Capt. Rick Davidson, Editor (grassflats2@yahoo.com)
SEPTEMBER 2023 FISHING REPORT
The Sea Hag Marina is open!! Idalia was a crushing blow to Steinhatchee and the Big Bend, but our staff and the community turned things around in an amazingly short period of time. People provided free food for us, we redirected our annual Trash Tournament to helping people with storm damage to their homes and yards, and there are more people than we can possibly thank. We’re open for business again, and the fishing looks to be unaffected by the hurricane. Gag grouper season is open until November and recreational harvest of red snapper will now be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the months of September, October and November as well as Labor Day and Thanksgiving day. There have been great catches both inshore and offshore, our forklift is working, and our rental boats and accommodations are also available. While the fishing time has been limited, here are a few pictures from this month.
FISHING FORECAST FOR OCTOBER 2023
The fall brings in some of the best fishing months of the year. After a long hot summer, the lower temperatures will bring fish onto the flats and they’ll be hungry. Redfish are starting to school, with the overslot fish gathering before migrating offshore to complete their lifecycle. Trout fishing will be partially dependent on the water salinity but should improve; with a lot of fresh water inshore, the trout tend to stay out in deeper water, but as soon as the salinity improves they’ll come onto the flats. The fact is that fishing is always a little weird after a hurricane; at one point after a storm came through, people were catching red and mutton snapper on rocks in 8 to 10 feet of water. Don’t count on that, though. There should also be migrating pelagics starting now; kingfish, Spanish mackerel and cobia will be in the migrating bait pods. It’s usually a fantastic month.
Here is a list of the reshuffled tournament schedule, and some information about the Inshore Slam tournament and the Santa Fe Volleyball Tournament.
And finally, we have a new addition to the Hag family. Greatest congratulations to Kevin and Chaeli Harden on the birth of their son Kix, who apparently consciously waited until the winds had died down before he decided to meet everyone.
