A Great Month for Sight-Fishing

October ranks high on my list of favorite fishing months and I am excited at the prospects the coming month brings. Plentiful rainfall the past couple of months has our bays in good shape for the fall season. Water temps are declining to more favorable levels, thanks to all the precipitation and cloud cover. We will also have the bull tides that always occur in October, bringing cooler and cleaner water from the gulf, and we will also be experiencing the first real cold fronts of the year. Add all these together and I will say that October should not disappoint.

Weather patterns usually become more predictable in fall, making it easier to schedule sight-casting trips. As a rule of thumb, two to three days after a moderate front can be some of the absolute best conditions for sight-fishing. It’s the days that begin with light north wind that calms during mid-morning, and then switches to light southeast in the afternoon that typically offer the best opportunity. Conditions like this make it possible to fish almost any part of the bay, enjoying decent water clarity, and being able to see fish wherever we go.

 Now, one might ask, how does the progression into fall weather and the arrival of cold fronts affect fish behavior and feeding activity? Let’s break it down. First, we must understand where we’ve been. Summertime temperatures can be brutal with water temps often reaching into the upper-90s in some of the backwater lakes and marshes. By contrast, what we typically see in October are water temps running in the 70- to 80-degree range, although remaining in that range often depends on the severity and frequency of fronts that reach the coast. Seventy-degrees seems to be the magical number where big changes start to occur.

Mainly, the water clarity begins to improve. All summer long we see what is commonly known as “trout green” water. This is basically clean water, but with a strong greenish tint. This coloration is actually algae and other microorganisms that thrive in warmer water. Once fall rolls around and water temps begin to hover around that 70° mark, occasionally falling below overnight, these organisms become less prevalent. I have seen our bays go from trout green to bathtub-clear in a matter of a couple days in years past, especially if we get hit by a really hard front.

During the last few years it seems to happen in late October or early November when water temps rapidly decline 10- to 15-degrees following a front, when the bay gets shocked. No, I’m not talking about fish-killing shock, but a rapid and positive change in activity and feeding patterns. I liken it to the way we can feel hot, sweaty, and tired while doing yardwork and suddenly a front arrives. It feels invigorating at first but it doesn’t take long until we head inside to avoid the discomfort of harsh wind. The next morning you dress a little differently and probably don’t start as early as the day before. You might wait for it to warm up a bit, or for the wind to subside. You eventually head back outside and perform the same tasks as yesterday, but now you are prepared for the elements.

I believe fish react in a very similar way. It may not always occur as suddenly as the yardwork example, but it might, depending on the severity of the front. So, how could this change affect fish behavior?

If fish go deep or hug bottom when the temperature drops suddenly, we might delay our start a couple hours, waiting for things to warm up a bit. There have been times, fishing from the tower, when we’ve seen reds lying motionless on bottom in 3- to 4-foot depths, that never even flinched when we raked a bait in front of them. In fact, there have been days when I told my clients, let’s ease out of here and come back around lunchtime. Returning to the area after the day had warmed, every cast was met with a vicious strike as though it was their last meal.

Now I know this only describes a few days of the month and I bring it up only because we can get some big fronts this month. The rest of the month is certainly more “normal” with mid-70 to mid-80s air temps and varying sky conditions. But all it takes is one big front to create a significant change in fish behavior for several days, or maybe even the rest of the month.

The majority of October days will include redfish remaining on shallow flats much of the time, tailing, or even pushing around with their backs half-exposed. This is because they are comfortable, rooting bottom and feeding on the abundance of small crabs, grass shrimp, and pinfish that inhabit the mostly grassy and shallow water. Once we are able to put a pattern on a group of fish in an area, we can often target them for several days, or even multiple times during a day after a couple hours of break time to allow them to settle again.

October can be a month of changing weather and water conditions, yet it also can be one of the most productive and rewarding months to spend time on the water. Like I have said in past articles, pay attention to what the bay is telling you, and you will soon be calling October one of your favorites. As we draw closer to the end of the year we are looking forward to our return to Port Mansfield, for what should be an epic winter trout season. I believe we could see fishing like we experienced in 2019/20, and even the pre-freeze days of 2021. Stay tuned for reports and photos.