Rick Davidson (grassflats2@yahoo.com), Editor
"The RedManiac"
The cold weather has really revitalized the offshore fishing. Large numbers of grouper, red snapper, kingfish and amberjack have been brought in to the cleaning tables this month, along with plenty of Florida snapper and black sea bass. Inshore, the redfish are schooling and hungry in the shallows and the trout will be moving off the flats and into the creeks and rivers as the temperatures drop. Serious inshore fishermen know that the cold temperatures mean the best trout fishing of the year, but more than any other time of year, this fishing requires knowing patterns and areas to fish. This is a great time of year to book one of our guides and learn some new tricks…
Inshore Charter Captains
Captain Randall Hewitt, www.naturcoastfishing.com
I’ve had some fine action on the flats recently. Fishing between Rock Point and the bird rack, I have caught some nice reds and trout, by locating and fishing around the larger schools of mullet. A Berkley Gulp! shrimp under a Cajun Thunder cork with a 30 lb. mono leader is all one needs for some great action. I also highly recommend the Mirrolure Catch 2000 plug in any color. This suspending series of plugs are perfect for fishing the shallow water. This is the time of the year to find that Gator trout you’ve been looking for. The Sea Hag Marina has a large selection of the Catch 2000 and other Mirrolures and Berkley Gulp! baits, and in fact there is a big holiday sale on tackle coming up after Thanksgiving. GOOD LUCK AND TIGHT LINES!!
Captain Steve Rassel, www.lastcastrass.com
This past month, while the action has been inconsistent at times, the fish have been bigger. While limits were common last month, the limits are harder to come by now but the fish are on average 3 inches bigger for the trout…and in fact we’re catching more fish on the top side of the slot that are released. Redfish action is still very good; the fish are up against the shore line and grass and rocky points when the water is high and move to the pot holes as the water gets skinny. Sand trout action has been very productive with plenty in the 16-inch range. There are still a few bluefish and mackerel around the deeper drop offs but most of the blues have been small. My hot bait continues to be the Berkley Gulp! in pearl white or shrimp colors.
Captain Rick Bouley, www.naturecoastflatsfishing.com
I had the pleasure of fishing Gary and Lisa Jennings of Fly-Fishing in Saltwater Magazine for a couple of days in late October. The first day was overcast with a lot of water on the flats which created an extremely challenging situation for sight fishing with a fly rod, but with some exceptional casting and maneuvering of the fly by Gary we were able to hook up a couple of 5 to 6 lb reds. We fished again two days later with much more favorable conditions and lower water, which enabled us to see the fish as they were waking along in the shallows. We landed a dozen or so slot and larger size trout with some ladyfish, jacks and bluefish thrown in for good measure. All of the fish fell victim to a variety of Enrico Puglisi flies. After that trip, weather and travel kept me off the water until the 8 th of the month. The full moon morning falling tide along with a steady wind worked to push most of the water off the flats and created some excellent sight fishing for both trout and reds in the shallow pockets, holes and grassy edges. The following day I fished fellow GOFC member Ross McElroy. We left the dock around 7AM and ran into Porpoise Creek to catch the falling tide and fish our way out. After catching some nice fish in the creek, we worked our way out to one very shallow area to the north, where we proceeded to land 14 trout over 20" with the largest 25" and 5 lbs. We lost one huge fish, which seemed to dwarf the 5-pounder we had just landed. It is great to see the large trout up in the shallows once again. We also landed a dozen or so redfish with several weighing over 5 lbs. Most of the fish were taken on topwaters, with some hitting DOA Terror-Eyz and Baitbusters.
Captain Tommy Thompson, www.flanaturecoast.com/capttommy
We’ve really had a fine month fishing the very shallow water for redfish. Fishing with Rick Davidson, we fished a small redfish tournament in the middle of the month and put our first 6-pounder in the boat by 7:20 in the morning. We caught a total of one seven-pounder, two 6-pounders, and 3 five-pounders, all before noon. We were fishing nothing but topwaters and drifting over shallow flats south of the river, casting to areas of rock grass and sand from long distances. Remember when fishing very shallow water, especially when it’s as clear as the beautiful flats at Steinhatchee, you have to have maximum distance on your casts because fish in the shallows are very spooky and will move away from any noise or shadows. We use 8-foot rods and light line to give us the longest casts possible with our spinning reels. The trout are also present on the flats, although the grass near the river that holds pinfish is starting to die back. Further away from the river it’s holding up well, though, and keeper trout are plentiful right now. The winter pattern is coming, with trout heading for the slightly warmer temperatures in the rivers and larger creeks. It should be a fantastic winter ahead for inshore fishing. There are also lots of pretty nice ladyfish on the flats for lucky anglers. Most are caught while trout fishing, but they're fun and worth the effort!
Offshore Charter Captains
Captain Brian Smith, www.bigbendcharters.com
‘Knot head’ sea bass are covering hard bottom areas southwest of the number one channel marker in 30-45 of water. What type of bait? Any meat will do…including Spam. Bop around the hard spots and you’re sure to render up the finest fish dinner the Gulf has to offer. Grouper are doing well between 55 and 70 feet. Drag plugs across the rocks or drop live bait to invite them to well on your diner table. Frozen bait is adequate but live bait is better…but getting more scarce. Pinfish aren’t as prolific on the grass flats as they were four weeks ago. It takes time to gather a tank full. Squirrelfish (sand perch) are easier to produce on sand bottom from 20-35 feet. Luckily, the Sea Hag Marina usually has live pinfish and this can save you some time. Kingfish are still plundering around so trolling may provide you a ripping drag or at least set back a free-lined bait off the stern while grouper fishing.
Captain Walt Carlson, www.captainwalt.com
