September has ended and so has Hurricane Season!!!! However, October means snook season is wide open and so is the fishing. The big snook are beginning to fatten up for the winter and are they exceedingly aggressive. Tarpon are still plentiful as are the redfish and permit. However, October brings in the first of the cold fronts and the first of the Brown Marlin!!!

As the water cools off a bit, we see our run of Brown Marlin (cobia, ling, gummers, lemon fish) the fish hold near just about any structure and bait source. Live baiting is a sure thing, but my anglers catch just as many on artificial. A 40 pound class cobia on 8 pound spinning gear ranks with any fishing that you will find. It is not uncommon to hook five to six fish per trip.

While we catch permit all year in this area, October is perhaps the last real month of the permit season. The big schools move to wherever is that they go with the arrival of the fast moving cold fronts and the waves of snowbirds coming in from up north. I think the permit leave this area for a big thanksgiving feast somewhere else! Get to them now, or wait until March!!!

The still morning air usually begs for snook fishing with top water plugs. A bit of "walking the dog" by one angler with the other following with a jig or sub-surface plug has been productive on bigger fish. The commotion caused by the surface plug will get a nearby snook's attention and usually draw her in. However, many more will follow than will actually bite. Often, the submerged plug or jig will coax a reluctant follower to bite. The real trick is convincing your fishing partner that you are not just using him as chum and "stealing" his fish.

The snook this time of the year fight harder than at any other time. Please remember to take extra time to properly revive these fish. The water is still warm so they will fight to near exhaustion. If released too early, they are an easy meal for the numerous sharks that are still all around.

Large white bait will be easy to find and the threadfins will be fairly close to shore. However, mullet are plentiful and growing fast. A tank full of volunteers usually assures a good tide of snook fishing!! Big mullet - Big Snook!!

By midday the snook will likely be in the shade, so remember the "five by five rule". Cast your bait five feet from the trees and catch a snook. Cast your bait five feet under the trees and catch five snook!!!

October bring with some excellent tarpon fishing. Cast top water plugs to rolling fish in the passes if you are targeting big fish. Be diligent if you want the big bite. Few things are more exciting than catching a big tarpon on plugs. Put one of these dinosaurs in the air and you will know exactly what I mean ... the explosion on the surface, the scream of the line, the aerobatics of a 100+ plus shiner at the end of you line. I love this show!!!

Some of the best fishing this month is fishing the is small back water creek mouths for snook and tarponettes. This is perhaps some of the best saltwater fly fishing that you will find. I recently had several anglers come in from Naples fly fishing who put 11 fish in the air in just one creek. It was a blast!!!