Another cold fronts has arrived and the jackets are out all along the First Coast this week. For those willing to bundle up the fishing is still hot as the fish feed hard preparing for the colder months ahead. Inshore the action has been a fun mixed bag with lots of Sheepshead, Sea Trout, and schooled up Redfish. Offshore Triggerfish and Wahoo have been the hot bite. It’s been a great fall so for Triggerfish and with it cooling off on the party grounds look for the Sea Bass bite to pick up closer to shore.
This week I want to focus some on the small boat, kayak, and shore fisherman targeting Sheepshead. While many of the go to community hole Sheepshead spots are in big water, exposed to wakes, wind, and swell you can successfully target them in the backwaters as well. For small skiffs and kayaks high tide is a great time to target Sheepshead in the creeks. They like structure, think dock pilings, deep oyster beds, and the deep side of bends with hard bottom. Crab pots in more than 6ft of water are another go to, the fish will work around the pot and eat the legs off unlucky crabs caught inside. For shore fisherman, Sheepshead love bridges, they tend to orient around the pilings and fenders that provide a perfect habitat for the barnacles and crustaceans they like to eat. While it might take some time to figure out what tides work where in general if you can find good structure in at least 6 feet of water with some current it’s a good bet that Sheepshead will feed around it.
When I’m fishing creeks for Sheepshead I like to use small live shrimp, fresh dead shrimp, or blue crab quarters instead of fiddlers. Doing so will attract more attention from the scent and entice bites from passing Black Drum and Redfish as well. For rigging the usual Carolina rig or small hook jig head will work just go down in weight, 1/4oz or 1/2oz is enough to do the job in shallower water but you may need up to 2oz if fishing deeper or in more current. As the current varies with the tide you will have to change how much weight you're using throughout the day, the sweet spot is just heavy enough to feel the bottom, go too heavy you’ll end up stuck all the time.
Offshore the Wahoo bite has been good for early season and bottom fishing continues to be excellent out past 100 feet. Triggerfish, Vermilion snapper, Mutton snapper, and some Grouper mixed in are the mainstays for bottom fishing. While Gag grouper is closed Scamps and Reds are still open this month. Nearshore the Sea Bass bite has been picking up, the waters cooling down past where the Cobia and Tripletail prefer but there have been some stragglers caught the last week. While it looks like we may get a window offshore for bigger boats if you’re in a bay boat this weekend I would stick to inshore at least Saturday. The Sheepshead bite has been fantastic if you’re trying to fill a box or just bend a rod.
As always wishing y’all tight lines, fair winds, and following seas going into the weekend! If you’re looking to book a charter, submit a photo, or have a report to share reach out to me directly at chris@fishjax.org or visit www.fishjaxcharters.com.
The Ryan’s braved the cold last weekend for some family fishing time.
Tyler with a nice light tackle Redfish caught off the big rocks this week.