flatsfinaddict
Cadet
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2001
- Messages
- 8
Southwest Florida Fishing Report<br />September 29, 2002<br /><br />This past week has certainly had it’s ups & downs. “Isadore” traveled through our coast and brought with her, wind, rain and more wind. The conditions made fishing difficult and uncomfortable, many of my scheduled trips were canceled and/or rescheduled. The days I was able to get out provided for fair to good fishing.<br /><br />This week’s low salinity level and dirty water drove most of the bait to cleaner, more distant waters. Toward the end of the week, and certainly through the weekend, bait was again located in the usually areas. The Harbor held pods of threadfins in the 4-7 inch range. The bars that line Bokeelia and Jug Creek, as well as Sandy Fly Key and the Trestles all held bait once again.<br /><br />With bait, came the fish. Spanish Mackerel, Ladyfish, Bluefish and Jacks were terrorizing most threadfin pods in open water. Silver Crocodile Spoons, Gold Johnson Sprite Minnows and Storm Chug Bugs all drew attention. While the fish were not as glamorous as Tarpon & Snook, the feeding frenzy found within most bait pods proved to be fast, furious and very exciting. Fish on every cast until your arms fell off were the case. The Macks averaged 12 – 20”, the Jacks & Bluefish ran on the small side, and the Ladyfish were from 12” up to 24”. When working the pods, keep an open eye for Cobia or Tarpon. We saw one nice Cobia this weekend but could not make the connection. With that said, ALWAYS keep a 12 or 15lb spinning rod with a #50 or #60 mono leader tied to a Jig or awaiting threadfin ready at all times. <br /><br />Moving into the shallows, Redfish schools were still working the bars. In addition, we found quality Redfish working the points of Mangrove Islands adjacent to deeper water in Gasparilla Preserve, as well as inside the bar between Burnt Store and Two Pines. The usual Gold Spoon made a connection every time. <br /><br />The Snook bite was on and off in the preserve, however, quality numbers were caught working the canal systems of Pirate Harbor, Charlotte Beach and PGI. Work the docks at high tide and focus on the drop-offs and sailboats during the low tide. ¼ Chartreuse jig head with your favorite 4 – 6” grub or jerk bait will do the trick, and of course, live bait will get them every time.<br /><br />In between the Snook we also found some Jack Crevalle and Juvenile Tarpon to fill the Snook voids. In addition, we found Pompano toward the south end of Bull Bay. <br /><br />This week will be a windy week with yet another system rolling in. Get your fishing in very early in the week, as Hurricane Lili is moving up through the western gulf bringing with her more windy days and dirty water. Please visit our site for fishing reports for the remainder of Florida.<br /><br />Until next time, tight lines.<br /><br />Capt. Allan B. Beraquit<br />==================================================<br /><br />Jacsonville Report<br /><br />If you’re looking to catch a giant flounder there’s no better time than the present to start fishing. The October giants can be found in the lower section of the St. Johns River from Mill Cove out to the Mayport Jetties. Salty tributaries close to the St. Johns will yield an abundance of double digit flounder this month. <br />Redfish and Sheepshead will be displaying their tails above water as they invade flooded grassflats in the Intracoastal Waterway looking for drounding fiddler crabs in the spartina grass. Fly rods are one of the funnest ways to pursue fish on the flats but lightweight spinning tackle can also be a blast. <br /><br />This month is probably your last chance to get a tarpon inshore this year. October is also traditionally one of the best months to catch a poon. The fall mullet run should be in full gear and tarpon are likely going to be recklessly gorging themselves before migrating back south.<br /><br />Spotted seatrout are still biting well in the St. Johns River, follow the shrimp to the ocean and the trout won’t be far behind. There’s still outstanding night fishing to be had for seatrout after dark when the weather permits. <br /><br />Captain Chris Holleman<br />==================================================<br /><br />The Everglades<br /><br />Howdy from Flamingo. <br /><br />August was a great month for getting a Flamingo Grand Slam. The Flamingo slam consist of a snook, redfish and a trout. The toughest to catch is usually the snook so that's where I begin. <br /><br />All of my trips begin with a four mile run to the Conchie channel to catch pinfish. One block of chum always does the job. Find the edge of the channel, start chumming and before long you'll see the pinfish running in and out of the chum line. It only takes a few cast of a seven foot cast net and the live well is loaded with bait. Watch out for sharks, they will eat your chum bag and leave you standing on the deck of your<br />boat with nothing to cast at.