Spanish Mackerel, Trout and Redfish invade Homosassa!
Spanish Mackerel, Trout and Redfish invade Homosassa!
Scallop season ends tomorrow, although this year wasn’t as easy as the last couple of years, we still were able to gather our limits by just swimming a little longer. Last Saturday, with the McHenry Family from Indialantic, Florida, we went south of the Chassahowitzka River in about 6 feet of water and in a short time had about three or four gallons of the tasty morsels.
This was after we spent the morning drifting the pristine grass flats off of Chassahowitzka Point, fishing for Speckled Sea Trout and Spanish Mackerel. Piper McHenry, 6 years old, caught the first and largest Trout of the day, 18 inches, by casting a Berkley Gulp white jerk shad behind a Cajun Thunder. Her Mom, Stacy, had offered $5.00, for the first fish and $5.00 for the largest fish, which Piper reminded her about numerous times! As the water temperature begins to cool, the Trout have begun their transition from the deeper water back to the inshore flats. In our short time on the water, they wanted to back in by 2 PM, so they could go to the Gators opening game in Gainesville, the Mc Henry’s caught 6 Trout, 3 gallons of Scallops, Sea Bass, Mangrove Snapper and to many pre-historic Lizardfish to count. I think the Scallops may have wound up on the grill at their tailgate party, what a way to start the football season!
Spanish Mackerel are here in full force and they are hungry. Spanish Mackerel are schooling fish that migrate northward in the spring and return to southerly waters in the fall. It is much easier to have them find you, than you finding them, an easy way to do that is to CHUM. If the Macks are in the area, a chum slick will bring them behind the boat quickly. After that it’s pretty easy to catch these fast swimming, toothy predators that have been clocked at 35 miles per hour using jigs, shrimp under a bobber, small spoons or cut bait.
Schools of Redfish with a need to feed have settled in and around the St. Martins Keys. Watch for the “V-push” around the outside west facing rocky points of the Keys on an incoming tide. The incoming water grants them access to the shallow edges and oyster bars. Redfish are ambush feeders, so they want to sit somewhere and let the bait flow past them. Redfish get really aggressive when they go from summer to winter patterns because they want to pack on all the weight they can so they’ll eat anything they can find. Cut Pinfish soaked on the bottom has been the best “candy” to catch the huge Bull Redfish.
For all of our friends in or near the Tampa, Florida area, please stop by and visit with us at the Florida Sportsman Fishing & Boat Show, at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Expo Hall, Booth # 717, Saturday, 9/26/09 and Sunday, 9/27/09. Please click on this link, www.floridasportsman.com/shows/coupon/index.html, for a $2.00 off admission coupon. Stop by and meet the “Redettes” and register for your chance to win a FREE charter! If Radio City Music Hall can have the “Rockettes”, Captain “Red ED” can have the “Redettes”!!!
Upcoming Events
September 10th – Scallop Season Closes
September 12th – 27th Annual Homosassa River Raft Race
September 17th – Pinellas County Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), www.ccaflorida.org, Banquet
September 26 & 27 – Florida Sportsman Fishing & Boat Show at Florida State Fairgrounds, Expo Hall, Booth # 717, Tampa, Florida
October 15th – Stone Crab Season Opens