Captain Alex Moran
Spirit Fly Charters
October 2024
Time to raise the dead! Generally I would recommend sacrificing your first born tax deduction but the stray neighborhood cat will do just fine. Anything to catch some tailing redfish right? Maybe toss one of those invasive iguana legs into the cauldron to make your skiff run faster into a stiff north wind. It'll work.... captain science is real, as are the "Barrow- Wights". Tread lightly in the dark forests and travel only by day. Some stones are best left unturned in the harrowing journey to find the skunk ape.
October is an interesting four weeks down here. We're going to get our first solid cold front at some point in time this month and I'm not sure when it will be, but until we do I'll still keep that 11wt under the gunnel for a shot at the errant giant resident tarpon that show up when you least expect it (true giants... like Andre). As I'm writing this I'm cooling off from a morning on the water surrounded by rolling juvenile tarpon and the water temps were hovering around 78 degrees, which in my opinion is the perfect temperature for inshore gamefish. I could be wrong though, one of my fishing partners and I caught a tarpon in February with water temps in the mid 60's on a redfish fly.... soooo yeah there's that.
As I stated last month, I'm going to talk about redfish for a change (sorry tarpon). If you think you're shocked, you should've seen my parent's faces when they found out I wasn't pursuing a career with my degree #disappointingmomsince1989 baby! Pine Island redfish are my arch nemesis, and to this day the only person I've met that can consistently sight fish them on fly is my fishing partner, the one and only Vincent "The Italian Hammer" Sawchuck. The guy is a monster on the bow.
During October we'll start to see big schools of redfish coming in from the gulf. Most of these fish are that perfect 20"-30" range we see throughout the year and a few times each fall I'll see pods of 300+ fish. It's pretty neat having a big copper wave coming down a sandbar at you. For whatever reason there aren't many bull reds in our estuary, but my theory is that they reach a certain size and then end up going offshore and up to Louisiana so they can get fat on gumbo before they end up on the Youtube videos that the drone hipster kids are putting out nowadays. In all seriousness, I really don't think we have many that spend their whole lives in this estuary. Every now and then I'll hear of guys running their skiffs a mile or two offshore on slick calm days and running into schools of bulls but that's few and far between. Definitely something worth taking note of, however.
Generally, I'll see these schools bouncing between and along sandbars in the harbor (Charlotte). With any luck you'll see them far enough off as you're running that you can cut them off as they ride the tide. This phenomenon basically looks like a really large agitated school of mullet pushing headwakes, much in the way that a bowling pin turned ass end forward and pulled just under the surface would. If you encounter these fish on the flats the action can be red hot, and generally any well presented fly should get the eat as the fish start to get competitive, especially in skinny water while they're trying to maximize the short feeding window on that particular tide. The skinnier water often calls for weed guards, even on the most lightly weighted flies so make sure you have some in your quiver. I like all black, tan, and white in my box, but you wouldn't be wrong to have some schminnows tied up with rootbeer chenille and a tan craft fur tail on a #1 hook.
When I can't locate big schools of redfish I'll turn to the backcountry to sight fish singles/pairs laid up or slowly cruising shorelines. As I approach a bay I like to look for mullet or small baitfish in the calm areas out of the wind. Usually you'll find most of your love along the mangroves but as the tide bottoms out and the sun gets high you'll see everything move into the middle. Whenever I see a school of mullet I'll have my anglers make a cast or two at them because there's always a chance of a sneaky red hanging out below them to dodge the ospreys. Many of the back bays littered around the harbor have really small changes in bottom contours that will take time to learn, but when you do get comfortable with an area you'll often find the fish on these slight depth changes. At dead low tides, especially 0.0 or lower I'm always keeping an eye out for tailing reds. They can be very subtle at times but it's worth looking for. If you get a cast to their faces and they don't spook you've got a good chance at getting the eat. That makes for some heart stopping fun and is about as cool as it gets here on Pine Island.
If you find yourself in a bay and the tide begins to come in I'd focus on the shorelines by the entrance where the water is coming in. They're either going left or right so take your pick and be ready to nab one of those copper critters. The shorelines on the outside of the bays are another good option depending on what the wind and sun are doing, but that's all situational and you'll have to figure that out on the day of (that's the fun part anyways). As the water gets higher the fish will move deeper into the mangroves and it's time to change plans and look atop sand or oyster bars. Lunch and a beer aren't a bad option either though!
When targeting reds specifically I like to have rods set up with flies of various sink rates. I'll always have one rod rigged with a topwater fly (such as a gurgler or some variation of it), one with a suspending fly like a deer hair slider or an EP baitfish pattern (you can never go wrong with the everglades special), and then another rod with an intermediate tip and a lightly weighted bead chain eye fly for the deep water scenarios. An 8wt is more than sufficient for dragging these guys to the boat and away from the sharks that have been harassing my boat the last few months. Keep your leaders simple (7ft 40lb - 4ft 20lb) and go have some fun. If the fish in the back get fussy I'll toss an 18" section of 15lb material on and that usually does the trick.
I'm out of ideas as for what to talk about right now and trying to figure out what horror movie to watch tonight. My friend Vanessa recently starred in "The Attack of The Meth Gator" so maybe I'll find that while I tie up some flies for you guys to use when you book a trip! Until next month, try not to get eaten by any monsters, watch out for the Mothman, especially if he's on a bridge you frequently travel over, wear sunscreen, and I know I say it a few times a year but DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW.
Capt. Alex Moran
SpiritFly Charters
