As I'm writing this column, it's our first real "Fall day of the season. It's clear, sunny, breezy and dry, making all the neighborhood dogs especially frisky and sending us in search of the sweatpants we put away last spring. The cooler weather tends to get the redfish fired up and overall you'll find bigger fish drawn in by the cooler water and you'll find them in larger numbers. What you won't necessarily find in larger numbers is other anglers on the water and you might not have to run as far to locate the fish.

Last weekend Capt. Jr. Holland's crew (Doug Crompton) from New Jersey "Laughed and caught fish all day". Altogether they caught 113 fish (they counted) including redfish, stripers, sheepshead, seatrout and catfish. Capt. Chris Robinson's anglers yesterday were catching 4 and 5 pound redfish in water as shallow as his Hell's Bay skiff could go, until they got tired of catching them. They moved to another area to try their hand at trout fishing but the redfish wouldn't leave them alone.

According to local headlines, the storms we mostly dodged this hurricane season have spared the winter Oyster bars, which is certainly good news not only for the harvesters and processors but also for those of us who are hooked on our local bounty. The local clam harvest also appears to have avoided harm. At the risk of repeating myself, we have been so extremely fortunate to have escaped the damage other areas in Florida were struck with. It will be a tru Thanksgiving celebration this year.

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