Summer Season almost over Fall around the corner
Capt. John Rivers
August 21, 2015
Pensacola - Saltwater Fishing Report
The 2015 summer vacation season is in the books, the kids are headed back to school, and now it's time to get a few maintenance things done on the boat and trailer and reorganize the tackle and get ready for fall fishing.
Although the 2015 summer vacation season is over, summer is not and I'll still be on the water some this month both running trips and fun fishing. First, let me describe the past two months for a minute. July and August were two very hot months this year and it seemed hotter than usual. I can't remember when we had this many days with heat indexes of 105 to 115. Even though it was crazy hot outside, I still managed to put some nice trout and some redfish in the ice chest.
I had to start early most days at 5am. I even ran some very late afternoon trips and a few night trips for trout and reds. Those night trips are a lot of fun, but having a morning trip the next day can be a bit exhausting, but we had some great trips, so it was all worth the lack of sleep.
About 8 years ago I changed up my inshore business to be geared more specifically on inland fishing. I mostly bring my clients on the flats and inland waters chasing trout, reds and other fun species that cruise the flats. I seldom venture out into the gulf too far, just from time to time when the water is dead calm, as I won't take my clients out where it gets too bouncy, which can ruin their trip. One nice thing about fishing the flats all year long and even in July and August is I pretty much had the pattern down and knew where most of the good fishing was more often than not. Of course, there were a few days that I would scratch my head, but you can't crush them everyday. If you could it would be called catching instead of fishing. When the weather and water conditions allowed for it, I would venture out into the gulf and chase Spanish.
These trips are ideal especially if I had really small kids on board who couldn't cast well or work artificials well, and if the family wanted a sight seeing trip along with a fishing trip. These trips are a lot of fun as they can see dolphins, enjoy a fun boat ride, and catch fish all at the same time. Also it's a nice break sometimes to mix things up and see different areas.
As for how the fishing was in both July and August, it was astounding! In July I had a some 25 to 30 trout days and even caught some nice big fish over 22" which for July is not bad especially for how hot it was.
As August came around the trout bite was off and on and then really on. A few factors came into play, including rain, heat and tidal flow. The past few days, I did take a break from the flats and I chased Spanish off the beaches and in the pass. It was decent fishing with a few fish in the 3 lb range.
What's to come next?
September and October can be good months for inshore fishing. Again, knowing the patterns of the fish is vital and you only get this knowledge by fishing a lot. Also watching the tides is very important. September is also a hot month, so starting early is a must or fishing very late afternoons into the evening. Another important factor is to find clean water and work baits slowly similar to winter fishing. During this very hot weather a lot of fish feed at night, but to get the bites in the daytime, slowing down the presentation can really be a good presentation.
During the middle of September and near the end of the month, King Mackerel show up in the bays, and this is often a perfect opportunity to hook a monster king without having to travel offshore. Live bait is the key, and usually a menhaden or live white trout will get you bowed up quite efficiently.
October is a great month for trout and reds on the flats as the water start to cool and the fish start to make their move towards the upper bay areas.
A lot of people ask what types of lures I use.
Here are a few lures I have in my tackle box.
1. MirrOlure's 17MR and 18MR in a variety of colors. I've been throwing these lures for over 15 years and have put many good trout in the boat.
2. MirrOlure's top water baits from the Topdog to the Jr's work well in specific conditions.
3. Soft Plastics including Matrix and ZMan Baits are the two I put on my boat. Both have produced some very nice catches. I just started using the Matrix baits and I have to say they work very well for reds and trout in various conditions.
Again, thanks for stopping by hope you enjoyed the report.
Remember that September and October are good months inshore for all species and don't forget about the annual fall redfish run that kicks off right around Nov 1st. I'm already getting booking and November is filling up so if you want a fishing trip of a lifetime, give me a shout.
Tight Lines.. John
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