Northeast anglers generally plan Florida trips for winter, but fall is when the inshore bite gets started. On a Gulf Coast trip last week, I came away impressed with the action, abundant access and ability of our skippers to dodge 25-knot winds. Sarasota’s Capt. Andy Cotton worked crab pots tight to the beach in open Gulf waters to put us on numerous tripletail and husky false albacore. Tampa’s Capt. Jason Semeyn chose protected bayside coves where snook, redfish and jacks tore into live pilchards. Light spinning setups maximized the fight. Redfish and snook may run larger on Florida’s East Coast, but the West Coast has the numbers. We hooked snook to nearly 40 inches and reds that topped 10 pounds. Here’s a clip of action from which there was no holding back the smiles!