Gulf of Mexico Fishing Report: Snook, Reds, and Offshore Action

Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Gulf of Mexico, Florida fishing report for Saturday, September 20, 2025.

We kicked off the day with a sunrise at 7:18 AM, and we’ll see the sun slip past the horizon at 7:29 PM. That gives us over 12 glorious hours to wet a line and chase the bite. The tides are lively today, with a high at 1:40 PM and a low coming in at 8:47 PM. The tidal coefficient at 88 means strong current and pronounced tidal swings—this is ideal for targeting both inshore and offshore species, as bait gets stirred up along the grass flats, passes, and reefs. If you’re working the Mullet Key Channel or nearshore reefs, plan your strike around peak current for your best shot at the big ones, as reported by Tides4Fishing.

Weather’s looking excellent overall—expect warm late-summer temperatures, mostly sunny, and typical light to moderate Gulf breezes. The water close in is clean and blue-green, clear enough to spot moving baitfish and predators patrolling the grass lines, according to Great Days Outdoors, which means the sight bite is on.

Let’s talk about what’s chewing. Recent catches around the central and northwest Gulf have been strong for snook and redfish on the inshore side, especially on moving water in the early morning and late afternoon. Spacefish reports snook fired up on the bite, with mirrored results in other coastal stretches—live mullet continue to be a dynamite bait for both snook and big reds. Trout action’s solid in the back bays and over the grass flats, particularly at first light with topwater plugs or paddletail soft plastics fished on a slow retrieve. If you’re after something bigger, tarpon are still lingering in the region, with some nice hook-ups coming at night under the bridges and dock lights using live bait or swimbaits.

Offshore, Spanish mackerel, kingfish, and the occasional mahi are showing near the outer reefs and wrecks, especially around schools of glass minnows and threadfins. Snapper and grouper remain steady if you’re dropping baits down in 40-80 feet—just remember, the Gulf commercial red snapper season closes soon, so check those regs before heading out, as noted by NOAA Fisheries.

Best baits and lures right now:
- Live mullet and finger mullet for snook and redfish
- Soft plastic paddletails in white, silver, or root beer for trout and reds over the flats
- Silver spoons and Gotcha plugs for mackerel and ladyfish, cast at busting schools
- Natural bottom baits—sardines and squid—for snapper and grouper
- Topwater plugs at dawn for the explosive gator trout or snook hit

If you want to target the hottest spots today:
- The Skyway Bridge causeway and adjacent flats are turning up trophy snook and reds, especially on the outgoing tide.
- The passes near Destin and the grass lines outside Pensacola Beach are loaded with Spanish mackerel and cruising kings.
- For inshore, try the grass edges and creek mouths around Tampa Bay just after sunrise or as the tide starts to fall.

That’s the skinny for today—lively water, steady bites, and excellent fishing conditions up and down Florida’s Gulf Coast. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, anglers, artificial lure. Here with your Gulf of Mexico,
Florida fishing report for Saturday, September twentieth, twenty twenty five.
We kicked off the day with a sunrise at seven
eighteen am and we'll see the sun slip past the
horizon at seven twenty nine pm. That gives us over
twelve glorious hours to wet a line and chase the bite.

(00:22):
The tides are lively today, with a high at one
forty pm and a low coming in at a forty
seven PM. The tidle coefficient at eighty eight means strong,
corrent and pronounced tidle swings. This is ideal for targeting
both inshore and offshore species as bait gets stirred up
along the grass flats, passes, and reefs. If you're working

(00:44):
the Mullet Key Channel or near shore reefs, plan your
strike around peak current for your best shot at the
big ones. As reported by tides for fishing, weather's looking
excellent overall. Expect warm late summer temperatures mostly and typical
light to moderate golf breezes. The water close in is

(01:04):
clean and blue green, clear enough to spot moving bait.
Fish and predators patrolling the grass lines according to Great
Days Outdoors, which means the sit bite is on. Let's
talk about what's chewing. Recent catches around the central and
Northwest Gulf have been strong for snoke and redfish on
the inshore side, especially on moving water in the early

(01:26):
morning and late afternoon. Spacefish reports snook fired up on
the bite, with neririd results in other coastal stretches. Live
mullet continue to be a dynamite bait for both snook
and big reds. Trout action solid in the back bays
and over the grass flats, particularly at first light with
top water plugs or paddle tail soft plastics fished on

(01:48):
a slow retroeve if you're after something bigger. Tarpin are
still lingering in the region, with some nice hookups coming
at night under the bridges and dock lights using live
bait or swim baits. Offshore, Spanish mackerel, kingfish and the
occasional mani are showing near the outer reefs and wrecks,
especially around schools of glass minnows and thread fins. Snapper

(02:11):
and grouper remain steady if you're dropping baits down in
forty to eighty feet. Just remember the Gulf commercial red
snapper season closes soon, so check those rigs before heading out.
As noted by Noah Fisheries, best baits and lures right now,
live mullet and finger mullet for snook and redfish. Soft
plastic paddle tails in white, silver or root beer for

(02:33):
trout and reds over the flats, Silver spoons and gotcha
plugs for mackerel and ladyfish cast at busting schools. Natural
bottom baits, sardines and squid for snapper and grouper. Top
water plugs at dawn for the explosive gator, trout or
snook hit. If you want to target the hottest spots today,

(02:53):
the Skyway Bridge, Causeway and adjacent flats are turning up
trophy snook and reds, especially on the outgoing tide. The
passes near Deston and the grass lines outside Pentapola Beach
are loaded with Spanish mackerel and cruising kings. For inshore,
try the grass edges and creek mouths around Tampa Bay
just after sunrise or as the tide starts to fall.

(03:16):
That's the skinny for to day lively water, steady bites
and excellent fishing conditions up and down Florida's Gulf Coast.
Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe so
you never miss a report. This has been a Quiet
please production. For more check out Quiet Please got a
I