Captain’s Corner: Tyson Wallerstein

Although it’s still plenty hot out on the water, you can already begin to see the transition into fall starting to occur. Last week we saw the wind finally switch back out of the east eventually cleaning the near-shore waters and allowing bait schools to stack up right along the beach.  Schools of Spanish mackerel are patrolling the beaches as they take advantage of the abundance of bait that is available right now.

Jetties, and near-shore artificial reefs are holding a variety of species. Fishing around the structure on the bottom will bring a mixed-bag of flounder, mangrove snapper and the occasional redfish. Meanwhile free-lining baits off the back of the boat will keep you plenty busy with mackerel, jacks, bluefish and there’s always a chance for a cobia encounter this time of year.

New moon tides will offer good fishing for redfish this week. Plenty of redfish can be found through ought the intercoastal waterway right now, target oyster bars during the morning high tides and the outer edges of the grass flats on the afternoon low tides.

Schools of mixed sized pilchards can be found in close to shore all along the beach, look for the pelicans diving to give their presence away. Although some of the baits are full grown, many of them are still on the small side, use a quarter inch mesh cast-net to prevent from gilling the smaller baits.

Capt. Tyson Wallerstein
Flats Monster Inshore Fishing
(727) 692-5868