Capt. Rick Davidson, Editor (grassflats2@yahoo.com)
October 2023 Fishing Report
Despite challenging conditions later in the month, fall fishing was well underway in October. Early in the month there were some very successful tournaments and the weather was great. During the last ten days wind and typical mid-day extreme low tides made getting around a little dicey, but the fish were there and ready to eat when you could get out. Here are some pics from this past month’s fishing trips.
November Fishing Report
This should be another great month. Baitfish will continue to flood our area. Trout are being found almost everywhere, but look for mixed areas of grass and sand in 3 to 4 foot depths. Areas west of Dallus Creek, near the Bird Rack, the Doghead area to the north, and the flats between Rocky Creek and Sink Creek are great places to try. Many are scoring with Gulp shrimp fished on jigs beneath Cajun Thunder or popping corks. Suspending plugs such as the Live Target Spanish Sardine, MirroOlure MirrOdines XL, and Paul Brown Lures have all been taking nice trout and redfish in waters less than five feet in depth, and on less windy days, now is a great time to throw topwater plugs in the shallows nearshore. Moving off a little further out, to the nearshore bars such as Little Bank, look for bait pods and expect to find everything there…..trout, mackerel, kingfish, cobia….and sometimes even schools of bull redfish. Offshore, gag grouper are still the target of choice, but gag season closes November 11. Red grouper, cobia and kingfish are available, and the expanded red snapper season looks like this:
November 3–5
November 10–12 (Veterans Day Weekend)
November 17–19
November 23–26 (Thanksgiving Weekend)
Near the end of the month, if we get some severe cold fronts, slow down your presentation no matter what you are fishing with. This is really a great time to get out there and fish. Rent one of our rental boats and we’ll put you on some fish, or contact one of our guides to get some local knowledge.
Event-wise, it’s a busy month. The Santa Fe Raiders Inshore Slam tournament was postponed until November 4th. For more information, go to this link:
The Sips and Sunsets event is being held that same weekend. Live music throughout the Hatch, it kicks off on Friday night at the Sea Hag. For more information, go here:
The 17th and 18th Sea Hag will host the Florida Redfish Series Championship, and on the 24th there’s a Secret Santa Poker Run and Parade. Lots going on this month, along with great fishing, so get yourselves on out to the marina and have some fall fun.
