Aripeka to Longboat Key
Includes Hudson, New Port Richey, Anclote Key, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Anna Maria Island and Bradenton.

October 23-25

Weather conditions began to settle at midweek, making for cleaner water conditions, and bringing kingfish back closer to shore. Another front due in between Friday and Saturday could bring some rain and shift winds back around to the north briefly, but expect that to blow through pretty quickly, and “kingfish weather” could be on tap for the weekend.

OFFSHORE

Much of the week has been a blowout for anglers looking to get offshore. Sunday’s frontal passage cooled things off and brought windy conditions making it difficult for most anglers to head offshore. As things begin to settle down, seas will begin to smooth out and grouper will chew again. Gags in 60 to 80 feet of water are hungry after a few days of holding tight to structure. Reports of fish being brought up with scraped sides from hanging tight to rocks and ledges are common. If conditions allow, good grouper fishing could remain. Over the next month or two, expect drastic in shallow-water depths from 20 to 50 feet. Live baits or cutbaits work. Where depths allow, troll planers with lipped plugs to get lures where the fish are living. A Number 3 or 4 planer dragged on grouper gear, with a Bomber, Storm, Manns or Bubba’s Jig should get a response from hungry fish.

Kingfish tournaments are kicking off everywhere, and boat traffic on weekends should be on the increase. Law enforcement has stepped up on the water and at boat ramps doing safety gear and catch checks—so it would behoove you to make sure life jackets, flairs, anchors, and other equipment is up to date. A closure for Gulf greater amberjack was announced in Federal waters until the end of the year. For more information, check out this Online Cast.

INSHORE

Trout fishing in the south region will close at the end of this month. Anglers south of Fred Howard Park at Anclote Key will have to release seatrout caught from November 1 until 2010. The north region will remain open during that time. In the meantime, anglers all over the Suncoast are having banner days catching some nice trout. Slow sinking plugs, artificial shrimp, and jigs are catching the lion’s share of fish. On top, plugs like the Skitterwalk (from Rapala) and the new MirrOprop (from MirrOlure) are catching some monsters. Big gator trout are feeding during low-light conditions early in the day and during inclement weather. Creating a surface disturbance with lures attracts fish looking for feeding activity. Another surface-disturbing combo is the D.O.A. Deadly Combo; the rig consists of D.O.A. Shrimp below a clacking cork. The setup accomplishes the same fishy disturbance, but employs the slow sinking shrimp subsurface.

Redfish action continues to happen along the coast around barrier islands and inside bays, but schools seem to have been broken up by the windy weather of last weekend. As the weather settles and bait schools regroup, look for these marauding schools of redfish to get back together. For those anglers choosing to fish the bottom of the tide, Berkley Gulp shrimp fished on the bottom “dead-sticked” has been effective. A more proactive approach would be to toss lures like the MirrOlure MirrOdine, Sebile Stick Shadd, Rapala X-Rap or D.O.A. C.A.L. shadtail.

Snook fishing has improved as linesiders begin moving into backwater areas, up creeks, and canals to darker bottoms to warm up. Water temperature was taken down a notch but is back on the upswing. Things should moderate by the weekend, and these fish will begin to feed heavily, anticipating the upcoming winter period. Live baits like shrimp or pilchards, a.k.a whitebait or scaled sardines, should be very productive.

Pompano have made a showing along the coast. Sarasota’s Big Pass, the New Pass area and the Sarasota Middle Ground flats have seen fish show this past week. To the north, pompano are biting from the Skyway fishing piers, Fort Desoto piers, and around Bunces Pass and Pass-A-Grille Channel, mostly on sandfleas and Doc’s Goofy Jigs. For information on Doc’s Jigs, check their new Web site at docsgoofyjigs.com.

FRESHWATER

Bass have been active on Lake Tarpon. Black or purple worms stuffed with Woody’s worm rattles flipped in the hydrilla beds are producing good numbers of fish. Similar variations of worm color and other rattle manufacturers will work too. Crappie fishing slowly improves and should continue to do so as cooler weather arrives.

When you want to know where to go, tune in to ESPN 1040 AM Saturdays from 7 to 8 a.m. Captains Ray Markham and Gary Folden will take live, on-water reports from the area’s top guides and anglers on Florida Sportsman Magazine Radio Live! To be part of the show and call in your report, dial toll-free 1-877-355-1040 during show time.

‘Til then…Catch ya later!

By Captain Ray Markham
flatback@tampabay.rr.com
(941) 723-2655 home | (941) 228-3474 cell

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