<br /><br />August 8th was a full day trip with Kathy Korte, her dad Alvin and their friend Jim. We took advantage of a falling tide to load up on trout. We used a Cajun Thunder rig with a pinfish nose hooked on a 4/0 hook. The edge of a flat that dumps into deeper water is always a good place to find trout. Cast your bait so that the current takes it across the light and dark areas on the end of the flat. Next, we decided to take advantage of some tripletail that were working an area along the main channel between the Middle Grounds and the Conchie. We saw one nice school that allowed two cast with jigs and both jigs took hits. From out of nowhere, another jig went out and crossed both lines that had fish. Needless to say the fish got away but we did get a nice big knot of fishing line back to the boat. The gang boated a couple but kept only one. As the tide turned and the water got higher we headed to a favorite<br />snook and redfish flat. <br />We stayed with the Cajun rigs and pinfish as bait. Kathy was the first to hook up with a big snook that was well over<br />the limit size had this been a keeper month. Baits in the water again and this time two floats went under only one second apart. Kathy and Alvin had redfish on their lines and did a great job of keeping the two fish apart. Alvin's fish went into the cooler and Kathy's oversized red went back into the water. Floats out again and Kathy's rod bent over again with another redfish. Again, too big to keep and back into the water. Another keeper red was boated along with a released big snook just before we called it a day. A Flamingo Grand Slam for Kathy.<br /><br />August 14th was a half day trip with Randy Schwartz and his friend Don. We scheduled the trip for the afternoon to use the sun to help us spot tripletail. As luck would have it the winds picked up to a good twenty knots making it impossible to spot fish. We headed for the East Cape canal to toss some lures instead. This was one of those trips that one person caught all of the fish. Don was the man today! We trolled after wearing out the trees and a good thing we did. Don's first hook up was a keeper redfish. We ran over the same area again and another had hit but it got off. Another run over the same area produced a big snook. Somewhere along the way Don managed a nice trout which got him his Flamingo Grand Slam.<br /><br />August 18th was a full day with Stan Kosyla and his two teenaged son's, Charles and Alex. Our first fishing stop was the East Cape canal. Rods were rigged with 1/2 ounce sinkers and 4/0 hooks with pinfish as bait. I made the first cast for Stan to show the guys where to fish. As I started baiting the second hook, Stan's rod bent over, almost in half. The first snook of the day after only seconds in the water. After a few pics the fish was revived and put back into the water. With all baits<br />out it wasn't long before Charles was hanging on to a big one. More pics and goodbye's. Lines out again and this time it was Stan with another big snook. Three snook in one spot was pretty good so we moved on looking for redfish. My favorite snook and red flat yielded only one snook for Charles. Next it was off to troutsville for some lighter action while I pondered the red problem. The guys kept me so busy with the trout that there wasn't time to worry about redfish. After about<br />twenty-five or so keeper sized trout the guys wanted some rod bending action. I told them of a secret hole that could have snook and reds but would surely have shark and rays. They said, "Lets go.". Sure enough, Stan and Charles got hooked up right away with some big rays while young Alex brought in a six foot nurse shark. While Stan and Charles were at a stalemate with the rays Alex had a hit that started his rod singing. After a few minutes Alex brought in the biggest snook that I had seen<br />for some time. Alex's next fish must not have known that it was hooked because it just cruised towards the gulf like we weren't there. Well, we almost got some slams! <br /><br />September should be just as good as was August. But now it's, "Snook Time". Only one per person but that's ok. Make sure you catch your limit before the first cold front blows through because that's when things will change. <br /><br />Captain John Griffiths