September October 2009 - Sep 16, 2009

Last evening I went out at sunset to partake of the nightly spectacle in Austin, TX of the approximately 2 million bats leaving out from under the Congress Street Bridge. 100's of people watched these bats literally pour out as they swoop & sweep over the river and the trees. Luckily enough we stood next to several biologists that could tell us how many bugs that many bats can consume in one night (something like 200 tons) and that sometime in recent history the local townspeople wanted to do away with these bats. Luckily cooler heads prevailed and the result is so few biting insects as to be practically unnoticeable.

What, you may be asking yourself, could this possibly have to do with fishing in Apalachicola, or even St. George Island? I'm getting to that. Tommy & I both moved back to Florida in the summer of 1995 when the whole net ban controversy and subsequent enactment went into place. Many people were immediately affected and forced to focus in other directions. The long term positive effect of this legislation nearly 14 years later has been some of the most productive recreational and sport fishing in our area for Redfish imparticular, and many others in general. October is possibly the best time of year to visit if you are a Redfish Fan.

Recently our Bay Guides report larger than normal quantities of legal sized Reds and a goodly number of "Purty Trout". I doubt if Capt. Jr. Holland in his long history of fishing our waters, has ever seen any ugly ones though. And just ask Capt. Chris Robinson about his favorite fall pastime - skinny water redfishing from his aluminum Jonboat with flyrod or light tackle. Make sure you have plenty of time because he gets pretty fired up about it. As a matter of fact, call me & I'll give you his number!


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