With water temps dropping slowly.  fish are beginning to seek areas where they are comfortable. For pelagics, a southerly migration has begun.

Mackerel…the pelagic push is on! Spanish and king mackerel are on the move. Spanish have hit Gulf waters in 28- to 32-foot depths west of John’s Pass, and boats are loading up on limits of some quality fish. Anglers are banging fish in the 5-pound class, using live bait. A long shank hook tied to a two or three-foot length of 30-pound fluorocarbon leader helps increase the bite and minimize cut-offs. Scaled sardines have been the baits of choice and are taking the big macks. Boats anchored up over hard bottom are deploying a special frozen chum block. Veteran tournament insiders say the Baitmaster’s Tournament Special chum block has a special ingredient, anise oil, that gets Spanish and king mackerel churning the waters into a froth.

Kings are showing up well offshore. Anglers working deep wrecks are finding a combination of barracudas, sharks and kings mixed in. Chumming the area is attracting a variety of fish to join in on the feeding frenzy. Most fish have been in the teens with a few over 20 pounds.

Grouper fishing slowed around last Friday’s full moon, but the mangrove snapper bite was on. Anglers working in 30 to 70 feet of water scored mangos up to 6 pounds using small Spanish sardines or white bait. Near-shore artificial reefs off Bradenton and Sarasota and south Pinellas reefs produced mangos in the 3-pound class. The larger fish came from water depths further offshore on wrecks, with the exception of anglers fishing the Egmont Ship’s Channel in approximately 35 to 45 feet of water. The channel just west of the Sunshine Skyway between Egmont Key and the bridge produced some of the hottest action.

It’s time for stonecrab pots to go in the water. The opening of stone crab season is on Oct. 15.

INSHORE

Cooler water temps are stirring fish around. Snook are beginning to head back onto the flats from the beaches, and are looking to feed. As water temperatures drop, linesiders will move further back into the backcountry and up creeks and rivers. Anglers are finding fish pretty well spread out, with some coming from the beaches, but the bulk of the fish are coming from inside barrier islands just inside the passes. Residential canals near John’s Pass are holding some breeder-size fish. Some of the largest snook are nailing lively, freelined pinfish. The new hard bait from MirrOlure, the 17MR MirrOdine, a scaled sardine imitation, has been incredibly effective. Anglers are reporting catches exceeding those of natural bait users.

Docks along the Intracoastal Waterway from Pass-A-Grille to Dunedin are holding fish. Those docks that are well-lighted are producing the best numbers of fish. The Hydro Glow Dock Light has been a major attractor for snook wherever there is good water flow and a source of baitfish or shrimp.

Speckled trout being caught in the southern areas of the Suncoast have been mostly undersized. The upper end of Tampa Bay (Old Tampa Bay), around the bridges and docks is holding some nice fish under the lights at night. Live shrimp and DOA quarter-ounce glow shrimp have been most productive.

Redfish along the shoreline extending from Dunedin to Gulf Harbors have been sighted in schools. Anglers fishing Berkley Gulp Peeler Crabs on the bottom rigged on circle hooks are having excellent success. Exude RT Slugs rigged on a light jig head are also producing reds.

Yes this is the topic, and yes with pic’s.. We all know the luring call of the water and we all take advantage of the lure to get our girlfriends and wives out on the water. We set the scenery of beaches and water and excitement. We subject our girls to the Saturday morning and afternoon sun and do not bring them back until nightfall. Take the time to apply for them some sun screen. At first of course they will insist on ail. Its a good thing to let this happen just for the visual effects. After about 3 to 4 hours its time for you so suggest a sun screen. Its time for you to break out the Hawaiian tropic products of sun screen. This seems more sensual and and caring. Do to the fact that if you offer no Ad 50sps products you will seem more im-personal and and up alone this evening. A fair skinned girlfriend on the water for an hour or two may be a bad scenery for you  as the day progresses. Do yourself a favor and make sure your companion is well covered against the Florida sun.

October Madness means the grouper have finally moved in to shallow waters. With the right lurers and the correct speed. Grouper trolling can be easy. The magic word is Mann’s Stretch 15’s to 25’s, Even 30’s will work beyond 30 feet of water. Rigg your Mann’s stretch 15 or 25 with two to three foot of steel wire with a swivel tied to at leist 30 to 40 lb test. The best colors we have found are the same colors you found in you fathers tackle box when you were small. Red and White have been a staple for Mann’s stretch 15’s and these days are hard to find. We troll at 4 and a half miles an hour starting at 15feet running north to south and progressing westbound every cycle untill be hit 30 feet or a rock pile that is holding grouper. You have to remember when you do get a hit to go back to that same area do to the fact that grouper seldom live alone.

Good Luck and Good Fishing

Yes, that nasty word has come across our shores again. Florida boaters can still have fun on the waters but you have to do your homework to stay away from the bloom area’s. Red tide will not cause death to humans upon contact but will cause irritations to the eye’s and respiratory systems. It is not advisable to fish in Bloom infected area’s and Florida boaters can find the effected area’s can be splochy. See below for latest report.

Northwest Region:  No water samples were collected this week from northwest Florida.  Samples collected last week detected Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, at low concentrations 11 miles northwest of Anclote Key in Pasco County.  Additional samples collected 21 miles northwest of Anclote Key contained no K. brevis.

Southwest Region:  A bloom of the Florida red tide organism Karenia brevis, continues to impact the southwest Florida coast this week from Pinellas to Collier counties, with medium to high concentrations detected between northern Pinellas County and Charlotte County.  Water samples collected offshore of Pinellas County detected K. brevis at medium to high concentrations 4 to 8 miles west of Dunedin and 15 miles west of Fort Desoto as well as alongshore at Clearwater Beach, Redington Beach, Fort Desoto and the north and south Skyway Bridge Fishing Piers.  Medium to high concentrations were also detected alongshore of Manatee and Sarasota counties as well as at Englewood Beach in northern Charlotte County.  South of Englewood, including Gasparilla Sound, Pine Island Sound, Lee County and Collier County, patchy conditions exist with concentrations of K. brevis ranging from not present to low.  Reports of fish kills have been received from northern Pinellas to southern Lee counties including Anclote Key, Boca Ciega Bay, Holmes Beach, Sarasota and Sanibel Island.  Fish kills and respiratory irritation are possible between northern Pinellas County and Collier County.

Populations of the marine cyanobacteria Trichodesmium were observed only along the western edge of the K. brevis bloom offshore.  Trichodesmium can collect at the water surface and appear brown, green or white.  Although non-toxic, at high concentrations this bloom may be mistaken for an oil or sewage spill.   

The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s (FWRI) Red Tide Status Line, a recording detailing red tide conditions throughout the state, is now available to callers to hear a recording detailing red tide conditions throughout the state. FWRI updates the recording each Friday by 5 p.m. after sampling efforts for the week have been completed and analyzed.  To hear the information, call the Red Tide Status Line at: (866) 300-9399 (toll-free inside Florida only); or (727) 552-2448 (outside Florida).