Hot Fall Action

Trout by the truck loads are everywhere. Now, the challenge is sorting through the millions of 14 to 14 3/4 inch fish to find a few for the grease but if you keep at it you should have no problem getting enough to feed the family. Here is what I have been doing to catch a bunch and take home a few nice ones.

A light action rod and reel. Plenty of 1/4 ounce lead head jigs. Plenty of Gotcha 3 1/2 inch paddle tail Shad Bodies in pearl, chartreuse, pearl and red, chartreuse and black (this has been the color), pearl and black and clear and black.

Some hard lures, like floater divers, top water and suspending. I have been using sizes from 3 inches to the big Zara Spook with real good success on calm days. Windy days, good luck on the top water but the suspending and floater divers still work.

Now that we are ready to go. Head to your favorite trout spots, put the trolling motor down and start casting. Do not spend a lot of time in one area unless you get bit. If you do catch one, work that area pretty good as lately there has not been just one fish. Once I have found them, the action is pretty steady.

These fish are in the winter time mode and will not chase a bait very hard, so what ever you are working, work it slow. I know that the soft plastics I am throwing are getting a slight tug and almost a heavy rod feeling and not a pull the pole out of your hand bite. So work your bait slow and will get more bites.

If you manage to hook up with something that pulls real good and runs from side to side, you might have a real nice bluefish, as I have had a few of those lately in the 8 pound class. Oh, and a few 1/2 trout have come to the boat on the hook and what else could be eating them but bluefish.

We have in this area had some monster high tides with the full moon and nor'easter, so redfishing on the low tide has been pretty tough. But I have managed to work the edges with a small cork and mud minnow to produce a few nice reds. A small live mullet or big live shrimp will also work for these reds. On the days it is not blowing too bad, a great way to catch reds on the higher water is a 4 to 6 inch soft plastic with a 5/0 X-Point worm hook in it, tied directly to the fishing line. My best set up for this is a light Shakespeare spinner on a 7 foot Ugly Stik with 10 to 15 pound test Power Pro. You cast this a mile and it works great over the tops of the mounds. Work it like it is wounded and expect a strike almost like a topwater. The Gotcha 4 to 6 inch Shad Bodies work great for this. Try to rig the lure where the point of the hook is barely sticking out of the back. When you get it rigged up drop it next to the boat and swim it. The tail should be flip flopping as it swims. I like to cast it, twitch it and reel it slowly to get the best action. Change your action around to see what works best for you.

There are still a few monster reds in the river but I expect them to be gone real soon as they make their way back to the ocean. The jetties (when the winds will let you fish there) are still producing big numbers of redfish on the south and north tips. A mullet, crab, squid, big shrimp, cut croaker and silver spoon fished directly on the bottom will generate good bites. I like to send out 4 to 6 rigs, put them in the rod holders and hurry up and wait. When I use live or natural bait, I use a Daiichi 5/0 Circle Wide hook, so almost all of my fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth. With this style of hook, it is best if you wait until the fish is hooked up before you have any interaction with the rod OR you will feel the fish and rare back and set the hook, which is a NO NO with a circle hook. If you just HAVE TO hold the rod while using a circle hook, lift up gently and turn the reel handle when you feel the bite. This will work in getting the hook in the fish but not as good as leaving it in the rod holder until the rod is bent over.

The sheepshead have been on fire with catches of 15 to 50 at the jetties and some rock piles in the river. Almost all of the bridge piles near the ocean should have a few on them as well. There are a few baits that work well on sheepshead but none as good as a fiddler (this time of the year). If you go to the jetties for these hard fighting tasty critters, be careful and do not anchor your boat from the stern. I see several people each year the do that and have big problems.

The whiting are starting to show in the river and sound and with a few pounds of dead shrimp, enough weight to hold bottom, a small hook and being in the right place, you can have a blast and have some of the best eating fish to bring home that you have ever eaten.

If you are going to fish for whiting, keep in mind, how small their mouth is and do not use a bait too big to fit in it. I like to use a Daiichi D82 Circle Wide #1 hook and a piece of shrimp that is no larger than the last joint on my little finger. That is plenty small enough for the fish to get it all in it's mouth and a hook that will set itself. The rest of my rig consist of a sinker just big enough to hold bottom, a small barrel swivel and a mono leader about 6 to 12 inches long.

Great places to try for these are Nassau sound in about 15 to 30 feet of water. I know that is a pretty big range of water depth but they move around. When you get to a spot, DO NOT throw your anchor. Ease it over until it touches bottom then finish letting out the line. Give a spot about 10 minutes and if no bites move to another spot in either deeper or shallower water. When you find them, you should be able to sit on the spot and catch a bunch before they relocate. Don't send out your baits and lay your rod down or it might go swimming. Yes these small fish can snatch your rod, reel and line slap out of the boat, before you can grab it. I have seen it once in my boat and plenty other times on other boats.

The ocean has producing great numbers of snapper and some good grouper (when the weather cooperates). With the water cooling off the fish have moved closer in and runs of 8 to 12 miles are plenty far enough for a good catch. Live bait is always best but if you cannot catch live ones, dead cigar minnows, squid, cut bait and boston mackerel work great. Once you get to a spot, you can always have one of the crew send down a Sibiki rig for some small grunts as they will produce some rod bending action as well as live mullet or cigar minnows. If you want to get froggy, try a small live blue crab. If you do use a live crab, let me know how it worked. A picture of what it caught would be good.