Super moon-super fishing 7th Nov 2025
The giant bright super moon we had all week gave us some crazy strong tides and fired up the bite. Early morning negative low water quickly came in and got high in what seemed like record time and just like that in just a few hours we had high water. These extreme tides bringing what was extremely fast moving water gave my clients some of the fastest paced action I can remember in the past few weeks.
One of the species that really cooperated were the speckled sea trout. Shallow edges in 1-2ft of sheltered flats throughout the sound had trout of all sizes feeding. Like all my fishing this week a free lined shiner, was the bait of choice. When fishing such shallow water keeping the rod tip really high while retrieving the bait in a stop and go method seemed most effective. When targeting trout which have a really soft mouth not setting the hook at all works best. When a trout bites I have just have my clients reel faster to create a bend in the rod then continue reeling just fast enough to keep the rod bent. Any kind of aggressive hook set pulls the hook on these soft mouthed fish.
Trout are a great tell tale of our water quality as they thrive in clean clear water. With so many trout throughout the sound it’s a great sign of a very healthy body of water. Trout are one of the more delicate species we target. Using a hook out tool and not touching any fish you do not plan on harvesting is best for the survival of the fish. If you do have to touch them to remove a hook wetting your hands first is a good idea as this lessons the damage to there slime coat. FWC regulations for our region of Florida are a 15-19 inch slot with 3 fish per harvester per day with only one per vessel over 19 inches allowed. Trout are open year round.
With water temperatures in the low 70’s most of the week snook fishing was also a good choice as the water warmed though the day. During the higher incoming tides mangrove shorelines with fast moving current were loaded with snook of all sizes. Skipping live shiners up under the tree’s and letting them make a natural drift in the shadows had these fish crushing the baits. Points and eddies held what seemed like never ending snook. During the afternoon outgoing tides I switched gears and headed to the passes. In this deeper faster moving water a pinfish with a small weight or split shot haws the more productive bait. The vast majority of these snook are well under the 28 inch minimum though what they lack in size they make up for in sheer numbers. We did manage a few slot sized fish this week though we released them. These bigger snook are what I call a trip maker and watching them swim off unharmed is always a good thing as they are the future of this amazing fishery.
The redfish bite was a little tougher for me this week with only a few being caught on the higher periods of incoming tide. We did manage a few slot fish fishing smaller wind blown mangrove islands in the middle sound. Cut ladyfish and tail hooked pinfish seemed to be the bait of choice although I never did find a hot redfish bite all week. It was very random for us with one red here and one there.
With a bigger cold front forecast early this week that will bring us strong winds and temperatures maybe as low as the low 50’s things on the water will change quickly again until conditions improve. This same pattern of ups and downs in both temperature changes and wind conditions is all part of the game of our winter times fishing.
Cold fronts have started 31st October 2025
This week marked our first cold front of Fall which quickly dropped our morning temperatures into the high 50,s. Although this brief cold is a far cry from from what most think of as winter it’s a sure sign patterns on the water are changing. October and November are what I like to refer to as transition months when fish are heading to the places they prefer to spend the cooler months. Water temperature can drop quite quickly as pine Island sound is a very shallow body of water. Seeing a more than 10 degree overnight is not out of the ordinary with a strong front.
Now our cold fronts have stated it will basically be close to the same weather pattern all winter. Timing when to fish can be the difference between a wide open bite and a tough day at the office. When a cold front approaches this always fires up the best bite as the barometer drops. Once the front passes we are greeted with high pressure and usually windy conditions which makes fishing generally a struggle. Conditions and fishing action will improve day by day until the next front. This same pattern will play out all winter long. Our cold fronts will often run on a 7-10 day pattern until spring.
With our water temperatures currently in the mid 70’s this translates into some of the best fishing of the year. Mild cold fronts like we just experienced are great and make the snook move towards the back country in huge numbers. Bait is plentiful on the beaches and on the grass flats and with winter right around the corner fish are on the feed. Redfish are not as affected by the cold and action remains consistent with fish both on the flats and up under the mangroves on higher tides. Docks and jetties around our passes are still holding both species.
This week I fished the Boca Grande classic which is a 2 day fund raising tournament for cystic fibrosis out of the Gasparilla Inn. It felt good to fish the northern sound and Boca Grande area as I don’t make it that far north as much as I’d like. We had two solid days of fishing catching snook, redfish and trout though we never managed to get our tarpon which we needed in the grand slam format. This is one of my favorite tournaments all year and helps support an amazing organization.
Capt Matt Mitchell moved to Sanibel in 1980 and has lived in St James city since 2000 when he started his fishing charter business. He spends over 300 days a year “living the dream” fishing. For questions and info: bookings@captmattmitchell.com
Fabulous fall fishing. 27th October 2025
Fall fishing continues to be nothing short of amazing. With so much bait throughout our area fish are feeding hard as they pack on weight before the arrival of winter. Wide open blitzes of feeding out along the beaches are becoming more and more common. In Pine Island sound snook, red fish, and trout fishing are also on fire.
This week I saw the first few white pelicans of the season, a.k.a. snowbirds. This is a sure sign. winter is on the way. The change of season in South Florida no matter how subtle it seems to us as the fish hungry and on the move. Out along the beaches, huge schools of bait have begun the annual migration south. Mixed in with all this, bait are the predators that feed on it, Bonita, Spanish mackerel, King, mackerel, bluefish, sharks, and even Tarpon. Grass flats in the sound are also covered up with shiners, and although the predators are different here, it’s the same thing just on a smaller scale.
Mornings this week we had lower tides than we have experienced in months. Deeper water mangrove channels had the fish stacked up in big numbers, Snook, redfish, trout, jacks and mangrove snapper were all caught in these same areas. Chumming lots of life shiners in these areas had the fish fired up and eating on the surface. These fish feed best on a moving tide, so I concentrated on shorelines that had wind and tide moving in the same direction.
As the tide got higher I have been switching it up and fishing oyster bars. Picking an oyster bar With the right set up of wind and Tide is made all the difference. Even though I caught fish on oyster bar yesterday, it is certainly not meant the fish are there today going from bar to bar. It only takes a few scoops of live chum and a cast or two to see if the fish are there. We have oyster bars throughout the sound so finding the right one is just a matter of moving around. Seeing happy jumping mullet working the bar is a great sign that you were in the right place.
Fall brings us some of the most diverse and exciting fishing we have all year not only do we have our regular inshore species we also have all the pelagic species moving down the coast. The options are almost endless when conditions are right being able to bounce between the bay and the beach will bring a crazy amount of variety.
One of my favorite things to do when conditions are right is to get out along the beaches and chase tarpon. The key to locate in these fish is finding large schools of bait with lady fish and Spanish mackerel feeding on them. Tarpon can be sight fished in these same areas as they come up and roll. Side imaging sonar is also a great tool to find these southbound fish Unlike in the spring these Tarpon are hungry and feed on almost any live bait, presented to them. This Fall, Tarpon bite can be some of The best fishing of the year. These fish will be around till our water temperature drops below 70° or we get one big cold front and it’s all over till Spring.
Bio: Capt Matt Mitchell moved to Sanibel in 1980 and has lived in St James city since 2000 when he started his fishing charter business. He spends over 300 days a year “living the dream” fishing. For questions and info bookings@captmattmitchell.com
