Capt. George Tunison

Fall, redfish, metal spoons, even bass spinner-baits, all go great together. Spoons and spinner-baits offer random “wounded” movement and action, underwater sounds and pressure waves, all to attract fish — but flash is the real key to any spoon or spinner success.

Shine up any old tarnished spoon or spinner-bait blade and make them flash brightly again using a dab of toothpaste. Rub it in, polishing with your fingertips, then rinse. Brand new and shiny again. Now’s also the time to replace those rusty split rings and dull hooks.

Redfish anglers like casting mangrove shorelines and shallow oyster bars where hang-ups are common. Always have a small file handy to touch up hook points that snag oysters and rocks. One hang-up can ruin a hook point which means a bad or no hookset, or the fish simply spitting the dull hook.

Keep a box of replacement trebles handy and change hooks often if you have trouble sharpening with a file.

When working with lures, changing hooks and split rings, do yourself a favor by buying and using split ring pliers. This inexpensive tool makes it not only much easier to replace hooks and rings, but also much safer. Ever tried to force the eye of a treble hook onto a small, stiff, split ring and have it slide, sending the hook deeply into your flesh? After a couple trips to the ER for extra-deep hook removal, I bought the pliers.

If you work with lures long enough you will probably get hooked somewhere on your body. A lesson worth repeating … years ago I accidentally dropped a lure into the washing machine, catching in my fishing shorts interior liner then later, into the drier. The next morning I pulled them out of the drier and quickly slipped them on deeply impaling myself in a very sensitive area. Thinking I had been bitten or stung my first instinct was to try to quickly yank off the shorts which, of course, didn’t work out well for me either. That may have been my most embarrassing ER adventure to date not to mention the painful solo drive getting there.

When working oysters bars and crusty docks, inspect your leader often for nicks or abrasions. If you don’t, there’s a good chance that later today you will hook and eventually lose the fish of your dreams.

Along with your standard redfish bottom baits like shrimp and ladyfish steaks, try my homemade fall bait recipe. Cut up two hot dogs into 2-inch pieces. Make several deep pokes into each piece with a toothpick then place them all into a plastic bowl and cover with GULP liquid. Refrigerate overnight. Put them in the boat ice chest and fish them on a circle hook. Two dogs make 12 baits and with a low rod-tip, sidearm cast, you can skip these smelly dogs way back under cover.

Fall is not only about catching the last tarpon of the season and the best-of-the-year local redfishing, but also about intercepting a trophy class snook as they move inland to their cold water hangouts.

This is the time I like being on the river running snook docks. Skip casting DOA Shrimp or other soft plastics far back and under will often result in an epic snook battle. Picking a long stretch of docks, I fish them facing into the tide, quietly using the electric motor.

Practicing casting from shore or a pool before becoming a full-fledged dock jockey. Bouncing lead head jigs off of shiny, expensive, gel coated boats, or snagging hooks in dock lines, screens, dock furniture and sleeping pets is a definite no-no and, you could be held responsible for damages.

Do your part and be a responsible dock caster. If the owner asks you not to fish his dock, politely leave without argument.

There have been several reports of big snook being caught on nearshore reefs by surprised bottom anglers.

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. Contact him at 239-282-9434 or captgeorget3@aol.com.