Maya: Good morning, Fort Lauderdale, and welcome to your Tides and Fishing briefing for Tuesday, October sixth. I'm Maya.
Devon: And I'm Devon. The water is running high all week, the night sky is dark, and Saturn is putting on its best show of the year. Let's get into it.
Maya: Tides first, from the Noah station at Port Everglades. All four turning points today. There is an overnight low right around midnight at zero point six six feet. Then the morning high comes at five twenty-one A M at three point oh nine feet. The midday low is at eleven twenty-five A M at zero point five eight feet. And the evening high lands at five fifty-five P M at three point two three feet.
Devon: Both highs are flagged above normal, and the bar for that is two point five feet. So this is the second day of a streak, and the water is still building. Wednesday's highs come in at three point two six feet at six twenty-one A M and three point two nine feet at six forty-six P M, and Thursday's evening high reaches three point four one feet, the tallest water of the week.
Maya: Practically speaking, the dawn high will flood the docks and the boat ramps early, so give yourself room on the trailer. The midday low is skinny water, barely half a foot, so shallow-water boats should mind the sandbars around eleven. And that evening high at five fifty-five sets up tonight's fishing perfectly, which brings us to the bite.
Devon: Tonight's play is the evening outgoing tide running into a moonless night. According to the Florida Sportsman South Florida forecast from Captain Alan Sherman, the fall mullet run is still the story. Tarpon, snook, big jack crevalles, barracuda, and sharks are gorging on mullet pouring into Port Everglades and the other inlets, and most of that feeding happens on the outgoing tide.
Maya: So fish the inlets as that water starts dropping after five fifty-five. The beaches, piers, and jetties are producing too, with snook, tarpon, jack crevalles, ladyfish, bluefish, and Spanish mackerel all in the mix. Glass minnows, pilchards, and finger mullet are thick along the sand, so load the livewell before you run anywhere.
Devon: And for the night owls, the reef bite is calling. Yellowtail snapper are schooled up on the deeper reefs right now. Anchor up, get a chum slick going, and fish cut bait on light weights. With no moonlight to spook them, this is as good as the night bite gets.
Maya: Cross-checking with Captain Vinnie Sacks out of Fort Lauderdale, whose September thirtieth report has the offshore story. Find the tide line where the tea-colored outgoing inshore water meets the blue Gulf Stream water. That edge has been straight money for mahi, averaging eight to twelve pounds, with one boat putting forty in the box on an all-day trip. Keep a casting rod ready, because when they come up it is multiple hookups.
Devon: Vinnie also says to fish a bait below the surface on a planer, because wahoo are prowling that same edge. There is a fall flurry of king mackerel building inshore, and a small trickle of sailfish, which he reads as a hint of a great winter season coming.
Maya: Wider offshore, in eighty to three hundred feet of water over the bait schools, it is kingfish, sailfish, blackfin tuna, mahi, wahoo, bonito, sharks, and barracuda. On the bottom, in eighty to one hundred twenty feet over the shallow wrecks and rock piles, daytime fishing has been very good for mutton and yellowtail snapper, porgies, grunts, and toros. Ballyhoo and Spanish sardines are the top baits down there.
Devon: Marine weather now, from the National Weather Service in Miami, for the coastal waters from Deerfield Beach to Ocean Reef out twenty nautical miles. No warnings in effect, no small craft advisory, so here is your go or no-go.
Maya: Today is the pick day of the week. South winds five to ten knots, seas under two feet, and the intracoastal running a light chop. Green light for small boats, so go enjoy it.
Devon: Wednesday stays friendly, south five to ten knots, seas two to three feet. Then it builds. Thursday and Friday bring seas of two to four feet, occasionally to five. And Saturday turns properly rough, southeast winds fifteen to twenty knots, seas three to four feet, the intracoastal choppy in exposed areas. If you are planning a weekend run, check back with us Friday.
Maya: And the night sky, for the anglers staying out late. Another genuinely moonless evening. The moon is a waning crescent, about twenty percent lit, and it sets at four thirty-seven P M, well before the seven oh one P M sunset. The sky goes fully dark by eight eighteen P M, and the moon does not rise again until three sixteen A M.
Devon: Which means dark water and a dark sky all evening, and that is exactly what the night yellowtail bite wants. Look up while you wait for a bite, because Saturn is putting on its best show of the year. It reached opposition on Sunday, its closest and brightest point, so it rises in the east as the sun sets and stays up all night, glowing with a steady golden light. A pair of binoculars will show the rings as little ears on either side.
Maya: No space station pass tonight, so it is just you, the stars, and the fish. That is the briefing for Tuesday, October sixth. I'm Maya.
Devon: And I'm Devon. Tight lines, Fort Lauderdale.