By Jimmy Tomazinis
mail@floridanewsline.com
Usually by the time September rolls around, I have already made at least one comment to my wife about how I’m ready for some cooler weather. It’s not that I don’t enjoy summer, it’s just that eventually the heat and humidity gets old and some change would be nice. September typically doesn’t bring relief for that, especially lately. While we are waiting for a temperature shift to cue us into seasonal changes, the fish have already been noticing. Days have been growing shorter since the summer solstice and one day of wind with a northerly component can set off large movements of baitfish and their predators to areas south of here.
The mullet run is one of the larger and more obvious of these movements. Even if you’re not into fishing, you can spend an evening on the beach watching this migration through September and into October. Tarpon, sharks and dolphins all seem to have more energy when mullet are on the menu and they can really put on a show right off the beach. Closer to home the mullet will be moving into the river. These mullet have to go north before they go south, so this run can extend into November. Tarpon, jacks, and redfish will take up the antagonist role for the local mullet schools.
If you’re looking to net shrimp for dinner then September and October are going to be your best months for that on average. These shrimp have traveled south of Palatka and fattened up all the way down and back. With the numbers we saw earlier this year we have the foundations of a decent shrimp run. The only wrench or two that may lessen the chances are: one, a large rain event such as a tropical storm or hurricane and two, an algae bloom. The excess rain from the storm can really upset the shrimps’ movements and cause them to leave in mass rather than the waves they usually move in. The algae blooms can produce toxins harmful to humans, so contact with the water during shrimping isn’t ideal.
Any way you look at it, September is the start of our fall fishing season, which holds some of the best fishing we have in our area. Keep an eye on the winds and get out there and wet a line when you can.
