Cooler, crisper weather the last several days has really made it feel great on the water. As the water temperatures slowly inch their way down, fish activity goes up. Spanish mackerel, snook, trout, redfish and mangrove snapper are great options for anglers right now.
Mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel are abundant and are a great fish for those searching for dinner options. Just about any structure including bridges, jetties and artificial reefs are bound to hold schools of snapper at least for a couple more weeks. The last full moon phase really bunched the snapper up. Although the bite wasn’t quite as good as it was last week, it’s still a great option. Small pilchards and threadfins that can be easily cast netted on just about any grass flat near the passes have been the ticket although a live shrimp work great as well.
Spanish mackerel can be found both inshore and offshore. Offshore winds have near-shore waters clean and clear making fooling the mackerel tricky at times with a live bait. Chumming the fish into a frenzy with live pilchards and casting a weighted silver spoon that can be worked much faster than a live bait is a good idea.
The shallow water bite for snook, trout and redfish has been hot and should only get better as we approach the weekend new moon phase. Target the low tides both in the morning and afternoon for the best action. The lower tides have the fish bunched up along the edges of the flats as they work schools of bait that become condensed during the low tide. The best artificial lures are topwater plugs, weedless soft plastics in natural green back colors and gold spoons. Live baiters can find all the bait they need early in the morning holding over grass flats and grass patches near the pass as well as later in the day all along the beach swash channel.