A taste of fall in the air brings new species to the hook
By Capt. Danny Stasny
Anna Maria Island Fishing Report: Late September Conditions
Fishing inshore around Anna Maria Island seems to be in limbo as we hover between summer and fall conditions.
With numerous days still reaching 90 degrees or higher, it may feel like summer, especially while fishing the backcountry areas of Tampa Bay southward to Sarasota Bay, but with the days beginning to shorten and nighttime temperatures becoming tolerable once again, there can be instances where the “fall fishing” is trying to put a break in the action.
Water Temperatures and Fall Fishing Patterns
The key right now is keeping an eye on the water temperatures. We’re not seeing as many of those days with 88-90 water temps like we were a month ago. Now we’re seeing more moderate temperatures in the low- to mid-80s, which has had quite an impact on our backcountry species in a positive way, I might add.
Large schools of bait fish are now fluctuating in and out of the bays and the Gulf as milder water temperatures make it comfortable for them to do so, which in turn is triggering predators to begin to feed more often and more aggressively. The predatory fish are also becoming more comfortable with mild water temperatures which enables them to exert more energy than they would in extremely warm water conditions — ultimately providing more action for us as anglers.
So even though we aren’t quite experiencing true fall temperatures, a change — even if ever so subtle — is occurring and is worth noticing.
Sarasota Bay Spotted Seatrout, Snook and Redfish
On my own Just Reel charters, I’m finding plenty of action on spotted seatrout while fishing deeper grass flats 5-8 feet. Free-lined live shiners are quickly being devoured by hungry trout unless they’re being taken by other hungry inhabitants of the flats like ladyfish, jack crevalle and Spanish mackerel. Fishing shallower flats around mangrove shoreline yields good action on snook as long as there is good tidal flow. Redfish are available in many of the same areas as the snook and are mixed in with the bite.
Tampa Bay Mangrove Snapper Fishing
Fishing structure in Tampa Bay is providing a good bite on mangrove snapper. Slower moving tides are working best with limits attainable on most attempts.
Depending on location, I’m seeing flounder, Key West grunts and juvenile groupers mixed in with the snapper bite.
