’re not getting into the numbers of them that we should be. I look for that to change if things will cool off for a spell.
Trout:
The cooler water temps have brought back some huge trout. There are still tons of smaller trout but on my boat we had several trout over 22″ this week with one being 27″. Look for these big specks to start showing up in great numbers once the water temps stabilize in the 68-72 degree range. They’ll be even thicker if the water temps drop below that. The bigger fish are coming from 4′ of water or less right now and all the 14″-16″ fish are coming in 6′-8′ feet of water over open grass flats.
Best of the rest:
Mackerel are still putting on a show on the near shore artificial reefs and area passes. There has also been a push of cobia showing up near the artificial reefs as well. Mangrove snapper are still biting strong on any structure you can find from 5′-25′ of water.
You’ll have to stay on your toes to find bait. All these weather changes affect them to a great degree. You’re just going to have to do some running around to find it from time to time. But when you do find it, you should be able to load up on nice sized baits. So if you’re only finding the small stuff, move. There’s plenty of good sized sardines out there right now, you just might have to do some work to get them.
Forecast:
Next week we should have some higher water in the mornings in the Tarpons Springs/Clearwater/New Port Richey areas and it looks liek we’ll have more stable temperatures. This should prove to be a more consistent and productive week for redfish for sure. The trout bite may not improve too much as the big girls may not show up in great numbers if it stays warm but you should be able to pick through the small ones to get your limit this week. Focus your efforts for snook near creek and river mouths near the top of the tide.
Recent Comments