D’Iberville’s Capt. Robert L. Brodie of Team Brodie Charters in Biloxi said redfish, black drum, speckled trout and white trout should really be active inshore this month.
Redfish will be moving closer to shore, and Brodie likes to fish for them around jetties and abandoned pier pilings, as well as the nearshore oyster reefs.
“Anglers will be fishing under the birds around the (nearshore) oyster reefs… because the speckled trout and white trout will be schooling under the birds and feeding on shrimp,” Brodie said.
Live shrimp and soft plastics will be Brodie’s baits of choice.
Most jig fishermen will be rigging two jigs on the same line, often catching two trout at a time.
“I prefer a ¼-ounce jig on 25-pound-test Seaguar fluorocarbon leader,” Brodie said. “We fish cocahoe grubs, Saltwater Shad Assassins and D.O.A. shrimp in white or chartreuse.
“With artificial baits, we use 12-pound-test Berkley Trilene Big Game line on spinning reels. The average speckled trout will weigh 1 to 3 pounds.”
Don’t overlook the barrier islands
Brodie said one of his favorite types of fishing occurs this month, when he heads to the barrier islands and fishes in the surf for 1- to 3-pound pompano.
“The pompano is a smaller version of the permit caught Gulf-wide but primarily in the Florida Keys,” he said. “It’s one of the best-eating fish you ever will put on a platter.
“I like to use a No. 1 hook with a fluorescent red or chartreuse bead just ahead of the hook, and then a live shrimp or a small piece of dead shrimp because pompano have very small mouths. I like 30-pound-test clear leader, with the lead on the bottom of the line and a hook 4 to 6 inches above the lead.
“When I check the stomach contents of pompano I catch in October, they have tiny crabs and clams with reddish shells in their stomachs. I think the red bead in front of the hook looks like the clam shells they eat.”
Brodie likes to fish in the surf on the Gulf of Mexico side of any of the barrier islands, especially Horn and Ship because they are the closest to where he launches. He also fishes Cat, Petit Bois and Sand islands.
Contact Brodie at 228-697-7707, captainbrodie@teambrodiecharters.com, teambrodiecharters.com or at Team Brodie Charters on Facebook.
Fish offshore for cobia, tuna, bonito, sharks and king mackerel
Cobia will be making their fall run, traveling west to east, headed for their winter homes in South Florida. The yellowfin tuna bite should improve with the cooler water, and the wahoo bite really should heat up.
Scott Sullivan of the Mexican Gulf Fishing Company captains the Innovator out of Point Cadet Marina in Biloxi, and said in October that you can look for cobia around oil platforms, buoys and grass lines.
“This month is my favorite time to fish,” Sullivan said. “We catch both blackfin and yellowfin tuna behind the shrimp boats trolling out on the continental shelf in 200 to 400 feet of water.”
Tuna swim behind the shrimp boats eating bycatch the shrimpers throw overboard. The only problem is many other fish also feed on that bycatch.
“When we pull up behind a shrimp boat, we look at our depth finder and see if we can spot any big tuna,” Sullivan said. “Next, we throw out some chopped pogies and watch the surface of the water to see if any tuna come up to eat the chum.
“As the shrimp boat goes away from us, we often can pull the fish that have been behind the shrimp boat to start feeding behind our boat instead. We catch bonito and sharks, as well as tuna, then.”
When Sullivan or his deckhand makes visual contact with yellowfin or blackfin tuna behind the boat, they’ll hook up a live mullet and freeline it to the tuna. Any live bait hooked with a circle hook usually will catch tuna because, even thought these have been feeding on dead bycatch, tuna prefer live bait.
Sullivan mentioned that some of the shrimp boats won’t have any sharks behind them.
“Many times, the bonito will be the first fish to show up,” he said. “Next, the blackfin tuna will move in, then the yellowfin tuna and finally sharks.
“Depending on where we’re fishing, we also may get a wave of king mackerel.”
Sullivan puts as many live mullet in his baitwell as he possibly can because he’s learned that big fish prefer big mullet.
“If we’re catching bonito and blackfin tuna, and we spot a big yellowfin tuna on our depth finder or at the surface, we’ll fish with the biggest live mullet we have behind the boat,” Sullivan said. “Blackfin and bonita won’t eat a big mullet, but yellowfin tuna will.”
Sullivan hooks his mullet from inside the mouth and brings the No. 6/0 to No. 10/0 circle hook out the mullet’s top lip. He also live-chums for yellowfins by throwing several live mullet out the back of the boat to pull big yellowfin up to the surface to feed.
Call 228-324-4111 go to www.mgfishing.com to learn more.
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