Wow! The summer season is passing quick but we still have plenty of great fishing ahead of us. Getting into September we should start to see some mild cold fronts coming from the north and in combination with shorter days the water temperatures will start to cool down and fishing patterns will begin to change by the end of the month. Around the inshore waters huge amounts of baitfish will keep most of the redfish, specks and flounder feeding close to the edge while on the nearshore waters there should still be a good number of tarpon and sharks around plus bull redfish pushing into the sounds.
Inshore Fishing:
It should remain business as usual on the inshore waters throughout the month with plenty of redfish, speckled trout and flounder plus quite a few of ladyfish, jacks, sharks and bluefish to pull on. There is so much bait in the marsh right now that the gamefish have a full menu to choose from; which could include finger mullet, bull minnows, menhaden, crabs and shrimp. All of these baits work well on the end of a hook or you might try using some artificial lures in there place. Over the past few weeks we have had good success with the 4 inch DOA shrimp around the grass edges and creek mouths. This bait can be fished straight out of the package or re-rigged with a tail hook and pulled backward or even fished under a popping cork just like a live shrimp. Another lure that has been working well is the zara spook; this is a topwater bait that is designed to be walked from side to side on the surface and can elicit some super explosive strikes from hungry fish.
Nearshore Fishing:
Tarpon fishing will still be the big attraction along the nearshore waters and we should see a good push of fish move through along with the annual black mullet run. Black mullet are slightly different than the silver mullet that we see along the creeks and edges of the estuary throughout the summer in that they are migratory, grow quite a bit larger. and often school in open water. With huge schools of black mullet and menhaden pushing in and out from the ocean you can bet that there will be tarpon banging away on them! Along with the tarpon look to catch some really nice sharks such as big black tips, spinners and lemons. Some of these sharks will exceed 100 pounds and put up a tremendous fight with long hard runs away from the boat and strong head shakes and tail slaps near the boat. With the shorter days we should also see the arrival of the bull redfish on the nearshore waters. These big bruisers will average 25 pounds and some exceed 40 plus pounds plus they tend to be a schooling fish so when we find them the action can get red hot but you had best bring some muscles because these fish are big and powerful!