Last week the temperature dropped about 20 degrees to 30 degrees and the water temperature decreased right along with it. Because of the change in temperature, we had a couple of slow fishing days last week. The water temperature went form 75 degrees to 80 degrees down to 58 degrees to 65 degrees in roughly two days, and the fish went into hiding. However, the weather and water temperature is rising and fishing is getting back to normal.
Before the decrease in temperature we had some great redfishing. Most of the fish we caught were oversized but great fun to catch. The oversized redfish went into hiding during the cold weather, but don't worry, they will be back as soon as the water temperature increases a bit. Most of the redfish we caught right after the cold front were in the slot of 18 inches to 24 inches. We did however catch a few that were larger. Currently, many of the redfish are in extremely shallow water, which makes them harder to catch.
Snook are still around; they are just more spread out. Much like the redfish, the snook bite has slowed down a bit. When the water temperature is above 60 degrees, snook can be caught on live bait. When the water temperature drops rapidly, the snook bite initially slows then picks back up. These fish will go crazy when the water temperature begins coming back up, so you can usually catch some nice snook during this time. Before the front, we did manage to catch the snook of the season' 41 inches. Man what a fight! Personally, I have never seen a fish do what this one did. The fish jumped three times, with the first jump being the most impressive. To see a fish this big bring his body out of the water was definitely a wow moment. We caught this fish on 10 lb test fishing line and we new it was going to be a fight.
It was a bit to rough last week to do much Tarpon fishing, but hopefully next week, will be able to try more of it to see how the bite is. Please visit www.castawaychartersinc.com and book your fall trips today!