Fishing inshore around Anna Maria Island seems to be in limbo as we hover between summer and fall conditions.
With numerous days still reaching 90 degrees or higher, it may feel like summer, especially while fishing the backcountry areas of Tampa Bay southward to Sarasota Bay, but with the days beginning to shorten and over-night temperatures becoming tolerable once again, we’re getting a fresh taste of “fall fishing.”
The key right now is keeping an eye on the water temperatures. We’re not seeing as many of those days with 88-90 water temps like we were a month ago. Now we’re seeing more moderate temperatures in the low- to mid-80s, which has had quite an impact on our backcountry species in a positive way, I might add.
Large schools of bait fish are now fluctuating in and out of the bays and the Gulf of Mexico as milder water temps are making it comfortable for them to do so, which in turn is triggering predators to feed more often and more aggressively.
The predatory fish also are becoming more comfortable with these milder water temps, which enables them to exert more energy than they would in extremely warm water conditions — ultimately providing more action for anglers.
So even though we aren’t quite experiencing true fall temperatures, a change — even if ever so subtle — is occurring and is worth wetting a line.
On my own Just Reel charters, I’m finding plenty of action on spotted seatrout while working the deeper grass flats with 5-8 feet of water.
Free-lined live shiners are quickly being devoured by hungry trout unless they’re being taken by other hungry inhabitants of the flats, like ladyfish, jack crevalle and Spanish mackerel. These fish are adding to the bite for my anglers.
Fishing shallower flats around mangrove shoreline is yielding good action on snook as long as there is good tidal flow. Redfish are available in many of the same areas as the snook and are mixed in with the bite.
Also, fishing structure in Tampa Bay is providing a good bite on mangrove snapper. Slower moving tides are working best with limits attainable on most attempts.
Depending on location, I’m seeing flounder, Key West grunts and juvenile groupers mixed in with the snapper bite.
Capt. David White reports he had a successful September gag grouper season before taking a bus- man’s holiday to Idaho. With gag season and a fishing vacation over, White is spending more time in the backcountry in search of snook for his clients.
Targeting linesiders in a variety of locations is leading to quite a few slot-size fish for White’s anglers as well as many a fight from fish in the 22- to 26-inch range.
Redfish also are on White’s agenda, as he is patrolling oyster bars and mangrove shorelines in search of a bite.
Lastly, mangrove snapper are still very targetable and White is putting anglers on their share.
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