Happy Fishing! Here is this weekend's Big Bend fishing report
Yes, “Dog Days of Summer” are hot! So hot, the dog just sits on the porch all day in the shade.
With local water temperatures in lakes, ponds and Gulf of Mexico are in the high 80’s, some, but not much relief can be found. As daytime temps climb near 100, area waterways rise as well. What to do to stay cool?
Springs could be the answer. No, not the ones in your mattress, the one’s that occur when water pressure causes a natural flow of groundwater onto the earth’s surface. As rainwater enters or recharges the aquifer, pressure is placed on the water already present. Average temperature of springs in North Florida run between 65 and 70 degrees respectively.
With over 150 springs located within 70 miles of Florida’s capitol, relief from heat is well withing a 90 minute drive. Here’s a short list of the area’s more popular springs.
Jackson Blue spring located approximately 56 miles NW of Tallahassee, Merrit Mills pond, located just south of Jackson Blue springs, Madison blue Spring, 60 miles East of Tallahassee, Wacissa Spring, in Monticello and Wakulla Spring the closest, just South of Tallahassee. Swimming is available at all springs with additional activities like fishing, kayaking, canoeing, snorkeling and even a glass bottom boat tour. Visit Florida Springs near Tallahassee (floridaspringlife.com) for detailed information.
Until next week, be safe have fun and ALWAYS wear your life jacket while boating.
APALACHEE BAY
Otto Hough (Facebook @myhometownfishing) says, ”Extremely hot on the Big Pond this past weekend on into midweek with skinny water temps around the Big Bend registering 90 degrees plus. Doesn't really need to be mentioned, but air temps by the lunchtime hour each day were stifling, with triple digit heat indices. Fortunately, Ma Nature is cutting anglers some slack these next three days. While air temps will still be well into the 90s, heat indices should be down, back into the regular two digit range normal for August. Still, stay well hydrated.
All that being said, the trout and reds fed way early and way late this past weekend on into midweek going into the Wednesday new moon. While topwater plugging in the pre-sunrise hours was rewarding when "walking the dawg", so too was drift fishing for those anglers working popping corks, like the Cajun Thunder or Equalizer, with a lively shrimp, when available or a softbait imitation shrimp sweetened with a dab of shrimp scented ProCure when live bait wasn't handy. Jigheads tipped with a live shrimp when offered up on the edges of submerged oyster bars holding mullet were eliciting attention from the reds in the early morning hours.
With the water temps still tickling the 90° mark, the best bets are to wet those lines way early near sunrise on through the morning time minor solunar feed period or, chase 'em later in the afternoon, a few hours before full high on into the turn. During this period, the tide will be syncing up with a major solunar feed period.
Post new moon tidal flows over the coming weekend will remain significant, with mid-to-late morning low tides first up. There should be a good amount of water returning during the rising tides into the mid-to-late afternoon highs. For the most part, winds all weekend will generally be slight, first out of the west Friday, shifting around from the north by sunrise or so Saturday, then finishing out the weekend from east Sunday. Seas should be conducive to running all across the waters of the Big Bend, inside or outside, all the way through the weekend.
Scallopers had been going full bore prior to schools reopening this past week that tended to greatly diminish the weekday crowds. However, expect to encounter a sizeable weekend crowd at the ramps with folks trying to get the kids a few more fun trips before the season closes out at the stroke of midnight, September 24th.
Remember boating safety 101. Given the likelihood of lots of folks on the water, especially around St. Marks trying to squeeze out a few last scalloping opportunities for their families and friends, be cautious when running. Also, practice ramp etiquette at all times while closely adhering to the nautical rules of the road, aka waterways. Wear that auto-inflatable PFD! Go have some fun on the waters of the Big Bend. Boat safely! Just FISH!
INLAND
Those afternoon boomers passing over northern Leon County have been most helpful to water levels and quality in Lake Iamonia. A good amount of water over the Iamonia drainage has served to raise the lake to 97.57 feet above sea level, up a good half foot since a week ago Thursday. New, cooler oxygenated water along with the new moon has helped to stimulate the bass bite.
On this new moon, the bream have been bedding all across the lake. In and around those bedding areas, the bass have been feasting on the bream. Softbaits, like the Zoom fluke have been snookering many voracious feeders hanging near the beds for an easy meal.
