Rain has been replaced with sunny skies and we are enjoying our first cold front of the fall season.
I went out and fished today, (Sept 30th), and was met with cool weather to start the morning, right around 55 degrees. It was nice to get that early morning cool air to help wake me up before a long day on the water. We did have a lot of rain last week and the water is still murky, but make no mistake, the bite is red hot. If you'd like to hook up big Spanish mackerel, then you better drop what you're doing and splash your boat or book a trip with me or one of the local guides in Pensacola. We've been invaded with large Spanish. In the past few days, I've hooked some Spanish well over 5 lbs with a few topping the scales around 7 lbs. Mixed in with the Spanish are kings, and every fall starting around September 20th and lasting till the middle of November, King Mackerel show up in Pensacola Bay and they are a blast to catch on light tackle. The Spanish are being caught by using top water MirrOlures rigged with 60 lb mono leader or 30 lb steel to keep from getting cut off by their formidable dentures. Kings can be caught a couple different ways. Live menhaden works well used under a balloon or cork. Another good bait to use to entice these fish is a small live white trout, but if live bait is hard to find, then drifting a fresh dead cigar minnow should do the trick.
On the flats, the bite has been ok for trout, bluefish and redfish; it will get better as the water clears and cools a bit. I went up near Escambia Bay this week, in spite of the muddy water to see if the bite would be any good, and to my surprise the redfish bite was actually decent. I managed to hook up 7 reds, with four in the lower slot and three in the middle to upper slot; one of the reds was 26 ½" and a healthy 7 ¾ lbs. Man, I wish I was in a tournament that day, because I would have done well.
I've been pitching a few different baits at my reds and some of the other fish. For my reds, I'm throwing a Mann's Spoon or a Mann's Tube Jig in watermelon color. I'm also throwing a Bass Assassin Paddle Tale 3" jerk shad in Electric Chicken and a mullet pattern. One of my favorite ways to hook fish is by throwing a top-water plug, and two great top-water plugs are MirrOlure's Top Dog and a new lure I just tried out called the Sebile top-water stick shad. I like to keep trying different lures and presenting them in different situations to see what does best.
It won't be long before the big reds will be taking over our waters. I'm practically chomping at the bit to get hooked up with these monsters. November is my favorite time to fish, because not only is the weather perfect and the water not as crowded, but also I'm hooking up a 20 lb redfish almost every cast. It's THAT good. Just let me take you out this fall, and I'm sure you'll be hooked, too and want to come down every year you are able to get some time off.
Hope you enjoyed the report; check back every week or two to see what else is going on aboard 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
