It's October!

As I sit here to write at my kitchen table watching it rain, I’m having a severe case of writer’s block. Selecting a topic and title is usually much easier but striving to avoid being repetitive with the information I provide has me stumped this time. Sitting for a while and flipping through older photos and trips that I have taken during this month, it instantly put a smile on my face. If you like to spend your time in the outdoors, grab your rod and head to the water, it’s October!

I believe it is safe to say that by now, the dog days of Summer are finally over for good. We had some really hot and dry spells this year and I am glad they are behind us. Now that fall is about to be in full swing, I couldn’t be happier. I’m not the only one that is happy about the change in weather either, every fish in the bay seems to be rejoicing as well. This is a prime time to get out and enjoy some of the finest fishing that can be had on the Gulf Coast.

Some of my first memories of fishing during this month came with my dad and brother. When we were much younger, my dad made us a deal that if we had good grades in school he would take us out on a Friday when the fishing got good. This was always a great motivation to pay attention and learn in class with hopes of getting to skip school for a day to fish. My brother and I would hold up our end of the bargain and right around the first cool front in October, we would go fishing. Since it was a weekday, there wouldn’t be many boats on the water nor competition. As soon as the sun would come up the few boats that were hanging around would scatter across the lake to their own group of birds. We would get in the middle of a group of gulls and begin catching trout after trout. Our only instructions were to throw them in the bottom of the boat and catch another. At the time there wasn’t many small fish in the mix so we knew they were all keepers and that the action wouldn’t last long. Eventually the school would move and we would stop to count fish and put them in the cooler. After crashing a few groups of birds we would have our limits, but would continue to catch fish until they fully disappeared. This always made for memorable days on the water.

Once I got out of school and into the real world, I quickly realized my schedule was not near as flexible with my new responsibilities. However, one of my first real jobs offered paid vacation and I wasn’t sure exactly when to use it. After thinking about it, I decided to save one week and take it during the last week of October; I still do to this day. My intentions were pretty straight forward, I’m going to fish every day until I go back to work.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I learned and how much fun I had during this time off work. As the first few days came, I would be paddling at first light and would head straight to the back of the marsh. Along my way I would come across several fish crashing shrimp along the shoreline and not one of them would pass up a gold spoon. As the day went on, I would come across schools of redfish grouped up and eating everything in sight. Some groups were smaller while others would have well over 50 fish in them. I would then exit the marsh covered in mud and fish slime and add to it by finding a group of birds working over trout.

After getting my fill of catching fish after fish for about 4 days straight, I would decide to ease up on them a bit. I told myself I wouldn’t cast into any schools, instead I started to question where these fish come from and where do they go. So instead of catching, I started to follow them and just watch. The interesting thing was that most of the schools I watched came from the same direction and would leave in the same direction; it was almost like they were following a predetermined route. This helped me to understand how these fish would move through this certain area year round and I always knew where to start.

By the end of my vacation I would be completely wore out but that was a hell of a problem to have. During that week off, I would encounter more fish than I could count. The thing was, it didn’t matter where I decided to go, the fish were there.

Now that I have a skiff and my work schedule allows me to fish more often, I never let an October day go by without getting on the water. This is always a fine chance to try to bring new people who have never gotten to fully experience how crazy the marsh can get. It is always fun to watch someone new cast into a big school of hungry redfish crashing bait.

It is finally that time of year and once again, I am smiling just thinking about it. One of my favorite scenes is the sun peaking over the horizon on a cool morning. You can hear the whistles and buzzing of teal overhead as you ease into a pond and make the first decision of the day; which school of fish do you want to catch first? Grab a light jacket, your rods and other necessities, and get out on the water. It’s October!