Snappers Are Snapping in September
Capt. Paul Roydhouse
October 7, 2018
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
Snappers Are Snapping in September
We're having an awesome month of snapper fishing on the reefs of Fort Lauderdale. Yellowtails, yelloweyes, mangroves, vermillion and mutton snappers are, well... they're snapping! October is traditionally one of the best months for snapper fishing in south Florida and this month is no different. The past 3 weeks have been non-stop snappers and it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.
On the daytime drift fishing trips, we're getting into the deep water snappers such as vermillion and yelloweye. These fish are caught anywhere from 200-400ft of water, right smack dab on the bottom. They bite the best on squid, cut bonito, ballyhoo chunks and sardines. We have some special spots that when the current and conditions line up, the snappers really bite exceptionally well. And when we are dropping on the deep spots, we sometimes catch some pretty crazy other fish. Porgies, jacks, groupers, tilefish and even sharks. You never know what you will catch dropping down to those depths.
Daytime is also good for the yellowtails and mangroves in shallower waters. When the current is off-the-scale or the conditions are not good for deep dropping, fishing in shallow can yield some pretty good snapper catches too. This month especially, the shallow water snappers bite really, really good. You can fish in as shallow as 25ft or water and get some good yellowtail and mangrove action. At times, we may even get some of the bigger groupers we have off Fort Lauderdale. Black grouper and red groupers are not unheard of and some of them reach 25-30 pounds. Cobia, a less common fish to catch, migrates through out waters during the next few months. You never know when a cobia may jump on a bait. They always bite when you least expect them to.
If the heat of the day is not your thing, night fishing may be for you. Nights offer cooler temperatures and less boats out on the water fishing the spots, so less competition for fish. Snappers are traditionally nocturnal feeders and throughout the year, night is generally the best time to catch them. With the good daytime fishing, there is less of an emphasis that you must go fishing at night, but night is still the king for snapper fisherman. At night we anchor and chum, the best technique at night. We chum heavily and draw the fish to us. At night, yellowtails and mangroves come out of the woodwork to search and hunt for food, so they are willing to travel long distances to get their dinner. When they are out hunting, they just can't resist our chum slick. It's like when you're driving down the street and you smell some good food cooking and you get all hungry. Same way the chum works. It just calls them right in. At night, we're pulling in tons of yellowtails, mangroves, grunts, porgies and a few groupers. On certain nights, the muttons are biting good and we get some of them too. Night snapper fishing in October is really, really good and the best bite we'll have until we get into the Spring months.
No matter when you fish, the snapper action is generally good to great during the October fishing months. Good luck to everyone fishing this month. I'll sea ya on the water.
Capt. Andy Roydhouse
www.FishHeadquarters.com
754-214-7863
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