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Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
October 18, 2005
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
October ushers in good action on gulf
Up and down Florida’s west coast the month of October is well-known as the kick off to the fall kingfish season that usually peaks sometime in November. These toothy ferocious speedsters are the largest member of the mackerel family commonly growing to sizes exceeding fifty pounds. If you’re looking for some non-stop rod bending action, the king of mackerels should exceed your expectations.
October is also a great time for catching many other species of fish on the gulf. In fact, if the weather cooperates it can be some of the best fishing of the year. You name it, and if it swims in the gulf, there’s a good chance that it can be caught during October.
Following is a fishing forecast of some of the species that anglers can expect to catch this month.
- King mackerel schools should start showing up anytime. There’s all sorts of fishing techniques used to fish for them. To locate migrating schools try trolling #5 king spoons behind planning boards. Those anglers looking for the bigger kings often fish with live baits. Areas around shipwrecks and the artificial reefs will often hold the larger fish. Blue runners are a hardy bait fish and the big kings love them.
- Spanish mackerel should get thick in numbers this month. A local favorite on the grill, Spanish mackerel can offer some of the fastest non-stop fishing action I know of. Free-lined live pilchards will drive them crazy, making an excellent bait.
- Grouper fishing, especially for gag groupers should improve this month. Between the cooling water temperatures, and all the storms that shook up the gulf last month, I’m expecting the grouper fishing to get red hot in October. Grouper fishing is basically bottom fishing, so put some lead on and send your bait to the bottom. Anchoring the boat over structure such as rock ledges is the key to catching some nice gags.
- Snapper are also a sought after species on the Gulf. The same bottom areas that hold grouper will often harbor snapper. In fact, last week we were fishing in about 90' of water. The grouper bite had slowed so we were in the process of moving to a new spot. I always watch the bottom machine when moving from hole to hole. Anyway I noticed a heck of a show of fish on the bottom. We turned around marked the new spot with the jug, and then anchored directly over it. The next thing you know we were pulling big mangrove snapper over the rails. This particular flume of snapper was so thick that it showed on the fish-finder 40' feet off the bottom.
- Blackfin tuna normally make a pretty good showing in October. Best bet to catch them will be to start looking in at least 100' of water. Look for action near the surface. The two methods that have worked for me in the past are trolling spoons and lures, and casting live baits. If you see jumping tuna, cast out free-lined live baits and drift fish the area.
- Cobia are a local favorite, and hopefully in the next few weeks we should start seeing schools of them as they migrate south. Cobia can be rather cautious at times, but will usually fall for a well presented live bait such as a grunt or pinfish.
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