Rick Davidson (grassflats2@yahoo.com), Editor
"The RedManiac"
Things have improved dramatically over the past month, both inshore and offshore, as dropping temperatures have made things more comfortable for anglers as well. The cleaning tables at Sea Hag have been jammed with people cleaning red snappers, large gag and red grouper, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, and plenty of redfish and trout. Yesterday I spoke with a young man at the cleaning table with a 25-pound kingfish that he caught on the deep flats, in 8 feet of water while fishing for trout with a small spinning reel. They chased the fish for quite a distance before landing him. This is one of the most exciting times of year to fish the Steinhatchee area. Our guides can put you on the fish you want to catch.
Offshore Charter Captains
Captain Wiley Horton, www.tunersportfishing.com The water temperature continues to decline as the month rolls along, the surface temp has dropped five degrees in the last week. The kingfish have showed up in force, chasing the bait pods to the south. Red snapper are beginning to move farther offshore, and they should be available until the season closes on November 1. Keep in mind that there could be a limit reduction coming as NMFS attempts to restore snapper stocks next year. The gag bite is coming around as well, we've caught a few on dead bait lately, which is a good sign. When the chilly water finally sends the bait packing, the gags will start to chew in earnest. The grouper fishing from November through May is as good as it gets on the Big Bend and my favorite time to fish. We should have the kings and cobia around for a few more weeks to make the inshore fishing fun as well. A couple of drone spoons on planers is a great way to add some cold water kings to your catch. Some fine ‘snappas’ in the photos…..
Captain Brian Smith, www.bigbendcharters.com
Well, now I’m happy to report, the grouper fishing has vastly improved. I’ve had the best grouper fishing of 2006 occur since the beginning of October. It is difficult to express how happy it makes me. Over the past couple of weeks we are bringing back a dozen or so keeper grouper per trip. Both red and gag grouper are being taken on live pinfish and cut bait. Pinfish has been the most consistent bait. We are also bringing in some kingfish and cobia. Huge Florida snapper are being added in to make a good looking box of fish. If you haven’t had a plate of fresh Florida snapper lately, do yourself a favor and take an hour out of your offshore day to catch a mess of them over any hard bottom area. They are delicious.
Captain Walt Carlson, www.captainwalt.com Offshore grouper fishing is my specialty, but I also have an airboat, which is great for wintertime inshore fishing in very shallow water. Recently I have been fishing some creeks to the south of the Steinhatchee River using mostly live bait (pinfish and live shrimp) and have found some very nice redfish, with slot-sized trout near the mouths of the creeks. I’ve also had some luck with Gulp! baits under Equalizers, especially the New Penny color. The redfishing in the creeks will only get better as the temperatures drop and the wintertime tides (shallower during the daytime) come into play. Most recently, the grouper bite has steadily improved and by the third week in October, it’s been excellent over the past week, especially on my favorite bait, threadfin herring. Kings have also been around; we’ve been catching them on live bait. This is my favorite time of the year to fish, either inshore or offshore. I’ll have some pictures to post next month!
Inshore Charter Captains
The trout action has been excellent either very shallow or really deep--little ones in between 3 and 6 feet of water. The sand trout action is 'on' with many in the 16 to 18-inch bracket. Fish the deep holes around the sand bars both north and south of the river mouth. Redfish action is still the hottest game in town with many over 3-feet long!
Captain Tommy Thompson, www.flanaturecoast.com/capttommy
I had the pleasure of taking two outdoor writers fishing this month. Polly Dean is writing an article for Florida Game & Fish magazine on trout fishing in Steinhatchee. We had a fine day on the water, fishing primarily near shore, and caught a number of slot trout and smaller redfish. Jimmy Jacobs is working on an article for Saltwater Fly Fishing on cold-water fly-fishing for trout. We had a very good day as well, fishing in creeks and creek mouths for redfish, but found a large number of smaller trout as well. The topwater bite continues to be best in early morning on lower tides, but it will move to later in the day as the water temperatures drop. While the ‘gator’ trout have not moved into the shallows consistently, that will happen next month. Currently there are fine slot-sized trout over patchy bottom in 3-5 feet, easily catchable with DOA or Gulp shrimp. Fishing with the report editor, Rick Davidson, we found a number of nice cobia around the Steinhatchee markers, with the largest landed over 25 pounds.
Captain Rick Bouley, www.naturecoastflatsfishing.com/
The month of October began with daytime falling tides, slightly cooler water, light winds, and clear skies…the right formula for some great sight fishing with a fly rod. Top water foam-lip "Gurgler" style flies worked really well for both reds and trout. As the tides increased, and more turtle grass appeared on the surface, switching to slightly heavier sinking type flies (colorful bendbacks, super Clousers, and large deceivers) seemed to be the order of the day. Some of the best fishing has been across the bottom of the extreme low tides, where the redfish schools were easy to spot and very aggressive on the take if you didn't spook them with your fly -line.... In these very low water situations bulky flies that suspend just under the surface and presented in a stealthy manner were quite effective. Numerous days around the full moon produced in excess of 20 slot-size and larger trout and reds caught on fly.
For those who care to pursue our migrating inshore fish (bluefish, Spanish, ladyfish, jacks) they have been abundant north of the channel. Look for the birds working bait...it doesn't much matter what you throw at them as long as you move it as fast as you can. Flounder action continues to be excellent with lots of 14" to 16" fish being taken in the sandy bottom trenches. The DOA Terror-eyz in "root beer" or "gold and black" bounced along the bottom has been most effective.
