Going into the month of September makes me happy because the fishing gets very good and archery season opens up on the Nature Coast. Checking up on our family’s hunting camp this week I saw some good game trails and dropping water levels from a wet summer. When I was a kid I remember the ditches on the way to our camp being filled with bream, bass and catfish. As in my youth it holds true now, the mosquitoes are not as bad being so much water. I think mother natures cycles help keep things in check, the many fish in the fresh waters help eat all the mosquitoes hatch, plus the many insects like dragon fly’s.
Look for a great mangrove snapper bite over the many rocks and structures in our near shore areas. Free lined live shrimp on a chartreuse 1/8th oz. jighead is the best way to target them. The nearshore rocks will also start to get better with keeper sized gag grouper hitting shallow running plugs and live pinfish. Sea trout will be congregating in the many rock grass forest growing on the hard bottom. These areas are easy to spot on low tide because the thick grass will float on the surface. On a high outgoing or incoming tide target these rock grass flats with popping corks and jigs or weedless jerk baits. Redfish will start to form schools on the outer keys with the incoming tide.
Scalloping is as good as it’s going to get. The meat is big and crowds will be limited to this Labor Day weekend. High incoming tide will be early morning and late evening this weekend.
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