By Jimmy Tomazinis
mail@floridanewsline.com
Ah, October … one of my favorite months to fish. We finally get some cooler weather and all the fish are filling up on the end of the warm season’s bounty. It also seems that more than half the summertime crowds vacate our waterways for different activities. Need I say more?
Shrimping should still be at its peak this month with the number-to-size ratio being the best before catering towards size as their numbers dwindle into December. I have had some great days in November and December, but that’s never a sure thing so make sure you stock up while you can.
At the same time all the fish that have been eating shrimp all summer will be stocking up on the last of the shrimp too, especially the stripers. They’ve grown a lot from the beginning of summer and with the water temperatures cooling they will be different animals. Look for them around their usual haunts such as bridges and deeper docks.
Further down river, past downtown, the bull redfish congregate on the deep-dredged channel edges to spawn this time of year. While it’s a much more consistent fishery there, we do have some bull reds push into our part of the river occasionally, so if you’re feeling lucky it might be worth looking around a bit and soaking some crab or mullet on a few of our drop offs and ledges.
Mullet should still be moving through in the river and along the beaches. They give us such great opportunities to target some larger fish like tarpon and jacks really close to shore. If nothing else, it’s still a spectacle when the stars align and you happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Transitioning to the surf, I can’t forget the pompano and whiting fishing that is really good this month. As I’ve stressed before, when surf fishing you can’t be too tied to a certain spot, but rather certain conditions. Try to find the clean water first then find your troughs and runouts. It will be much more worth your time. Sand fleas, clam, and fresh shrimp got you covered for the whiting and pompano. Throw a mullet out there too if you’re looking for something bigger and remember, it doesn’t have to be far. Good luck, stay safe, and tight lines.
