October: A Slice of Heaven on Earth

So, here we go folks, about to collide head-on with one of the greatest fishing months of the year. If this doesn’t peg your excitement meter or your cheek muscles aren’t sore from grinning like a big ol’ possum, I’m going to suggest you see a doctor as soon as possible. You’re either near death or possibly already gone and just don’t know it.

Seriously, there are only a few months that make the Can’t-Miss list, and October is one of them. February, and maybe June would be two more. On my personal list, anyway.

It all begins with shorter hours of daylight, milder temperatures, and bigger tides. If we could have October year ‘round they could rename this place Heaven and we could just float around on puffy clouds and pluck a harp while we catch thirty-inch trout all day.

While it’s true that October’s bull tides will scatter fish to some extent, this issue of the magazine is absolutely chock-full of hints and tips for finding them. I have several trips scheduled to the Lower Laguna Madre in October and November and can’t wait to get down there. If the ones we caught in July and August might be a sign of things to come…well, what are we waiting on?

Good news from TPWD Coastal Fisheries; they have been granted incidental take permits for marine mammals and sea turtles. In a few words, what this means is that they are now able to resume population surveys via gill nets after a two-year shutdown. A crying shame to say the least; suffering a two-year shutdown of the most complete and accurate population monitoring effort in the history of marine fisheries management is nothing short of zealous overreach by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It all began, I’m told, when an employee of USFWS came upon a bottlenose dolphin entangled in a survey net…and it blossomed from there.

Anyway, thanks to an incredible track record of only tiny numbers of dolphin and sea turtle entanglements, along with diligent efforts from Coastal Fisheries staff, we are back in business and able to resume data collection efforts again this fall.

A rather comic note to add to a serious story; “If anybody from USFWS might be concerned about a possible shortage of dolphins in San Antonio Bay, I’d love to take them wade fishing. We could write a book: Fishing with Flipper.

Enjoy October and Take a Kid Fishing!