October is known as Red October because of the Redfish and Black Drum migration to the area. Normally the waters will start to cool off a couple degrees and the rains will start to slow down. Not this year, the La Nina cycle is here with wet and warm conditions continuing. With this cycle, the fry hatch and bait stuck around with moderate water temperatures. Basically the summer did not want to go.
The Snook bite stayed on fire, using the same tactics from the summer months. And then it happened, over night, Fall finally decided to show up, in the middle of the month. The Reds and Drums showed up in solid numbers.
And more Reds were behind them.
It was just getting silly. We were catching them on almost anything we threw in the water. Bucktail jigs tipped with Shrimp, gold Johnson spoons, and for the bigguns cut baits slowly fished on the bottom. The water quality has been great with South FL Water Management doing a great job. (I truly thought I would never say that again).
Here is a sneak peek into November.
Thank you for reading. Tight Lines,
Captain Jim Fortman
239-325-7109
Backwater Fishing in Naples & the Ten Thousand Islands 