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THE SUN
OUTDOORS
NOVEMBER 4, 2020
Fall fishing frenzy Reel Time RUSTY CHINNIS
S
hifting seasons bring welcome changes to the Gulf coast, especially those fall fronts that are the couriers of cooling temperatures and lower humidity. Local anglers, weary of the dog days of summer, welcome those changes. The arrival of massive bait schools in the passes and along the beaches are harbingers of the king mackerel, cobia, Spanish mackerel and little tunny that are never far behind. While I love to fish for all these species, the little tunny (locally known as bonito) is my favorite to pursue. These members of the tuna family are notable for their stamina, long smoking runs and their ferocious feeding blitzes. Best of all, they attack top water patterns with a vengeance. Targeting
RUSTY CHINNIS | SUN
these rockets with fins is at once easy and frustrating. They can be easily found when they turn the water’s surface white in a feeding frenzy. Wheeling and diving terns and pelicans signal their general location
from miles away. In the past, the method I used most often, once I found feeding fish, was what is referred to as the “run and gun.” The routine was to run on plane within casting distance
of feeding fish, cut the engine and fire a cast into the melee before they sounded. That method worked, provided the angler is ready and can get off a quick cast. Fumble with the line or make too many false casts and the fish are notorious for disappearing and then reappearing where you originally ran from. Bait schools are generally spread over a wide area and the schools of little tunny appear suddenly, ferociously attack one school and then just as quickly sound and pop up on another school nearby. If they “stay up” long enough the run and gun works, but they more often bounce quickly from one school to another. Over the years I’ve found that the best strategy when the fish show only for a short time is to watch the birds, get in the area they are patrolling and let the fish come to you. I can’t emphasize enough the need to make a quick cast, which will vastly increase your odds of a strike and hookup. Another method I’ve used over the years to SEE REEL TIME, PAGE 19
