by Captain Mike Merritt
Heading into some winter fishing. The last of the fall fishing is proving to be a little tough as we have had some really strong NE winds to deal with. I am hoping the end of the month gives us a break on the winds so we can get back to fishing the outside points and Islands. This is always a great month and typically allows lots of Snook and Reds to be caught on the outside. We just had the 7th annual Hookem In The Glades Tournament and it was a huge success! Everyone that participated had a great time and it was lots of family fun!
Taking kids fishing and getting kids interested in fishing is always great. I believe I stayed out of a lot of trouble as a young boy because I was more interested in fishing.
Growing up here fishing is an important part of your heritage and we have a great fishery to allow for lots of memories to be made.
As the weather changes and we head towards our winter months we can expect many different species to show up. We are already seeing some of them as Spanish Mackerel, Black Drum, and even a few Sheepshead are being caught. This will add to the days catching and lots of variety can always be expected.
I talk about Snook more than the other species because I am partial to Snook fishing. But they are all fun and what better way to spend a day with friends and family than catching fish here in the Everglades Ten Thousand Islands.
Besides Snook and Reds being around there are some pretty good size Tarpon showing back up. Especially in the river mouths. The Mullet are coming in during the incoming tides and Tarpon are ambushing the schools as they swim by. It’s a great sight to see! Hooking up with these guys is a blast and the fight can last anywhere from minutes to hours depending on tackle and size of the fish. The longest fight I ever spent was 4 hours on light line. This is not for the impatient fisherman. But if you are geared up properly you can land them in short time. Either way it’s a rush.
Seatrout are usually picking up really good by now but with all the high winds it has been tougher to fish them as they don’t really like the stirred up waters. The waters pouring from the back country is keeping the back country pretty fresh so not as many Seatrout have headed into the areas that normally hold them in the back. It will happen but I think it will be later than normal due to an increase in water flowing out from the back country. It would be nice to see our seagrass beds restored but I feel this won’t ever happen without a grassroots effort. Maybe we can contact our representatives and let them know we are concerned. This is how things get done. But, I digress. There are some good Trout being caught and this should continue as the water temps continue to drop.
So overall the fishing inshore has been good. We are working harder to make a good day but it is still happening. That being said the near shore wrecks continue to produce good fishing. We saw the results of this in the Last 2 tournament here. The teams that fished offshore consistently place better than those that fished inshore. Which ever area you decide to fish we have it covered. From back country, to the Islands, to offshore. There are lots of options here. So as the weather has continued to get nicer I would encourage you to get out and enjoy what God has given us! Good luck fishing!