Zoom Speedvibes and Horny Toads, also the Z-man ToadZs, when worked over the fringes of the pads on out and over the topped out coontail have been garnering the attention of some very healthy 2 to 4 pound bass.
ST GEORGE ISLAND
Captain Russ Knapp (850-653-5072) reports, “As of Wednesday afternoon, Saturday definitely looks like the best day this weekend from a weather standpoint with winds forecast to be from the North at 5 to 10 knots and seas 1 foot or less.
Sunday things get a bit more interesting with a tropical wave posed to cross the Florida Peninsula late Saturday night and cause a wind shift to the East. The forecast as of now is calling for winds 10 to 15 knots from the East and seas running 2 to 3 feet with a 50% chance of rain but, as Capt. Clint will tell you never trust an East wind so be careful.
Tides at the Cut this weekend will feature 6AM 1.7 highs , followed by noon time .9 lows and closing out with a dinnertime 1.5 high tide and sunset at 8:16 PM.
In the bay this week, Capt. Dan Fortunas (850 980 0101) reports slot Reds and Mangrove Snapper can be found around the Cut and would love for you to offer them a fresh shrimp but, dinnertime for them is late in the afternoon till sunset.
Shark month is still in full swing with sharks of all sizes being caught around any structure in the area of The Cut, West pass and for all you swimmers right off the beach. Fresh cut bait or frozen finger Mullet should work well to bring them to your hook. Please don't use stainless steel hooks as you will get cut off with sharks and a plain steel hook will rust out of their mouth in about three weeks but stainless is there pretty much forever.
Tripletail are still around and Capt. Randy Peart (850 320 4214) says with the warm water they may not be as close to the surface as normal. So, if you pull up to your favorite buoy and don't see any fish, Capt. Randy suggests hook a fresh or live shrimp on an 1/8 oz jighead and let it sink near the structure.
Offshore, the big news is the addition of recreational Red Snapper days in state waters (out to nine miles) to the calendar, with all Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays open in September in addition to Labor Day and Thanksgiving Day. FWC reminds you that you have to have a descending Device on board and be registered as a State Reef Fish Angler.
Out in the big water, Capt. Clint Taylor (850 370 6631) reports that a good number of Yellowtail Snapper seem to have gotten lost and are cruising about in our area which is a bit of first for here. Fishing about halfway down with a small bit of squid both on wrecks and live bottom may/will put you in the yellowtail club. Capt. Clint also reports that the pelagic are also here in full force with many Captains putting Wahoo and Black Fin Tuna in the fish box when fishing out past 25 miles. Trolling between numbers will not only cool off your anglers but may have you eating Wahoo steaks, while putting out a flat line may tempt a Tuna to your bait.
Tip of the week -- I know we are always warning about weather issues but last night I came in with a squall ahead of me and another behind me both of which formed out of nothing. The tropical wave coming into the Gulf Saturday night will bring with it a good chance of strong, fast-moving squalls so do PLEASE pay attention and be careful!
KEATON BEACH
Captain Pat McGriff of one more cast charters, (onemorecast@gtcom.net) says, “Trout continue to bite in the shallow water despite the incessant heat; but as long as you have a breeze we are catching them.
Billy Pillow and I fished three–and-a-half hours Wednesday for 6 trout and two reds to 26.75 inches and we threw back two reds as well. We caught all our fish in 3.5 to 4.5 feet of water.
Don Garner down for a couple of days with two pals from Valdosta, Ga. had 9 trout and two reds on Monday and then fished 6 hours Tuesday for 12 trout and 5 reds keeping only 3 of course.
The Garner trio was fishing with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders as were we Wednesday. We caught one small Blacktip Shark and had a much larger shark strip off most of Billy’s line before I cranked up and pursued it. Upon the next closer encounter he decided that was enough and LEFT. The higher tides associated with the new moon this week should generate a great bite this weekend with a greater volume of water moving.
MEXICO BEACH
Captain Kevin Lanier of (KC Sportfishing Charters 850-933-8804) says, “We are definitely in the Dog Days of summer here in the Northwest part of Florida with daily temperatures above 95. This has made those drift fishing trips almost too much to bear.
