9-20-09 Hot tip fishing report and forecast from Captain Van Hubbard.<br />
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Fall fishing has already started.<br />
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Fall officially arrives tomorrow but we started catching Spanish Mackerel and some kings last week. I fished hard catching a lot of Spanish last Wednesday and Thursday. We got a few smaller kings on Thursday, eight fish four keepers, >twenty-four inches. Sharks and small jacks were abundant too. These fish were just off of Gasparilla Island in about twenty-five feet of water. Look for feeding birds and striking fish around bait schools. Friday was much slower, still plenty of fish but not the nonstop bites we had enjoyed the days before. Sharks were from about ten to forty pounds including some frisky spinner sharks which jump and race around testing gear and anglers. Jacks are small and so thick we had to move several times to allow any other fish to find our baits. <br />
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With reports of fish both north and south of us I anticipate good catching here for at least a month, maybe longer. Everything depends on how fast fall freefalls into winter. Bigger fish should arrive soon. We do have plenty of minnows around and should see even more soon. Many are tiny so use small mesh nets!<br />
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Snook and reds are open and here but hiding from me right now. With so much food fish around my guess is gamefish are able to simply open their mouths and fill up with out hardly moving. Schools of tiny minnows are everywhere right now. When they move on the fish will turn on an go crazy; do not miss this transitional bite!<br />
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Trout close in November so catch any you desire to dine on soon. Pompano are due but no numbers yet. If you want to catch a bunch of fish to take home do not miss the Mack Attack as the migratory schools parade by! Captain Van Hubbard <www.captvan.com> <br />