SEPTEMBER 2021 Fishing Report and OCTOBER Forecast

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Capt. Rick Davidson, Editor (grassflats2@yahoo.com)

 

Fishing Report SEPTEMBER 2021

Well, scallop season is over, and it’s time for those who live for fishing to get out on the water. A mild cold front came through and helped lower the water temp, but there’s more to come and things will only get better. We had some tournaments this month, and lots of redfish late in the month. A special thanks to all those that came out for the trash tournament; we filled our dumpster! Here are some pics from this month at the Sea Hag.

To view a full-sized version of an image, simply click on any one of these smaller versions!

 

 

OCTOBER Forecast

In my opinion, October into mid-November are some of the best months to get on the water. It’s comfortable, the water is clearing after the summer rains, baitfish are migrating, and the fish are more active. The bite inshore will pick up when the water temp gets closer to the low 70’s. The floating grass will gradually disappear. Redfish will be schooling and not that hard to find, and larger trout will begin roaming the shorelines early in the morning looking for food, and retreating as the sun rises. Work toward the shorelines very quietly in early mornings and if possible, fish topwaters or suspending plugs. Look slightly offshore for possible schools of redfish and approach them very quietly. If the temps stay down, trout will be moving onto the shallow flats. Find areas of pinfish and mixed grass and sand. Fish with jigs, with Gulp shrimp, or live shrimp under popping corks. Always throw near sand holes in the flats for trout. Inshore fishing should be excellent by the end of the month.

 

Offshore, look for the pelagic species, kingfish, Spanish mackerel and cobia, to be taken in larger numbers. Near and offshore structure is a great place to fish for all of these. Steinhatchee Reef or deeper areas around Little Bank or Nine-Mile Bank are always a decent place to start, trolling spoons or jigs through bait schools or anchoring on structure with live bait on the top for kings and on the bottom for cobia. Gag and red grouper are available, and this is the last month amberjack are open until next year. Although most people consider them an inshore species, some of the biggest flounder of the year are taken in the sand around offshore structure, so don’t hesitate to throw down a shrimp on the bottom if you can get it past the black sea bass and Florida snapper, but this is only until the 15th of October when the season closes.

There are two tournaments scheduled this month:

October 9th and 10th is the North Florida Redfish Open Fishing Tournament, and October 16th is the Nautigirls tournament, one of the most subscribed tournaments of the year. Ladies get to bring a male boatboy, but otherwise it’s woman against woman for the prizes. Great fun for all, so make sure to come down even if you aren’t fishing.

Don’t forget that we have the best rental boats in the area, lots of tackle, rods, reels, live and frozen bait, and the most helpful staff anywhere in the Big Bend. Let’s get out on the water this beautiful month.

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