Fall fishing has
finally arrived, and I for one, am thrilled, to say the least! Over the past
two weeks, I’ve been running trips both morning and afternoon depending on the
tides, and the bite has been phenomenal!
It had been a little tough to get out with the wind especially with that
so-called tropical storm a couple of weeks ago, but when I have been able to
get out we’ve been catching a nice mess of fish. This week was nice with calm
winds and slick seas. 
As the water temperature cools over the next month, the
specks will migrate up towards the upper bays and mouths of the rivers. Some
have already made their migration, and over the past few trips, I’ve hooked up
some quality fish up in Escambia Bay. I’m fishing both upper bay and lower bay
areas. The Speck bite on the flats of the upper bay areas has been nice; I’ve
also been hitting some areas in the lower sound too. The redfish on the docks
and other areas has also been pretty decent. The reds are not all over the
place, but if you know where to look and what to look for, you’ll hook up a
few, and they are certainly fun to fight.
The
water is very murky in the upper bay areas and somewhat fresh in some areas due
to all the rain we’ve had. I’ve noticed a lot of bait in the bay, which tells
me it’s not long before the big reds will be arriving. Lots of menhaden and
blood minnows are around which is just what the reds love to eat. The water
temp is right around 75-78 degrees and when it drops a little more the big reds
will be here in full force. I really enjoy hooking reds on artificials, and
over the past five years I’ve been specializing in artificial only trips with
my clients, and they really seem to enjoy the unique experience of catching
these monsters on all artificial lures. Today, (October 10, 2013), we boated
all the reds we wanted on jigs in deep water. Let me say that I’m not opposed
to putting live or fresh dead bait on a hook if necessary and if my client
wants to, but there is something about fooling a fish to hit a artificial plug
that is just sweeter.
As
you can see the fishing has been outstanding the past two weeks. We got our first major cold front this week
and it kicked off the reds in some of the areas I like to fish. It won’t be
long until the bull reds will be thick in the bay and that’s when the fun
really begins. During the whole month of November, large numbers of monster
redfish make their way into Pensacola Bay and the upper bay areas to
spawn. This is some of the best inshore
light tackle fishing I’ve ever experienced, and it happens every year like
clockwork. If you would like to do battle with some of these drag screamers,
give me a ring and we’ll get you HOOKED UP!
Tight
Lines.
Back at it the rest of this week and next.John
