Greetings from Tru Luvin Fishing and Hagan Coastal Outfitters. This blog provides you with a front row seat to what Domenic and Ron are seeing on the water in Northeast Florida from our kayaks, as we chase inshore saltwater species, primarily using artificial lures. From time to time, we will include bonus reports from tournaments and fishing trips around the region as we travel. We want to keep you informed of what is biting, what lures are working for us and what gear has been helping us get on the fish.
Overall Fishing Report
October is a great month to get out on the water fishing. The weather has cooled down, the bite is heating up and our local waters are less crowded. October brings hunting season, which pulls a lot of competition for fishing spots off the water as people head to the woods for hunting trips. Those nasty afternoon thunderstorms also become less of a factor as we move deeper into the Fall season. We still need to keep an eye out for those late season tropical storms from our oceans, but this has been a great year with calm seas on that front.
September was a good month of fishing for the guys and there was a lot going on. There were boat trips for Bull Reds and backwater trips for the usual suspects of Reds, Trout and Flounder. The Flounder fishing has been outstanding all year long and that really continued in September. There were a lot of small fish caught but Ron caught a really special one we will cover later. Redfish were plentiful in the creeks but you had to weed through the smaller fish to find the big ones. This is the time of year when the rat Reds school up in big numbers and feed up. Flood tides were a focus for many local anglers in September. Many fisherman look forward to either wading or paddling onto grass flats, that only flood during certain times of the year, to cast to Redfish that feed with their tails up as they forage for food on the bottom. This is commonly referred to as a tailing Redfish. Being stealthy is key for this specialty tactic of fishing. Throwing shrimp imitations and weedless presentations can be deadly on Redfish that are so focused on feeding when they make it up onto the flooded grass flats.
Trout were a little tougher to come by in September, but Domenic caught a special one we will cover later. October should bring a more consistent Trout bite inshore. Water temperatures will continue to drop through October and that signals a seasonal change to our gamefish that it is time to feed up before Winter. Get out there and ring that dinner bell for them.
Tournament Fishing Report
Domenic and Ron fished the Anglers for a Cure charity tournament out of the Vilano Boat Ramp in St. Augustine on September 26th. This very well-run tournament celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. The tournament brings awareness to the need for proactive screening for Colon Cancer and is sponsored in part by Borland Groover. They have both boat and kayak divisions to be inclusive of all anglers with watercraft. This family friendly tournament has a great, laid back vibe, with live music and a great lineup of raffle prizes.
Domenic and Ron both fished the kayak division of the tournament which awards prizes for Redfish, Trout and Flounder. It was a good day for the guys. Domenic won the Trout Division with a beautiful 28.5 inch fish that hit a Rapala Skitterwalk topwater plug just as day was breaking. Ron had to wait for success until the last hour of fishing for the tournament but he made it count. He picked up an impressive 24 inch Flounder on a Slayer Sinister Swim Tail lure. Congratulations are in order as well to Rich Altman who won the Redfish category with a really nice 30 inch fish.
Tactics That Are Working
It was noted earlier that Domenic took the Beavertail skiff out in the main river for some Bull Red fishing. Bull Reds move into the river to spawn in big numbers generally in August or September, and will stay through October. Domenic made it out for a couple of trips and scored multiple bulls to include a beauty of a 39 inch fish. The preferred bait is fresh Blue Crab chunks on large circle hooks. Heavy weights are needed to get your bait to the bottom where the fish are in stiff currents. The weights will vary based on the tide cycle and the strength of the current. You want to use heavyweight rod and reel set ups to make sure you get the fish in quickly without stressing these breeders too much. They should be handled as little as possible and not hung by the jaw for pictures. Support the belly to avoid damage to the fish’s jaw or internal organs. Once they have been landed; a quick release, with venting, is necessary to get them back down to the deeper depths where they dwell and school up. Taking good care of these fish is key to keep our population in Northeast Florida strong.
Lessons Learned
While fishing the Anglers for a Cure tournament in September, the guys were contending with needing to fish shoreline into a stiff wind that was blowing their line and making their lure presentations less effective. To effectively present lures under these conditions, Ron chose to change up his presentation. He had been fishing with ZMan lures, which float, and caused his line to more easily catch the wind. This further lifted the lures in the water column and made effective presentation of lures difficult. Ron chose to use a more dense and heavy Slayer bait in addition to a heavier jig head. This allowed him to fish against a steady stiff breeze with the lure near the bottom, effectively presented, where he wanted it. The result was his catch of the pictured 24 inch Flounder that won the tournament for him in the last hour of tournament fishing. Sometimes you need to adapt from your favorite lure presentations to the ones that are more effective based on the environmental conditions present.