If this month’s weather is anything like last month, the fishing will be awesome. The water temps should get to the magic numbers and it will be game on. This is the time of the year that the area is covered with Spanish mackerel. Look around the north and south ends of Anclote Island for them. Just remember to use a long shank hook to help with getting cut off. You can use a small wire leader to help with the cut offs. But sometimes they can get finicky and not bite the line with the leader. Artificials work well to; it just needs to be something with a flash to it like a silver spoon. The key to using the artificials is they need to be moving fast. Keep an eye out for the Spanish mackerel off the beaches to, they will be mixed in with the bait schools. Also you might find some king mackerel mixed in with them. If you like fish spread these guys make an awesome fish spread.
The trout bite will be picking up also this month. With the cooler water temperatures along comes the bigger trout. A good place to start looking is around the islands in the Anclote River. These guys like clean water and moving water. A live shrimp under a cork works well or a DOA shrimp under a popping cork. Cast as far as you can and work the popping cork back to the boat. Pull the rod tip up fast and you will hear the cork make a clicking sound, this will lift the bait up off the bottom and usually when the bait drops back down is when you will get a strike. When you hit the sand holes spend a little more time fishing each sand pocket. This is where they like to hang out.
The Flounder bite will be picking up as it gets cooler. Target the areas with a sandy bottom and some moving water. These guys are ambush feeders. They like to sit and wait for the food to come to them. They will get on the bottom cover up with the sand and wait for their dinner to come by. Ways of targeting them is with a piece of shrimp on a ¼oz jig head and moved slow along the bottom. Artificials work well to. A DOA shrimp with a little Pro-Cure shrimp sent added to it works great. Just remember that the key is moving the bait slow. If you’re fishing the shore line keep an eye out for areas that have cuts in the mangroves with moving water. When you’re fishing the areas with moving water, cast up current and let the bait drift back with the tide. You just have to be ready for when they do hit your bait it is a suttle hook up, you might think you’re hung up on the bottom. Stuffed Flounder for dinner is one of my favorites.
Redfish will be in the usual spots, on the oyster bars at high tide and along the mangrove shore lines. We normally will target the big schools of mullet for the reds but this month is when the mullet head out to spawn. There will still be some mullet around to keep the reds following them for food just not as many as usual. The inshore Gag Grouper bite will start to pick up towards the end of the month and just get better as the winter moves along.
The Flounder bite will be picking up as it gets cooler. Target the areas with a sandy bottom and some moving water. These guys are ambush feeders. They like to sit and wait for the food to come to them. They will get on the bottom cover up with the sand and wait for their dinner to come by. Ways of targeting them is with a piece of shrimp on a ¼oz jig head and moved slow along the bottom. Artificials work well to. A DOA shrimp with a little Pro-Cure shrimp sent added to it works great. Just remember that the key is moving the bait slow. If you’re fishing the shore line keep an eye out for areas that have cuts in the mangroves with moving water. When you’re fishing the areas with moving water, cast up current and let the bait drift back with the tide. You just have to be ready for when they do hit your bait it is a suttle hook up, you might think you’re hung up on the bottom. Stuffed Flounder for dinner is one of my favorites.
Redfish will be in the usual spots, on the oyster bars at high tide and along the mangrove shore lines. We normally will target the big schools of mullet for the reds but this month is when the mullet head out to spawn. There will still be some mullet around to keep the reds following them for food just not as many as usual. The inshore Gag Grouper bite will start to pick up towards the end of the month and just get better as the winter moves along.
