Overview:
The Late Summer Bite remains HOT for Tarpon, Bonefish, Snook, and Permit with multiple trophy-sized fish landed over the last couple months. As we begin to head into the “Fall Season” (Oct-Nov), we will see some dramatic changes to the fishing landscape. Sargassum Summer, which has produced 100s of incredible Tarpon, Jack, Snook, and even Bonefish bites for our clients, is wrapping up. While a few patches may reach Island over the next weeks, most beaches that were covered with the seaweed are now opening up. This will result in cleaner water and less structure for baitfish to hide under. While we love the bite Sargassum provides, this change will bring many of our best sight-fishing beaches and Flats back into prime condition, especially for Bonefish. Additionally, trolling from Kayaks will become much easier and should result in some unique opportunities for anglers!
Weather:
While we are still experience days with extreme heat, overall temperatures for both air and water will start to drop off a couple degrees over the next two months. This will lead to more baitfish coming back to the Shallows after spending the Summer in deeper water. Additionally, lower than average winds for this period should provide for some of the glassiest conditions we’ll see all year. Fishing with winds Sub 10mph is a true treat and often results in some of the best fishing we experience on St. Croix as sight-fishing becomes much easier.
Baitfish:
We are seeing a mix of baitfish on our beaches right now. The best concentrations remain on the Eastern side of the Island and the Western areas around Sandy Point. The northeastern Bays seem to be holding the largest bait with Sprat/Pilchards coming in 3-6”. On the Southeastern shore it is a different experience as we have much smaller Sprat/Pilchards (1-3”). However, mixed in with those baitfish are juvenile Ballyhoo — the Tarpon’s favorite meal. As such, we can still find pods of Tarpon, with a few snook and jacks mixed in, busting bait consistently on some of our go to Beaches.
Best Catches Of Late Summer:
Comments