Summer Lingers on Baffin Bay

BAFFIN BAY

Reported by CAPT. GERAD MERRITT

Capt. Gerrad Merritt

Email Gerad Merritt at GeradMerritt@gmail.com

Visit Online: ParadiseGuideServices.com

LISTEN: (2 Min, 19 Sec)

THE MONTHS WE CONSIDER SUMMER are behind us, but fishing in September and October on Baffin Bay still has a summertime feel. The heat is lingering and on an average year we do not start seeing any significant cool fronts until November. Due to this, water temperatures are still fairly high, and this causes the fish to stay deeper. Flats and shallows still have some fish on them early in the morning, late in the evenings, and into the night as they venture out to feed.

We have reached the transition phase for live bait. When it is available, we are still using live croaker, but we have also started switching to live shrimp and plastics for the groups that prefer to fish with artificials.

Our unique rock system is still holding a good number of speckled trout, as a lot of these giant rocks tend to be out in deeper water. These rocks can sometimes be seen sticking out of the water or just inches below the surface, even though the water depth may be four, five, or sometimes even six feet deep. If fishing Baffin Bay, please be careful when drifting or running a boat around them.

One suggestion I always make when fishing these rock structures is when an angler throws on top of one and gets snagged using a live bait, simply give the line some slack. In doing this, most of the time one of three things will happen. The bait will swim itself off, the current or wind will push it off, or a fish will see an easy meal and pick it up. I ask my anglers to let it sit for three or four solid minutes before we go the route of breaking the line. When fishing the deeper drop offs and out in the laguna, I tie either a slip weight or chatter weight on to help the bait stay lower in the water column and help them slow down if the current is moving rapidly.

Remember, don’t be scared to try a new fishing tactic! Have fun, enjoy the water and make memories with your friends and family this fall!

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It’s Big Fish Season

LOWER LAGUNA MADRE

Reported by CAPT. BRIAN BARRERA

Email Brian Barrera at CaptBrianBFishing@gmail.com

Visit Online: InshoreFishingSouthPadre.com

LISTEN: (00 Min, 00 Sec)

SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER are truly some of my favorite months to fish, and it’s going to take a whole lot to get me to leave the inlet and other deep surrounding areas to chase fish on the flats. It’s big fish season, time to break out the 6,000, 8,000 and 10,000 size reals and the 100lb leader! By this time, we will be in full tarpon migration mode targeting them as much as possible when weather permits, looking for rolling fish in 20-30ft of water during this warmth is where I like to start. If they’re not rolling very much, I will use my Humminbird Solix and side scan and down scan along the inlets and channel edges looking for fish throughout the water column. Early morning and late evening they may rise up to party with the fisherman committed to 4am alarm clocks and sun up to sunset days on the water. Tarpon are usually eating everything, or nothing, which can make it very hard when the stars aren’t aligned. But truth be told it is easier to feed ‘em than it is to fool ‘em so when push comes to shove don’t be afraid to sling a nice live bait at them and hold on, you might be in for the fight of a lifetime.

When the Tarpon aren’t playing nice, there’s other silver fish hanging around at the jetty’s that seem to be a bit more “fisherman friendly”. Kingfish, how many guide trips have I had that have been saved by a bunch of smokin’ kings? Plenty!

This time of year, kingfish are plentiful if you can find the clear water or get a good east wind for a few days to push the blue water in. Trolling very big rattle traps, casting big silver spoons, slow rolling heavy jigs with plastics, or free-lining ribbonfish are great ways to get bit while fishing for kingfish. Don’t forget some steel leader and be weary of the razor sharp teeth!

It’s also never a bad idea to have a bottom rod rigged and ready to drop down for bull reds when the time is right, the redfish run tends to kick in around this time of year, so I stay prepared for big schools. Sending down a heavy drop shot style rig with a live finger mullet never fails when they’re hanging around. If your favorite is artificial, both the redfish and tarpon absolutely love the DOA Bait Buster in root beer or glow color. Good luck on the water and stay safe!