Bradenton-area fishing captain offers advice for catching redfish, snook

During September, many fishing guides were taking anglers to target gag grouper.

The short season, which began at the beginning of the month and ended on the 15th, saw anglers wanting some fresh grouper fillets for the dinner table. But for Captain Andy Fialkowski, his anglers wanted a different type of fillet for the dinner.

“Nobody requested gag grouper,” Fialkowski said with a laugh. “People wanted slot snook.”

Normally, the beginning of snook season, which also started in our region on Sept. 1, would see the flats packed with boats. But coinciding with grouper let Fialkowski target flatfish with less pressure. Now he’s got a head start for what he says has been a great month of fishing already.

“The inshore fishery is absolutely phenomenal right now. We’re finally coming out of the fry bait stage and getting bigger baits along the beaches and bridges,” Fialkowski explained. “It coincided with migratory redfish also showing up. Upper Sarasota Bay, Tampa Bay, Cockroach Bay — all have had fish. This time of year we do more inshore slams than any other time of year with tarpon still around.”

“There have been a good mix of juvenile tarpon mixed in on trips from 5 to 10 pounds up to 50 pounds,” he added.

The other parts of the inshore slam have also been good for Fialkowski, highlighted by the amount of redfish and average size of the snook.

“Most trips, we’re averaging about 25 redfish. This past week, I had a trip with a solo angler one day. He caught 18 redfish in one hour. It was nonstop. This year, we’ve also been seeing more snook over 35 inches than I can remember,” Fialkowski said. “We’re also getting a lot of lower slot and upper slot snook. I think the average snook we were catching last year was probably 22 to 23 inches, but this year it’s about 25 inches.”

Slot snook have a range from 28 to 33 inches.

One of the biggest reasons for the recent success is the rain and overcast weather that put a damper on many offshore fishing trips at the beginning of September. While most were dismayed, it put us in the current position of phenomenal fishing.

“The water temperatures dropped significantly. This week, I’ve been seeing it hang around 82 degrees on the flats. There were some days it was 80 degrees,” recalled Fialkowski.

“After heavy rains, you can’t beat it. It raises the oxygen level in the water, and fish get fired up. It should stay good until December,” he added. “We’re finally starting to migrate into a fall bite pattern, targeting different fish on different tides and times. A lot of fish sit on the backside of oyster bars or other spots waiting for bait. Position yourself in front of them and they do the rest.”

Captain Andy Fialkowski is a captain at Reel Tight Fishing Charters and can be reached at (941) 444-9749.