fall fishing report

Capt. John Fischbach
October 6, 2011
Tarpon Springs - Saltwater Fishing Report

Hello fellow sportsmen,

I was cautious to file this fishing report but I am finally convinced that autumn is here and our Fishing, Inshore and Nearshore will get good to red hot when conditions are right, and the stars aligned!
To start Inshore, our Redfish are schooling with the cooler water temperatures and shorter days and they will soon be spawning on the flats from mid-September to October and be feeding heavily with the upcoming winter approaching. Snook are now in transition from our barrier islands east to the spoil islands, our Rivers, Bayou's, and creek mouths. The catch and release fishing this summer was great and really thrilling! The bigger tarpon have migrated on and back to their normal homes but there are still good opportunities for juvenile tarpon from 5 to 30 lbs, which are generally around the river mouths and deep water residential canals plus deep water channels. These smaller more acrobatic versions offer the same excitement as the mature fish without all the hard work and non-ending battles, especially using snook and redfish tackle. The keeper size to the gator sea trout will begin to return to the shallow flats and inshore structure with the cooler water temp's and are looking to feed on the pilchard hatch returning inshore. We are always on the lookout for big stingrays that could have a torpedo sized cobia riding on their backs. These big brown clown's will be moving back south with stop-overs up and down the Florida Gulf coast, feeding strongly on their voyage.
Nearshore the good sized Spanish mackerel are already feeding heavily on the artificial reefs and wrecks. Their big brothers, the awesome smoker Kingfish, will be on their heels. There are already some reports of the lone big fish skyrocketing schools of bait on the FL Central Gulf coast. Cobia will also show and feed in these situations. Slow trolling with a good chum block tied of your stern or anchored on good structure is a good bet and there also will be good snapper and grouper fishing with the mangrove snapper spawn on and the gag-grouper migration to shallower waters.
Fall fishing is much better than a lot of people realize and they only think that spring time is fish-time. I prefer the fall to spring spring actually as it is more predictable. So if you have the time and love the water and outdoors as I do give us a shout! E-mail at [email protected] or call (727-376-8809) for more information and book a great memory.
Do yourself a favor and take a kid fishing.
Tight line's bent-rod's,
Capt. Rich Knox
http://www.captrichknox.com

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