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Archie Willoughby of Crystal River caught and released this 27 inch, 6.t llb Redfish on Sept 23.

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The last days of September brought some productive fishing reports for reddish at the passes, inland and outer shoreline waters. The good news is it continued into October.

Captain Allen Chamberlain echoed the above information.

“Archie Willoughby of Crystal River caught and released this 27 inch, 6.5 pound redfish on Sept. 23 while fishing aboard the Sea Gone fishing team boat. We also found snappers and snook,” he informed. You may call Allen at 642-7310 for more information.

It is a good bet redfish activity will remain through October and November as with larger bull redfish moving into the outer shoreline, passes, nearshore fish havens and wrecks.

The Naples Pier should have become a hot spot for redfish by the time you read this article. While tipped jigs will work, do not rule out just about anything from fresh cut and live bait such as mullet, minnows and crabs.

Springing several minnows on a hook can really get things started. Back years ago, we called it a Georgia bouquet. Anglers would set it out on the bottom and wait for a bull redfish. You did not have to wait long as acres of them would move into the pier.

My parents were running the pier back in the 1950s and we always tried to have a large wash tub full of fresh minnows iced down. When someone would yell out “redfish moving in,” we would start throwing the minnows out into the red colored water.

This would get the redfish to settle down instead of moving on south towards Gordon Pass. Fishermen would start working the bait and the fun began. Anglers would try to keep one on the line all the time while someone else would get their bait close to the hooked fish. This began a chain reaction that could last for hours. Most of the fish were sold to the bait house and we would take them to Combs Fish House to sell them later.

Each angler would try to stack his fish in a pile near them and every now and then one would say, “hey, I think one of my fish flopped over to your pile” or, “It’s your turn to keep a fish on for a while.” These remarks would spawn additional funny conversations between them with other anglers joining in with all kinds of remarks, some of which I cannot print. It was a fun time for this redheaded teenager.

In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you find additional pods of bull redfish at the passes during a high incoming and high falling tide. Be careful if you are wading as there will be other predators nearby.

We got into the reds at Keewaydin a year ago this October. I was in about knee deep water when a good size bull shark swam by me about three feet from my leg. I did not move one inch and it passed me by. It was a gamble but I think it might have gotten interested in my leg if I had panicked and run.

Another tip, when wading along the shoreline, if you have a fish on, back up to the shore as you fight it in case something is following the hooked fish. Dragging the fish to shore should cancel an attack, unless the predator has legs.

Weather permitting, our near and offshore waters should have an increase in the number of patches of bait with several species including Spanish mackerel, bonita, jack, bluerunner and trout at the nearshore fish havens, wrecks and towers. Some of these species, such as trout, will not be at the offshore locations.

Naples Fishing Club member Ray Russell reports the offshore grouper-grabbing has been productive. He writes, “Bill Schmidt, also a NFC member did it again on Sept. 30 catching two 22-inch groupers while fishing aboard Russell’s boat Perfect Match. He also caught a 28.5 pound grouper on Oct. 3. The grouper were not very long but were very fat. We are seeing more grouper than in past years.”

Thanks for the update Ray.

Last but not least, we should be seeing an increase in the average size and numbers of black drum and sheepshead. They will be found just about anywhere, inland, outer shoreline, fish havens and passes included. Sandfleas, fiddler crabs and shrimp will be the most used bait for these two species. Please try to release as many as you can as both species are moving in to spawn.

I can’t for the life of me understand why they are not protected during their spawning season.

I get questions — some we have already wrote about, others are new ones. This one was, “is having a banana on your boat bad luck and how did this superstitious get started?”

Having bananas aboard the boat can be very serious to some anglers to the point they will not allow them or anything with a picture or brand name banana on the boat.

With a little research, I found a ton of information about it including stories from the Hawaii Islands to Jamaica and the Bahamas. The theory I like the best is boats hauling bananas were many times in very poor condition and many of them sunk on their trip.

Reminds me of the last cruise Sharon and took. She found the boat on the Internet. It had a knock your socks off price so we booked it. We knew it was an older ship but it turned out to have a great crew, good food and entertainment. Our waiter was from Germany but spoke perfect English and he was a lot of fun. The last night we were aboard I asked him how often he gets to visit his family.

He told us he was going to visit them after this cruise and will be on another ship when he returns to the states. “This is the last cruise for this ship as it is going to be salvaged,” he added. “Gee, that is a shame!” I said. “Not really,” he answered, then with a lower voice, “if you would have known the shape this ship is in you would have not booked it.”

Several weeks later we were watching the morning news when a report came in — the boat sank while being towed to New York. All crew members survived. I wonder if there were any bananas aboard.

Don’t forget the Oct. 21 meeting of the Naples Fishing Club at the VFW on the corner of Pine Ridge road and 951, in Neff’s Way Mall. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. Guest speaker will be Captain Billy B. Rod who resides in Naples. He also builds custom rods and will be speaking about his summer-long adventure in the world famous Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

The public is invited to come, see what the NFC is all about and join in the fun if they wish. You may also call Kat McNabb 595-3122 for more information.

Catch you later.

Red Stier is a biweekly contributor to the Marco Island Eagle. Questions or comments may be directed to redstier@aol.com or 172 Trinidad St., Naples, FL 34113.