| Window | Time | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Major | 1:15 AM to 3:45 AM | moon overhead |
| Minor | 9:20 AM | moonset |
| Major | 1:40 PM to 4:10 PM | moon underfoot |
| Minor | 8:35 PM | moonrise |
Wind is holding about 9 in of extra water in the bay.
Marine: South winds around 5 knots, becoming southeast late this morning, then becoming east early this afternoon, increasing to 10 to 15 knots late t
The first real cool fronts are on the way and the bay is already feeling it, with water sliding out of the low 90s into the low 80s. Clean Gulf water is pushing in through the East Cut on the evening tides, lifting the lower bay and stacking bait.
This is the month the mullet school up hard, and the trout follow. Huge rafts of mullet will sit in a foot or two of water with constant blowups in and around them, and in a lot of cases the biggest trout are directly under the bait. Fish over 25 inches start showing on nearly every trip as the water cools, and topwaters go back to being the first thing you tie on. Work the east side sand and grass edges wherever the bait is thickest and let the mullet tell you where to stop. Boat traffic thins out this month too, which never hurts.
Schools are forming near the East Cut and smaller pods are cruising the shallow back bay shorelines. If you find a big school, wade to it rather than running the boat in, and work the edge instead of the middle. The oversized fish, some past 20 pounds, are still holding at the jetties and will hang there deep into the month. Gold spoons and topwaters both get it done on the flats.
Cooling water starts nudging drum toward the channels and deeper edges for winter. Keep an eye out for a patch of muddied water on a clear flat, that is a feeding school rooting the bottom, and fresh drum noodles mean they just came through. Peeled shrimp on the bottom is all it takes.
The headline fish of the month. The run toward the Gulf starts in October, and every strong front fires a fresh push of fish toward the East Cut and the ICW edges. Most keepers run 17 to 19 inches with the occasional four pounder. Work drains, spoil drop offs, and channel edges with a paddletail slow and tight to the bottom. Season closes November 1, so this is the window.
Water near 81 and the fish know fall is coming. Tarpon are still along the beachfront and will stay until the water drops below the mid 70s. Kings are feeding hard on migrating bait, and state water snapper stay steady on the nearshore structure. Fronts start shortening the weather windows, so take the calm days when they come.
