What to Expect on October Fishing Excursions in Sarasota, FL

October is one of the best months of the year for fishing in Florida, in large part because there are so few people out on the water compared to many other times of the year. The weather is also great during October—you can expect highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s, with much lower humidity than you get over the summer months.

Here’s an idea of what you can expect out of your October fishing excursions in Sarasota, FL. Call to book yours today!

Fishing closer to shore

If you plan to stay closer to shore, there are several types of fish you’re likely to encounter in larger numbers:

• King mackerel: King mackerel become increasingly common throughout the month of October, and are among the main targets of charter boats. Usually baitfish start to congregate on nearshore reefs, which will garner the attention of king mackerel. We strongly recommend using a downrigger to catch king mackerel—you’ll be able to get it at depths of 25 to 100 feet below the surface, where you’ll find many kings hanging out. You can use a variety of methods for catching the kings, including trolling, using spoons or other types of lures or even slow trolling live bait.
• Sailfish: You’ll find sailfish in good numbers along beach reefs and shipwrecks. Many of them are accidentally caught by people looking for king mackerel or blackfin tuna, but some people do target them, and they can be fun to fish.
• Blackfin tuna: Another popular target of charter excursions, blackfin tuna will be on the move during the month of October. You’ll find them near deepwater ledges and shipwrecks. We recommend using live cigar minnows, pinfish, herring or chunk baits.

Bottom fishing

Want to fish a bit deeper? Here are some of the fish you’re likely to encounter at this time of year:

• Amberjack: Amberjack can be anywhere between 50 and 400 feet deep. Unlike fish like grouper, they’ll usually hover around larger wrecks rather than natural areas. You can use live cigar minnows, pinfish, vermillion snapper and hardtails as baitfish.
• Gag grouper: As mentioned previously, grouper tend to prefer natural formations to wrecks, but they’ll still occasionally hang out at wrecks among schools of amberjack. Most grouper of keeper sizes are found at depths of 150 to 400 feet. You can use baitfish such as herring, threadfin herring, northern mackerel and live cigar minnows to catch their attention.
• Vermillion snapper: Vermillion snapper can be baitfish at their smaller sizes, but they are also fun to fish for as targets themselves. You’ll find them in reefs or wrecks, from 50 to 175 feet deep.

These are just a few examples of the types of fish you’re likely to encounter on your fishing charter in Sarasota, FL if you come down during the month of October to fish with us. For more information about what you can expect out of your fishing excursion, contact the team at Charter Boat Shark today.

Categorised in: Fishing Charter, Fishing Excursions