Redfish keep biting as Gulf Coast waters hold steady

What's biting

What's next

Expect the redfish bite to hold through the next few days as water temperatures stay parked in the low-to-mid 80s, right where reds feed aggressively on the flats and around structure. The Waning Gibbous moon is trending toward the last quarter, which typically means more moderate tidal swings than the full-moon push earlier this month, so look for the better windows around the tide transitions rather than a single dramatic peak.

Anglers working the Charlotte Harbor area, per Coastal Angler Magazine's recent reports, should find conditions largely unchanged into the weekend: warm, stable water and reds willing to eat close to the same grass edges and mangrove shorelines producing this week. If afternoon thunderstorms keep building the way Fish Face Charters described, plan around them rather than through them, since reds often bite well in the lull right before or after a squall moves through.

Context

Late September sits right at the hinge between summer and fall on Florida's Gulf Coast. Water temperatures in the low-to-mid 80s are typical for this point in the calendar, neither unusually warm nor showing the early cooling trend that picks up in October. Redfish activity on the flats and in the harbors is consistent with a normal seasonal pattern here, rather than an early or late run. Anglers should expect this stretch of steady, warm-water conditions to persist for another few weeks before the first real cool fronts start reshaping the bite, and should check state regulations before harvesting reds, since size and bag limits can shift seasonally.