Everything offshore will start to notice when water temps drop a little at the end of the month, and even more apparent will be shorter daylight hours. All the fish we pursue will start thinking about three things: spawning, gorging to fatten up for winter, or migrating hack south.
I’m most concerned with the grouper/snapper complex and the wahoo, so this puts my fishing in overdrive for the next few months. Groupers and snappers will be hot as a firecracker until after Christmas. Wahoo fishing will be at its peak by then as well. Another species I like to stay tuned into is the beeliners (Vermillion Snapper). When you keep in touch with these guys, you also stay in touch with everything because everything out there loves to eat a beeliner.
The full moon will be on Saturday, Sept. 10. This will be an excellent time to spend the night at the break and have the livewell full to fish just before dawn. Beeliners will chew hard during this full moon, and the bite will shut down as soon as the moon disappears on the western horizon. However, if you can keep the bright lights going all night, the squid and the biggest, fattest beeliners will be readily available for the taking. With these two things gathered in mass, the wahoo and grouper will also be there. That’s a good reason to keep the light line out with a fresh squid or a Boston mackerel just past where the light disappears into the dark water.
The only problem is the kings are there too. You may like to catch kings, and I apologize for that last sentence; if I catch a king, it’s purely accidental. Many folks don’t even consider fishing at night, and certainly not fishing the light line at night, but it can be highly effective for wahoo and kings. The first wahoo I ever caught from an anchored boat was at night, and it was a heck of an experience. We saw the fish swim under the lights, and I quickly put out a live beeliner. The beeliner swam away from the boat, and just as he got to the dark water, we saw the bite. I was instantly addicted to this style of bottom fishing and light lining versus just trolling for wahoo, tuna, and dolphin. Dolphins usually will not eat at night, but the night bite for tuna can be good.
The stack of beeliners is the main thing I’m looking for as a good starting point for a place to fish. Gags and scamps will definitely go with the food (beeliners) until the beginning or middle of October. Then the gags will leave the beeliners to migrate inshore in search of rigs and sardines and to spawn.
Weather and work were not working together… It has been two months since we’ve been offshore. Looking for Gags and Scamps (along with all the other bottom fish) Nice grade of fish!!!
Tim Barefoot’s saltwater tackle will help any angler in any condition to land the big ones.
SALTWATER TACKLE YOU MAY WANT TO TRY:
7/0 and 11/0 J-Hook Chin Weights: Target fish include Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi or Common Dolphin, King Mackerel, Wahoo, and more. Easy to rig!
4 oz. Crab Decoy Jig: Target fish for Striped Bass, nearshore Drum, Snook, Grouper, west coast bottom fish, and more.
4 oz. Tuna Squid Decoy Jig: From the eastern, western, Alaskan, and gulf coasts, target fish include: Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo, Fluke, Flounder, Striped Bass, Seabass, Amberjack (east coast), Yellow Tail (west coast), California White Sea Bass (west coast), Grouper, Snapper, Halibut, Ling cod, and all Alaskan bottom fish.
8 oz. - 12 oz. 10/0 Squid Decoy Jig: Catch BIG Grouper, Amberjack, Giant Stripers, and more.
