keatom beach report october 7-8 2016

Keaton Beach Fishing Report October 7 - 8 2016
I had Ernie Stevenson and Ray Burroughs of Tallahassee, Florida out Friday last, and we had 15 trout and a nice 24" red while fishing with live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
The water has cleared/cleaned up nicely over the past few weeks and we had a bite most of the day, Friday, except right at the stand of tide for 35 - 40 minutes.
The reds, I have caught on my charters, seem to still be holding off the hill 3/4 of a mile or more. I have seen a bunch of ballyhoo inside this line; yet not a lot of activity feeding on them.
Mullet have begun to run the grass line again, near the beach, but no reds are in there with them; at least not where I have fished.
I expect there is still too much fresh water close and your best bet is to stay out in depths from 3 - 5 feet until things get back to normal.
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Once again plenty of folks have texted or emailed me to ask after the progress at Keaton Beach so again I will address it here in my report.
Keaton Beach ramp and canal is repaired, cleared and open for business!
Only this time I would like to give a shout out to the Taylor County county commissioners and to first, commend them for their rapid response to Hurricane Hermine by placing as a priority cleaning up and restoring the damage to the recreational facilities at both Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee and the prompt and proper clean-up of the communities at Dekle, Ezell, and Keaton Beach as well as Cedar, Dark and Bird Island.
I especially commend them for their choice of a local contractor and even more so, the fact that local contractor hired local folks including, but not limited to, commercial crabbers, shrimpers and fishermen ( which also included me, as I have a commercial class Fl. license to charter trips) This way they were able to help clean up their community and waters where they not only live; but make a living. They did a wonderful job and although I had a limited time working only part of the time with them, was proud to have worked side-by-side with them. Their familiarity of the local waters and canals help speed up the process and kept everyone safe throughout the clean-up procedure both with the shore and boat crews.
I ran a construction company for 13 years in Ga., and I can tell you these folks worked hard, put in 6(six) - 12 hour days for a straight month, had tremendous pride in their work and cleaned these communities up as though it was their own property. I appreciate the fact that this payroll stayed in the county and these folks (me included) were able to recoup some of our losses due to H. Hermine with this contract work.
Again my hat's off to the Taylor County county commissioners for the choices they made regarding this clean-up and to the Fine Job done by all!
Thanks!