Fish on! I've heard these two words from many clients the past few trips and I never get tired of hearing them. The Spanish mackerel bite has been very good and should continue to stay this way for the next 6 weeks.
Most of the Spanish are being caught in the middle of the bay; they are crashing large bait pods of blood minnows and glass minnows. We are also catching some in the pass and along the beaches. When cruising the beaches, I've seen a few big schools of the big reds, and we've even hooked a few, but it give it a few more weeks and it will be game on with these tackle busters. Along with the awesome Spanish bite, we managed to hook a few large kings in the bay by tossing fresh dead cigar minnows into the schools of crazed hungry Spanish.
On a few of my last trips we saw some big kings sky in the middle of the schools, and what a spectacular sight that is to witness. As the Spanish make their way back south, the big bull redfish will start to show up, and then I'll be battling some big bronze bruisers every chance I get. Fall red fishing is my favorite type of fishing by far.
I have only been on the flats a few times this week, and the specks are still around. It won't be long and they will start to make their way back up near Blackwater Bay and Escambia Bay near the mouth of the rivers on each of these bay systems. Slot red fishing has been pretty good up in Escambia bay and Blackwater also, but this past weekend we had a lot of rain, which will muddy up the water again and mess with the fishing for a few days.
Tackle Corner:
To catch the Spanish, I'm tossing a few different lures:
1.MirrOlure's Top Dog tied with 6 to 8 inches of single strand 38 lbs steel leader.
2.Mann's Little George & the Mann O lure in various colors. I'm also using either a steel leader or 50 – 60 lb mono.
3.Spro Jigs in white, 1 – 2 oz's
4.Fresh dead cigar minnows on a two hook steel leader king rig
Rods & Reels
1.Quantum Spinning Catalyst 20's on Boca rods
2.Quantum Spinning Boca 30's on Boca rods
It won't be long and those big reds will be here. Only 3 weeks and it's on! If you would like to catch a fish of a lifetime, give me a ring and we'll get you hooked up on the Mega-Bite.
Tight Lines.
Capt. John Rivers
Mega-Bite Inshore Charters
850-341-9816
Thanks to my sponsors:
Mann's Lures, Pro Cure, Power-Pole
SPRO Fishing Tackle, Gamakatsu Hooks
Fenwick Rods, Pure Fishing Berkley,Stren,Quantum