The State and Federal Fishing Managers have announced an extended Fall Red Snapper season. I would encourage you to check out MyFWC.com to see these. Basically it gives you fishing opportunities in September, October, and November. Please check the regs to verify the dates
Meanwhile in our area we can now retain Triggerfish and Amberjack. If you want to target Triggers I suggest using a “Chicken Rig” or 2 hook stack rig with a 6 oz bell sinker attached to the bottom. Use pieces of Squid the size of a quarter and fish in right near the bottom.
Amberjack are located in the same are but I use a metal jig and work it through the water column. If you want a big AJ use a live bait with not weight and float it near the structure
Make sure you get those fall snapper dates
KAYAK REPORT
Salt Strong Coach Matt Lanier, (matt@saltstrong.com 850 408 2910) tells us, “This weekend is looking like rain! But that doesn’t mean we can’t get out there and catch fish! No electricity and a good rain can help the bite this time of year.
Just be sure to pay attention to the local radar to stay on top of the impending weather to determine the best shot at getting on the water. We can often get a good bite after the rain showers but be sure to keep safety in mind first! Lightning is a HARD PASS!
Coming off of this new moon we have some really good tidal flow, so try to get out to wet a line if at all able, but focus your efforts in the major feeding times (early in the morning or later in the evening) whenever possible.
The trout are pushed out on the flats in the deeper potholes in the 4-6 foot range, in more comfortable waters with good salinity. They tend to sit further from shore in the summertime, on the ledges of the flats where the waters are a bit cooler. The larger number of trout are harder to find with the rain runoff and warmer temps, but covering flats at proper depth will produce a limit. When targeting the trout, be sure to use jig heads heavy enough to get you down in the deeper part of the water column, where those fish are at. Typically, a 3/16th or 1/4th oz will do fine in most areas, but a favorite to call in the fish on tough days will always be a popping cork with a paddletail or shrimp imitation about 24 inches or so underneath.
Redfish are moving further off the shoreline onto the flats, cruising in cooler waters with broken bottom. As it may be best to look in the 2-3 foot range in most cases, the redfish will also often return to the shorelines with the incoming tide. On those hot days, as the sun gets higher in the sky, they will generally move back out a bit deeper and sit in the potholes on the flats, in search of comfortable waters and favorable conditions. On those hot and calm days, a soft jerk shad has been producing for those finicky and hot fish, but when the water is moving good a paddletail is a solid producer.
If the winds allow, you can start the mornings with a topwater plug of choice to entice those massive blowups just after sunrise. Productive lures we have been using are the Skitter Walk, Moonwalker, One-Knocker or any other walk-the-dog style topwater. With the floating grass we have been getting, it can often be helpful to go with a single inline hook choice to keep that pesky grass off those treble hooks.
Once the sun is up, your lure choice should generally move to something subsurface. As the higher the sun gets, the fish are less likely to feed on a topwater, so switching to a paddletail or a jerk shad, spoon, or even a hard, suspending twitch bait has been productive, but the most important thing will be to find the bait and current.
One important thing is with these warmer temperatures… the earlier the better. Your best bite will typically come before it gets too hot outside. Be sure to keep moving if you aren’t finding feeding fish. With the warmer temperatures, the fish will be spread out, on the move and we need to be doing the same to find their preferred feeding zones. Try not to spend too much time in one area if you aren’t getting the bites you are looking for. The next Florida Redfish Series Pro Go Live event will be this Saturday August 19th, and will be a three redfish combined slot length, and a bonus big red, and trout jackpot! Boaters and kayakers alike are welcome to participate in this event so be sure to mark your calendar for some fun ripping lips! For more info about this event or others, be sure to check out flredfishseries.com
If you find yourself on the water and fishing in a spot where you haven’t gotten a bite for the last 15 minutes… it’s time to move. Keep looking for the 90/10 zone where those fish are holding. Don’t waste time in unproductive areas. The fish are moving and so should you!
To get the kids on some fish quickly, a live shrimp, or GULP!, under a popping cork around creek mouths, and even grass lines is a solid producer of fish. And the best part is you never know what you’ll catch because everything eats shrimp… EVEN ME!
If you plan on the water, please be sure to check the weather! The storms we get this time of year can roll in quickly, so stay aware, and always make sure you check (and double check) your gear and the weather. Most importantly… STAY SAFE & HAVE FUN!
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Happy Fishing! Check out this weekend's Big Bend fishing report
