http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/Captain-s-Corner-Fishing-remains-consistent-as-summer-temperatures-linger_172773703
Summer is lingering in West Florida. Elevated temperatures are also allowing Red Tide blooms to persist, although very patchy to nonexistent along the North Pinellas coast. Fishing has been consistent this past week, even through a weak moon phase. Before Hurricane Michael, the nearshore mackerel bite was very good, along with mangrove snapper. However, offshore fish were affected by patchy areas of Red Tide being stirred up from high winds, so the nearshore bite within 4-8 miles has slowed a bit. Snook are still stacked up around the beaches, especially near the points of the passes. Males are outnumbering females, but plenty of bigger females are still mixed in. Redfish have been hanging around the same beach troughs and cuts as the snook, so a bonus redfish is often caught while snook fishing. The majority of reds are moving with the mullet schools on the flats, but only a few redfish schools have been gathering in limited areas. October typically brings in an influx of redfish. I suspect as we eventually cool they will follow a more normal pattern of migration. Live greenbacks remain the bait of choice as we slide further into fall. The flats are holding them in 3-5 feet of water. Chumming is necessary in most cases. The beaches are starting to have bait schools along shore.
Brian Caudill fishes from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs. He can be reached at (727) 365-7560 and captbrian.com.
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