This was one of the best fall redfish bites in years and it has extended into winter. I believe the closed redfish season is really having a positive effect on the numbers of redfish.
We caught more redfish and fished bigger schools of fish this year than I have seen. There were schools of slot fish and schools of over-slot fish up and down the bay.
I had several charters where we got more than 50 fish to the boat. One trip in particular in late August comes to mind. It was the Sarasota Slam tournament. I had a client hire me to guide them in the tournament. We couldn’t start fishing until 6pm after the Captains meeting was over. We caught 40 reds over 30 inches before dark and won 1st place redfish with a 37 incher.
