Good weather brings in good fishing, as usual
| |
By Paul Roat
Water cooler. Fishing hotter.
Things are good out on the waters for fishers. Look for lots of snook and trout in the bays and flounder everywhere.
Bonita, bluefish and Spanish mackerel in the passes.
Offshore’s kingfish run is maybe on, maybe off, maybe…. There are catches, but not in the usual quantity.
Capt. Tom Chaya said he’s seeing kingfish in good numbers. He’s also catching bonita and blacktip sharks, plus some snook as the water cools, as well as redfish near oyster bars.
Capt. Mark Johnston at Annie’s Bait and Tackle in Cortez said he was catching lots of flounder in the bays and in the Manatee River, plus sharks at low tides in Miguel Bay.
Capt. Sam Kimball, also out of Annie’s, said he’s catching kingfish within 15 miles from shore, plus gag grouper.
Danny Stansny at Island Discount Tackle at Catchers Marina in Holmes Beach said “the trout bite has been awesome. We’re catching 20 or 30 a day from the deeper seagrass flats.” He said gold jigs seem to work very well. Other backwater action includes good redfishing on incoming tides, with shiner chum working well. There are also some snook in the bays, but not in large numbers and mostly sized between small and too-large. In the passes, look for bonita and Spanish mackerel. Danny said he loves the bonita fishers, because the fish “scream the line off the reels on their runs. I’ve had to replace a bunch of reels last week.” Offshore fishers catching kingfish of 35- to 40-inch size, plus gag grouper. The offshore catch is moving closer to shore as the water cools, he added.
Capt. Mark Howard of SumoTime Charters said the speckled trout bite is excellent, with a lot of action on the seagrass flats. “Snook are hitting on the moving water and redfish are along the mangroves. Some big Spanish mackerel have been caught on my charters,” adding that his trips out in Tampa Bay also are bringing in gag grouper.
At the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria, Tom Cassetty said anglers had the problem of oversize redfish, as well as a few keepers, plus snook, black drum, flounder to 18 inches, mackerel and bonita.
At the Anna Maria City Pier, Dave Sork said it was all bonita and mackerel, plus some huge redfish to 48 inches.
Capt. Zach Zacharias on the Dee Jay II out of Parrot Cove Marina in Cortez said last week’s cold front dropped water temperatures, and his charters have produced catches of kingfish, Spanish macks, bonito, shark, grouper, snapper and flounder out in the Gulf. Inshore, Capt. Zach said, the catch has included trout, snook, reds, bluefish, jacks and ladyfish. He also put his charters onto some nice-size snook and redfish Saturday.
Good luck and good fishing.
Fishing news and photos are welcome and may be submitted to Paul Roat by e-mail at paul@islander.org.
Have your say:No comments for this page. Feel free to be the first
|
