September 04, 2007 - Seasons come and seasons go.  That is the trend that we are into right now.  Tourist season at least the late summer one has traditionally left with the passing of the Labor Day Holiday.  For those of you that were left here on Tuesday, you saw just what I mean.  The road, the stores, heck you could even find a parking space at the Marathon Post Office!  We won’t be seeing too many visitors now until late October with the exception of a nice increase in European Tourist that take advantage of the lower cost of the ‘off season.’

As far as seasons coming, we are now into snook season.  It opened on the first of the month.  This elusive fish can be as frustrating to catch as dating but for those that enjoy the fight as well as the taste, just as rewarding.  ‘OLE Linesides’ is a favorite fish of many anglers for his jumping ability as well as his excellent flavor.  Plugs, Rapala Lures, D.O.A. Shrimp and live baits are the favorites of local anglers for these mostly nocturnal feeders.  At least, that is the case in the near shore waters.  They hang around channel passes as well as along the mangroves in many of the open canals throughout the Middle Keys.  But you will have a hard time getting them to bite in the daytime locally.  You can find them to be quite aggressive in the daytime if you venture up into the park waters.

The shallows of Everglades National Park are full of snook, redfish and trout this time of year and all three will eagerly take a casted plug, lure or live bait in the daytime.  This is one of the ‘forgotten’ fisheries that we have available to us in the Middle Keys.  It is not that far to run, in fact, it is just about the same distance to some of the good spots as the lower backcountry.  As long as the winds are not over 14 knots, you can transverse the crossing in a flats skiff comfortably.  The amount of action that you can find in the park waters can be so great; you’ll wonder why you don’t fish there more often. 

The offshore action this past weekend was above normal according to reports.  This may be due to the huge increase in the number of anglers that were participating in offshore fishing this holiday weekend.  Some very nice dolphin were taken and not that far out either.  Several were caught in less than 600 feet that weighed in over 30 pounds with numerous 20+ pound fish. The afternoon bite the past couple of days is still a good one.  The time I am talking about is from around 4 in the afternoon to dark.   There have been some good weeds forming just past the reef line providing a target for the anglers as well as cover for the fish.

The reef fishing is similar.  Good yellowtail action was available for those that had good working chum lines, especially after dark.  In fact, the evening reports were all good for yellowtail, mangrove, mutton & lane snapper as well as a variety of some pretty big grouper.  Most of this action was reported to be along the ‘edge’ where the reef drops off from 45 to 90 feet.  If you are going, look for fish to show up on your machine rather than just going to a favorite spot.  They have been reported to be moving around quite a bit. 

The bonefish have been holding steady according to area flats guides.  Quite a few fish have been frequenting the ocean side flats while the backcountry has been rather slim for the most part.  The mornings are still the best but don’t be surprised to come across a large school of ‘mudding’ fish even in the middle of the day if the tide is up on the flat.  Numerous anglers have reported this lately.  Now that the jet skis are gone for a spell, you actually have a chance to set up and wait for the fish to come to you as opposed to having to charge them before they got run over.  This is a good sign for the 48^th Annual Marathon International Bonefish Tournament that is being held later this month.  Most of the area tackle stores have all the information about this classic event.

Well for those of us that are left here in the Keys, here we are in September.  The month of the year with the greatest fear of ‘Summer Squalls.’ It makes many of the old time locals that have seen quite a few of them a little tense.   To put is another way, September is the month that local proctologist go on vacation!