Very Soon, We’ll Be “Cool”
It’s 9/23/2026 right now, and here in Jacksonville, Florida, it’s not as bad as it was a month ago. We’re finally feeling cooler air temps. Just two days ago I was up a creek in shallow water, catching one Flounder after another, plus some Seatrout and Redfish, casting a double-rig of soft plastics on jigheads. The water temp was down 6 degrees from just 10 days earlier.
No, it’s not really the air temp that controls the water temps. It’s the Atlantic Ocean. As we move into the fall season, ocean currents change, and the local coastal water temps change with them. There’s also the length of the days. “Length of days, it’s all about the length of days, Dave.” That’s what my ole “sea daddy,” Capt. Randall Dyal, used to preach to me.
Sea daddy: a fishing mentor, the kind of guy who probably forgot more than most people will ever know.
Capt. Randall was a lifelong commercial fisherman and a successful “great white hunter.” He traveled North America in search of trophy whitetail deer and wild turkey, and he passed on to me the knowledge he gained. That quote was part of it. Capt. Randall is gone now, but I can still pull up on a certain spot in the St. Johns River and hear him say, “Look for that break in the bottom, and only fish it 2 hours after low tide at the Inlet.”
I Have My Own Sayings Too
“When booking a fishing charter starting Oct. 1st, always have a back-up date too.”
During the heat of summer, there can be 7 days between weather fronts. We barely notice them, because every day is basically the same: hot, hot, hot, with someone in the county getting a late-afternoon thunderstorm between 1 and 6pm that’s so wicked you want nothing to do with it out on the water.
All that starts to change around October. The days between “fronts” get closer and closer, and those weather changes can bring big winds, a fisherman’s nemesis! Say you picked a great tide day but the wind is blowing 25 knots. It’s gonna be one tough, long day on the water.
Starting October 1, Tides Matter
“Some tides are better than others, especially during the fall season.”
Not all tides are created equal. That’s why my rate is one flat rate for the day for two people. Fishing the tide, which runs 6 hours, gives us a shot at what I want as your “guide.”
Remember, YOU are picking the date 90% of the time. I’m doing my best with what Mother Nature gives me. So many 4-hour, supposedly half-day trips could have been better if we’d just had some extra wiggle room. That’s why I don’t even discuss half days during the fall, winter and spring seasons. For 30 years, I’ve always counted a day as at least 6 hours. We always want to give it our best shot, right?
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