by Capt. Matt Mitchell
Fall fishing continues to be nothing short of amazing. With so much bait throughout our area, fish are feeding hard as they pack on weight before the arrival of winter. Wide-open blitzes of feeding out along the beaches are becoming increasingly common. In Pine Island Sound, snook, red fish, and trout fishing are also on fire.
This week I saw the first few white pelicans of the season, a.k.a. snowbirds. This is a sure sign winter is on the way. The change of season in South Florida, no matter how subtle it seems to us, is a time when the fish are hungry and on the move. Out along the beaches, huge schools of bait have begun the annual migration south. Mixed in with all this are the predators that feed on it, Bonita, Spanish mackerel, King mackerel, bluefish, sharks, and even Tarpon. Grass flats in the sound are also covered up with shiners, and although the predators are different here, it’s the same thing just on a smaller scale.
This week, in the mornings, we had lower tides than we have seen in months. Deeper-water mangrove channels had fish stacked up in big numbers. Snook, redfish, trout, jacks, and mangrove snapper were all caught in these same areas. Chumming lots of life shiners in these areas had the fish fired up and eating on the surface. These fish feed best on a moving tide, so I concentrated on shorelines where the wind and tide were moving in the same direction.
As the tide gets higher, I have been switching it up and fishing oyster bars. Picking an oyster bar with the right wind and tide setup makes all the difference. Even though I caught fish on the oyster bar yesterday, it certainly does not mean the fish are there today, going from bar to bar. It only takes a few scoops of live chum and a cast or two to see if the fish are there. We have oyster bars throughout the sound, so finding the right one is just a matter of moving around. Seeing happy jumping mullet working the bar is a great sign that you were in the right place.
Fall brings us some of the most diverse and exciting fishing we have all year. Not only do we have our regular inshore species, but we also have all the pelagic species moving down the coast. The options are almost endless when conditions are right, and being able to bounce between the bay and the beach will bring a crazy amount of variety.
One of my favorite things to do when conditions are right is to get out along the beaches and chase tarpon. The key to locating these fish is finding large schools of bait with ladyfish and Spanish mackerel feeding on them. Tarpon can be sight fished in these same areas as they come up and roll. Side-scan sonar is also a great tool for finding these southbound fish. Unlike in the spring, these Tarpon are hungry and feed on almost any live bait, presented to them. This Fall, Tarpon bite can be some of the best fishing of the year. These fish will be around till our water temperature drops below 70° or we get one big cold front, and it’s all over till spring.
About Capt. Matt Mitchell
Capt Matt Mitchell moved to Sanibel in 1980 and has lived in St James city since 2000 when he started his fishing charter business. He spends over 300 days a year “living the dream” fishing. For questions and info bookings@captmattmitchell.com