The October weather has finally cooled down to seasonal averages. After a few cold fronts that passed through the area, the water temperatures settled down to around 70 degrees. There have been a few days that were extremely windy and we searched out the lee side of the bay to find less choppy and cleaner water. All in all, it has been a good fishing month.
The trout fishing has been on fire in the shallows of Clearwater Bay. Most of my trips have targeted trout and redfish. Mackerel and lady fish have also been added to the catch. Grassy areas in about three to four feet of water throughout the bay have been holding the most fish. We used the incoming and the outgoing tides to catch the majority of our fish.
Red fishing has been scattered around the flats and back waters. We caught small reds on some days and large fish on others. As we move further into winter, hopefully the bigger fish will school in a more consistent matter.
Here are some typical trips I had throughout October.
Mark, Bill and Andy came out and started in on the trout on their first cast. All anglers caught over 30 trout from 14 to 18 inches and a couple small redfish. They added lots of high flying lady fish and some nice size mackerel to the catch. Andy is showing us his biggest mackerel.
The trout continued their attack on our baits as Mike, Adam and Tomas came aboard. They caught over 40 trout moving around Clearwater bay while dropping their baits on the surrounding grass flats. We used both white baits and shrimp under a float to attract our action. Tomas caught the biggest trout and Mike caught the smallest. They said there was no completion going on, but I'm just saying! Lots of lady fish and some small redfish were caught as well. Adam ended the day with the big fish award, a beautiful 31 inch redfish.
Don brought his grandson, Taylor along for a day of fishing. Both caught several dozen trout and lady fish. Taylor landed his biggest fish ever, a 29 inch redfish. He did a great job fighting and landing the fish but had a little trouble holding it up for pictures. Don helped out then released the red to fight another day.
Margo and friends picked a great day to be fishing. A little over cast and slightly windy but the fishing was off the charts. Together they caught 14 different species including, 20 trout, 2 black drum, 3 redfish, 2 flounder, 2 sharks and lots of others. It was nonstop from start to finish.
More photo's can be seen here: http://www.examiner.com/tampa-fishing-in-tampa-bay/gary-burch
So far we haven't had any strong cold fronts to really mess up the fishing action. Fishing in October ended up very consistent for this time of year. We'll get cooler in November and that will bring in bigger and better schools of trout and redfish. Can't wait.
Capt. Gary Burch
www.allcatchcharters.com
