Captain Austin bringing you the fishing report for the New Smyrna Beach area. If you have spent any time out on the water lately, you noticed a slight change in the air. Shorter days and air temps dropping slightly has triggered the mullet run. The migration starts up the Atlantic Coast with the fish moving in a southernly direction.

With the mullet comes the marauding packs of gamefish that feed on them. The list of species includes: snook, redfish, tarpon, sharks, bluefish, kingfish and more. One night recently, the entire intracoastal waterway was busting with mullet. If you find yourself in that situation, the best way to fish is getting your bait near the bottom. By fishing a bait on the bottom, you are putting the bait in a situation where it can be more easily seen by the predators. It can be hard getting your bait noticed when the fish have hundreds of choices to choose from.

We are still in snook season, however. The problem I have been having lately is everything we catch is over the slot size (28-32 inches). I shouldn’t complain, but many charters look forward to keeping a fish or two.

Over the years, our snook fishery has really developed into a very stable fishery where you can reasonably expect to catch fish over 30 inches on any given day. The reason for the gradual increase in the snook population is all the mild winters we have been experiencing. Let’s hope this trend increases over the years.

The redfish have been consistent all up and down the intracoastal waterway and this year has been one of the best people have experienced in years. With improved water quality in Mosquito Lagoon, many fishermen described the fishing as good as it was in the early 2000s. Later in the month and into November, we will see the giant reds move from offshore to the inlet to spawn. These are spawning fish, so this is strictly catch-and release only. It’s very important for the future generation of redfish so please handle them with care.

As always, let us know if you’d like us to take you fishing. We have some days open before the crazy winter season begins so give us a call or text.

-Captain Austin

Ponce Inlet October Tide Chart

CHEWS WISELY FISHING CHARTERS
Capt. Austin Campbell
(386) 689-9056
ChewsWiselyFishingCharters.com
@CaptAustinCampbell