Post Hurricane Update

Report Date: October 17, 2024

Never before in Florida's history has a single coastline endured two major hurricanes in such rapid succession. Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, struck the Big Bend region (about 80 miles north of us) on September 26th. Two weeks later on October 10th, Hurricane Milton, an extremely dangerous Category 3 hurricane, ravaged the Tampa Bay area (about 60 miles south of us) . This unprecedented double blow highlighted the increasing intensity of major storms impacting Florida's Gulf coast in recent years..

Although the Nature Coast narrowly escaped direct hits from each of these storms, their impacts significantly affected our coastal communities. Many residents and businesses experienced flooding, power outages, and property damage. The indirect effects of these storms, including storm surge and high winds, caused considerable disruption and hardship but the Good News is that clean-up efforts are well underway and the water ways of Crystal River and Homosassa are still OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

Post Hurricane Fishing Expectations

Before the hurricanes hit the Gulf, the fishing along the Nature Coast was exceptionally good. Inshore and fly anglers had been enjoying some super fun action from a late-season run of juvenile tarpon. Juvenile tarpon, typically weighing 10-25 pounds, are incredibly acrobatic fighters when hooked making them a blast to target on fly and light tackle.

Early mornings had been Prime Time for targeting these fish as they often keyed in on surface shadows while stalking prey from depths ranging from 4-6ft of water. The kryptonite for these late season tarpon had been small chartreuse flies tied sparsely or shiny twitch bait lures in the 3-4" range. With the Gulf's abundance of food, tarpon anglers were looking for more of a reaction strike than a finesse bite. Fast, erratic retrieves with lures and quick strips with flies had been key to triggering strikes from these hungry fish.

So the million dollar question right now is what's going to happen to the fishing now that these hurricanes have departed the Gulf? Well this is what we know: Water temperatures will plummet. Migratory fish will flee away from the impacted areas of these storms. Water clarity will take time reach its pristine state.
The Good news is, we were way over due for a cool down in water temperatures. The Bad news is our local flats and backcountry marshes are usually always crystal clear this time of year.

Long story short anglers are going to have to be open to targeting species such as Redfish, Snook and Speckled Trout on the blind. Casting search baits such as jigs, topwater lures, and jerkbaits are going to find great success when targeting fish on the blind.

The fun part of this entire conundrum is that there are going to be plenty of days on the water where anglers are going to come across unexpected catches. Tripletail, Cobia, Permit, Pompano, and larger Tarpon are going to surprise visiting anglers making for some interesting days out on the water.

Capt. Kyle Messier
Reel Florida Fishing Charters
(352) 634-4002
WWW.CRYSTALRIVERFISHING.COM WWW.FLYFISHINGCRYSTALRIVER.COM
WWW.KYLE.CITRUSCOUNTYHOMESNOW.COM

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