St. Vincent Island to Steinhatchee
Includes Apalachicola, St. George Island, Carabelle, St. Marks and Keaton Beach

Oct. 17-20

NW

The weather will be good enough for bay fishing this weekend, but watch out heading offshore, especially in smaller boats.

St. Joe's Bay was hot Thursday afternoon, and as we workied north of Black's Island Point, we caught legal and mid-size flounder, speckled trout, 2-4-pounders, ladyfish and shark, using live greenies and pinfish.

Appalachicola is still on fire. Find the bird pods and fish under them for speckled trout, bluefish, and expect to get cut-off from mackerel. Work your casts along points, edges and gulleys, expect reds, speckled trout and flounder.

The early morning and late evening bite are still the best. It's important to look at the water clarity. Locate clearer green water for fishing.

Try the grass flats of east St. George Island, Little St. George and Yents Bayou for speckled and silver trout.

Fish along the oyster bars of Indian Pass and Pickalean, 13 mile oysterbar also try within a few hundred foot around Bob Sikes cut, as well as the grass flats around FSU lab and east of Lanark Village.

The head of the bay has been paying off well (north of the Apalachicola Bridge) around the openings of East Bay, Big Bay, Little bay and any location where fresh water and saltwater mix to create a brackish water. For bait use shrimp or greenies, or fresh dead shrimp. Inside the bay (south of the Apalachicola Bridge) have been using several different baits with varying success that changes daily. Try using live bait, fresh dead bait (shrimp), hard plastics or soft plastic baits such as Berkley Gulp, Bass Assassin and Calcutta in varying colored plastics according to the water color and clarity using ¼ - ½ oz lead heads (depending on water depth but targeting 3-4 ft of water.

Please note: Red Snapper season is closed in federal waters so any red snapper caught in waters beyond nine miles offshore must be returned to the water unharmed.

Offshore, if you decide to go, use live pinfish or blue runners, frozen cigar minnow, squid, goggle-eyes or Spanish sardines and frozen LY's. Expect to catch a mixed bag of grouper, snapper, triggerfish, black sea bass and a variety of reef dwellers. King mackerel, cobia and a few sharks are holding in mid water depths as they are making their fall appearance in the area. We’ve been hearing a variety of reports daily from the Dog Island reef balls and culverts, SGI debris site and the Franklin County Reef with many productive catches reported. This time of year expect the fish to come closer to shore. So no need to go 30-40 miles offshore when good keepers are closer at only 5-10 miles offshore.

Please help us preserve our natural resources by being a responsible angler. Be safe; keep an eye on the weather and tight lines! During this time of year, our tourist season has slowed down, if you find yourselves in our area and wanting to get out on the water for some excellent fishing. We are only a phone call away...

If you’re looking for experienced, friendly native guides give us a call 850-653-2622 or drop us an email info@BookMeACharter.com We’d love to take you fishing in our back yard!

By Sandra Allen | www.bookmeacharter.com | Contact Us

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