Monsoon-like rains and stiff northerly winds have been the theme for much of the start of October. This trend is expected to continue with the incoming tropical low heading toward the northern Gulf. Waters throughout the bays will become noticeably stained, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for many types of fishing. While I prefer clear water for things like sight-fishing, stained water is great for targeting trout, redfish, and the like with topwater lures or other aggressive artificial baits. With limited visibility, fish respond well to lures that produce vibration and disturb the water's surface.
During low tides, dock fishing has been lights-out. Big schools of upper-slot redfish have been hanging around docks with deeper water access toward the end. While you can catch these fish with artificial lures, they'll be much easier to catch on live or natural baits. Natural baits will also give you shots at other species that inhabit docks, like mangrove snapper, flounder, and the like. Set up on the up-current side of the dock and let your baits drift with the tide toward the fish. A medium spinning rod and 15-pound braid are enough to catch the vast majority of these fish while keeping things sporting.
There are lots of big Spanish mackerel around right now, cruising the deeper sand just off the flats. I typically don't target Spanish mackerel; however, when live-chumming for mangroves and redfish, I do catch a significant number of them as bycatch. If you find that your line is getting cut off randomly while using a light leader, mackerel are the most likely culprit, followed by bluefish, which have also been abundant.
The inshore red snapper bite is on fire as well. You can keep snapper on the remaining weekends throughout October, as well as a few weekends next month. Red snapper are far more spread out throughout the bay than most people realize. I catch plenty of good fish in the 4–8-pound class in water ranging from 15 to 30 feet deep. When fishing in less than 20 feet of water, I'll often flat-line a live bait or fish a similar jig-and-soft-plastic combination to what I'd throw at a redfish. A 1/2-ounce jig paired with a 5-inch soft-plastic jerkbait is a killer way to catch snapper in shallow water. In water ranging from 20 to 40 feet deep, I like to use a 3/4-ounce lead weight with a live pilchard, pinfish, or chunk of cigar minnow. Of course, they'll also eat all other forms of live and natural baits.
While fishing around the bay, be on the lookout for schools of big jack crevalle cruising around. They'll be easy to spot because they push huge wakes when cruising the flats and typically destroy any baits or lures they come across. Be sure to have enough rod and reel to handle them because they're absolute maniacs once hooked. Topwaters and other surface lures are the most fun to throw at them, and you'll usually have several fish fighting over your plug.
If you have additional questions about what's biting, how to catch them, or would like to book a trip, I encourage you to give me a call or shoot me an email. Good Luck!
