Silver King Communications

If the advance forecast holds true, it looks like a seasonal adjustment is on tap. The expected cold front will usher in breezy north winds and temperatures more typical for November. That will cool off the coastal water and trigger better action on the flats and creeks.

Last weekend was another challenging one with strong winds and murky water. Anglers who ventured out, mainly on Sunday, found a few fish but the bite was off despite the new moon tides. Trout are scattered and are feeding on shrimp lures like the DOA 1/4-ounce or 2.75 variety, fished plain or under a popping/clacker cork. New penny, gold glitter and near clear are the most realistic and proven patterns right now. A pinfish under a float is another viable option. The fish were typically found in depths less than six feet.

Redfish are schooling more but haven’t truly turned on, either. Expect that to change with the cool front after the barometric pressure stabilizes. Gold or watermelon ADL willow blade weedless spoons tossed methodically around oyster bars like those throughout the mouths of the coastal rivers and backcountry creeks will produce. Soft-plastic jerk baits rigged weedless with a worm hook or nose-hooked with a circle or live bait hook are also effective.

Flounder and black sea bass are plentiful. Bounce a white or white/red tail Sureketch jig along the bottom of drop-offs or pot holes. Arkansas glow or Stark Naked CAL shad tails pinned to a light jig head are a dead ringer for mud minnows, if you don’t want to mess with the real thing.

The cold front will likely signal the last of the seasonal visitors. Spanish mackerel, pompano, tripletail and tarpon will all be hightailing it south. There may be a few bluefish and jack crevalle lagging but they won’t be here much longer, either.

State officials have added another red snapper window due to Nestor’s previous blow-out. It’ll be Nov. 2-3, but be careful out there. Coming on the heels of St. Mark’s Stone Crab Festival last Saturday will be the Florida Seafood Festival in Apalachicola Nov. 1-2 with lots to do for the whole family.

The waxing crescent moon phase won’t do any favors with strong tides this weekend. Weak mid-day lows will be more pronounced with the North winds, so choose launch sites carefully. Expect a brief peak feeding window right after daylight, followed by an average opportunity early each afternoon for about an hour as the moon rises. The temperature changes may over-ride the normal solunar predictions to produce a hot bite. But you won’t know unless you go.

Now that Nestor has washed through and we’ve experienced our first autumn cold front, maybe the fish will settle into a new routine. With daylight hours decreasing and water temperatures dropping, the seasonal visitors will be heading south while the resident game fish hit the bait buffet in anticipation of leaner times ahead.

Shrimp are moving out of the marshes and pinfish, finger mullet, sardines and mud minnows are still thick. The top water bite has been off the last week or so; floating grass on the surface only compounds the problem. Hopefully the storm dispersed most of the grass and the cooler temps will renew the surface action. If you see mullet jumping or schooling, a noisy plug is always worth a few casts, anyway. Adding a squirt of Pro-Cure mullet gel would increase the attraction.

There have been plenty of trout coming to the net. The majority are just below or right at 15 inches, however. A few keepers are being boated, but not like it should be. If the Fish & Wildlife Commission goes ahead with some of the trout proposals, populations should rebound. Soft-plastic jerk baits with a nose hook or touts and shrimp lures under a popping or clacker cork are producing the most strikes. Depths range up to six feet, but the fish will be moving closer to the hill every day.

Flounder are staging around creek/river mouths, sandy pot holes, oyster bars and other pinch points. Fan-cast the area before moving on. If you catch one flattie, others will be in the vicinity.

A few will be lingering, but Spanish mackerel, pompano, tripletail, sharks, cobia and tarpon are not long for Big Bend parts. They’ll either be starting the trek south for the winter or heading offshore into the Gulf where water temperatures are more moderate.

The weekend forecast continues to look better and better. Winds will be clocking around but at tolerable levels. The likelihood of rain is dropping too, but tote the foul weather gear just in case. Tides will be very favorable with Sunday’s new moon. Lows will be around daybreak with nearly four feet of incoming water by mid-afternoon. Expect a decent feeding window early and then a very high activity period from lunch until the tide crests. This is the last weekend of the extended recreational red snapper season, so expect plenty of traffic at the area ramps. The St. Marks Stone Crab and Monarch Butterfly Festivals are being held Saturday, so it’ll be a busy time at the coast. Let’s hope Mother Nature cooperates with sunny skies and calm seas.

How does that saying go, when it rains it pours? The drought seems to be broken and now we’re looking at several stormy days ahead, including this upcoming weekend. The silver lining is the temperatures are cooling and the fall season is really getting underway.

The trout bite has been decent the last week. Most of the fish are holding in depths of three to six feet. Anglers are having to sort through plenty of undersize fish to find some legal ones. DOA 1/4-ounce shrimp in near clear, the 2.75 DOA shrimp in new penny and touts like the Sureketch style grubs are producing. The top-water bite has been off due to last Sunday’s full moon and the incessant floating grass that seems to be especially thick on the East Flats.

Redfish are prowling the shorelines and oyster bars. The bars in the mouths of the coastal rivers are always productive this time of year on moving water. Aqua Dream weedless gold and pink spoons will pinpoint the fish.

Flounder action is also picking up, along with black sea bass, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel and tripletail. Big jacks are pounding the bait schools throughout the Forgotten Coast. There are still some cobia and sharks around, but they’ll skedaddle with the first real cold front. On Monday the water temperatures were in the lower 70s to start before climbing to 80 degrees by late afternoon. This week’s rain should push temps back into the 70s.