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There are many sights and smells that remind me that the fall season is upon us. Joy’s Place opens up in October at Goodland Bay Marina where I keep my boat. The aroma of sizzling bacon is already in the air by the time I get there to prepare for another round of hide and seek with the fish. I have to resist the bacon and settle for a big old bowl of brain food and milk. The large jacks that come during the fall run are already crashing at the shrimp being tossed out to them when the dock master cleans out the evenings fatalities from the tank. The tides are lower this time of year and they have been especially low this past week. You can smell the mud and oysters that haven’t been exposed for months. All of this is a reminder to me, that winter is around the corner.
The concentration of bait that has been coming inshore has been tremendous. Everywhere that you look, you will see a small war being waged. The jacks, snook, redfish, and ladyfish are all going bonkers in pods of bait. I have been getting great catch reports. The weather was very pleasant most of the week. We are taking the brunt of our first real cold front as I type.
There have been plenty of snook of all sizes being caught all week. I took a client flyfishing for two days. He caught snook, reds and jacks. The nice thing about the low tides was that we were able to actually sight fish with great success. My diehard plug-fishing friends have been doing well all week too. Some people love to work a jig. Jigs have been very productive also. There have been some large trout and sizable pompano being caught too. The mackeral have been all over the place. I saw them in the back bays in the islands this week. Mackeral are as willing to hit anything as jacks are. I have had them strike a bare hook.
There have also been large tarpon in sizable pods being toyed with offshore. By offshore, I mean that the land is still in sight. You have to get out there and prospect around. They have been crashing the big pods of bait that are "balled" up. There are usually ladyfish amongst the bait. You can use the ladyfish as bait for the tarpon. When you are in the midst of the madness, it won’t be long before you are hooked up to the silver fury.
On a more serious note, There has been much controversy over personal watercraft (jetskies ect.) being permitted in the Ten Thousand Islands. There has been several studies done on the impact that PWCs have on national refuges. I don’t want to debate that. There are responsible citizens out there. There are also the kinds of people that behave like the water belongs to only them. Those are the people that ruin it for everyone. Big brother thrives on this kind of mass hysteria. So, once again, we are at the mercy of an outside referee. My job is to inform you that there are avenues to voice your opinion should you feel inclined to do so. You can write, fax, or call Gov. Lawton Chiles. You can write to Jim Krakowski. Jim is the Refuge Manager. You may write to him at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 3860 Tollgate Blvd., Suite 30, Naples, Fl., 34114. You can also write or call our state representatives.
It looks like we are going to have a couple of days where the weather will be a problem. It may get a bit windy. I think we should go wet a line in a backcountry creek anyway. I hope to say hi to you on the water.
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