As weather cools down, fish sometimes show up in unusual locations -- with unusual results

Fall seems to bring out some of the best catches in shallow water. Sometimes it also brings out the unusual.

Matthew Warner was recently doing a little diving with friends in 15 feet of water around some small ledges. There were small mangrove snapper and hogfish around, when he heard a friend take a shot.

“I saw about a 25-inch gag grouper dart right next to me with a big scar on his head from my buddy and swim into a ledge,” Warner said. “As I swam down to shoot that one, a bigger one swam up right behind and stayed in the open. It was the first time I got to shoot my new TUSO speargun and I stoned the bigger gag. It was super fat for a 30-inch fish, and I saw a little bit of tail sticking out of his throat.”

The stuffed gag had eaten his last meal at the hands of Warner, who threw it in the cooler as the trip continued on. When he went to clean it later, he discovered just what the gag had eaten.

“It was a 12-inch hog that he swallowed!” Warner said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

When asked if he thought about eating it, Warner said, “I disposed of it. I didn’t take it out until after the trip when I cleaned the fish, so I wasn’t sure about the stomach acids and stuff.”

Also coming from the shallows this week was a large kingfish on light tackle for angler Rick Uffalussy. Fishing a few miles off the beach, Uffalussy was catching plenty of big mackerel up to 24 inches on light tackle when a smoker decided to pay a visit.

“I was using a 7-foot, 6-inch Redbone with a Diawa BG3000 reel with 20-pound braid and 20-pound leader,” Uffalussy said. “We were using small 3/8th-ounce jigs with a small white tail.”

The light tackle was soon put to the test when the next fish that hit made a screaming run. With not much line remaining, Uffalussy got the fish turned and headed back to the boat. Eating the small jig turned out to be a large kingfish, a lucky catch considering the sharp teeth making kingfish notorious for breakoffs.

“Forty-four inches,” he said. “A little heavier than 22 pounds.”

Other fish stories this week include large cobia and plenty of triple tail coming from around the bay. Flats fishing was excellent with snook and redfish chewing heavily behind the recent full moon.

With fish-moving events like persistent red tide and plenty of cold fronts, there will no doubt be more odd fish stories to come this year. Fish might end up where you least expect them, eating your bait no matter if it’s small or large.