| Florida Times-Union
Outdoorsman in Northeast Florida live for the fall, when celestial and meteorological forces drive wild animals to act in ways that make for some darn good hunting and fishing.
The season’s first nor’easter will trigger the mullet to school up and migrate south, lulling tarpon, trout and other sportfish into a desperate feeding binge. Autumn king tides flood the spartina grass in the tidal marsh, allowing sheepshead and redfish to gorge on crabs and insects in places that are usually dry ground.
Out in the pines and swamp bottoms, bucks go into rut. Around the same time, blue wing-teal begin arriving in Florida. Some will stay here for the winter, while others will travel south to Cuba, Mexico and Central America.
All of this is still weeks away, but my hands are sweating just thinking about it.
In the meantime, our fishing has grown a bit stale. Are people catching fish? Sure. But it’s a little less of the same thanks to frequent rains and the lack of pogie pods on the beach.
The weather forecast is calling for southeast winds less than 10 knots and a two-to-three foot swell in the ocean, although the trick will be avoiding the nasty afternoon thunderstorms.
Nearshore
Anglers are still catching kingfish off the beach and at the nearshore wrecks, although they haven’t been catching pogies this week. By now you know the drill: find mullet or greenies before you clear the inlet.
Capt. Jeremy Alvarez said he’s also catching a number of cobia, although many of them aren’t big enough to eat.
“The shark fishing has been good if you’re into that,” he said.
Capt. Leon Dana said the tarpon fishing has been hit or miss, and you’ll live and die on finding bait. Bait has been nonexistent the last two days, he said.
Inshore
I would be committing malpractice if I didn’t dedicate part of this report to flood tides.
The biggest floods are still weeks away, but the diehards have been sneaking in sessions and sticking fish for weeks whenever the wind and moon allow for it. Capt. Rami Ashouri said the season started slow but is now “off to the races.”
“We’ve been seeing fish tailing on shallower flats and “slurping” on deeper flats with taller spartina grass, bumping crabs and crickets off of the grass and then turning around to inhale them,” he said. “I expect the fishing to get even better through September, and then cool off a little bit in October, but still remain productive, as fish settle into fall low tide patterns.”
If you’re into swinging flies, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Perhaps you also already know about Ashouri’s new fishing tournament happening on Oct. 16.
The Cowford Redfish Tournament is one of the few events geared specifically to flood tide enthusiasts. Ashouri started the tournament to raise money and awareness for conserving our local waterways, and he’s donating all of the tournament’s profits to the St. Johns Riverkeeper.
“The Riverkeeper has recently become involved in hunter and angler outreach, recognizing that hunters and anglers have been on the forefront of conservation not just in Florida, but across the country,” he said. “We are looking forward to having Lisa Rinaman, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, as well as Captain Benny Blanco of Florida Sportsman’s ‘Watermen TV’ and ‘Guiding Flow’ shows appear and speak at the captain’s meeting and awards reception.”
The tournament has a kayak division, and you don’t have to fly fish to participate. You don’t even have to stay in your boat. Visit the tournament’s website for all the rules and information about how to register — and pay close attention to the next few paragraphs what if you want a free entry.
Since Ashouri is a friend of mine, I wanted to support his new tournament. However, I no longer own a flats boat, and if I’m going to be anywhere in the outdoors during the second weekend of October, it’s going to be 20 feet in a tree overlooking a swamp bottom.
I still bought an entry, and the first person to email me can have it for free.
Beyond the grass flats, rain has definitely taken a toll on the inshore water quality. However, the fishing is still decent, said Capt. Chip Wingo.
Wingo said he’s catching quality trout and a lot of small flounder and drum. If you sort through enough little ones, you’ll be rewarded with something worth taking home for dinner.
Christopher Hong is staff writer at the Florida Times-Union. He can be reached at chong@jacksonville.com.
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