Island waters provide anglers action, variety, abundance
Springtime fishing around Anna Maria Island and its surrounding waters remains consistently good for a variety of species.
Whether fishing the flats or out on the Gulf of Mexico, the island’s charter fishing guides are producing a full boatrange of what our waters have to offer.
On the flats, snook and trout fishing are providing sizzling action. Live bait fishing with shiners is the most productive, although artificials — such as topwater plugs, suspending twitch baits and soft plastics on a jig head — are triggering a bite. For both species, strong moving tides are a bonus. Try to time your fishing with the tides around the peak times of water movement. Also look for areas “off the beaten path.” These fish are more apt to chew than fish that have had 100 baits thrown at them.
Moving off the beaches and into the Gulf of Mexico, Spanish mackerel and kingfish are still going strong. If you’re planning on going out for kings, you may want to act soon because water temps are on the rise. As for the macks, you can find fish from the flats all the way out to the nearshore reefs.
Speaking of nearshore reefs, mangrove snapper are still abundant in depths of 20-40 feet. These fish are ranging 12-20 inches and are readily taking live or fresh-cut shiners placed on the bottom. Remember, the water out there is clear — thanks to a lack of rain — so use the lightest possible leader. A 5-foot stretch of 20-pound fluorocarbon will usually do the trick, but bring some 15-pound just in case.
Capt. Warren Girle is working offshore, resulting in hookups on a variety of species. To start, free-lined shiners connected to a long shank hook are attracting attention from kingfish and Spanish mackerel. Kings 10-20 pounds are the norm, although fish exceeding 40 pounds are in the mix. As for the Spanish, expect to see fish 2-4 pounds. Other species interested in free-lined shiners are jack crevalle, blue runners and an occasional mangrove snapper.
Bottom fishing offshore is bending rods for Girle. Mangrove snapper are responding to bottom rigs baited with live whole shiners or pieces of fresh-cut shiners. Mangoes up to 20 inches are readily taking baits on small hooks and light leaders. Cobia are being caught in the same way. Slightly heavier leaders and hooks can result in frequent landings.
Finally, a rare occurrence in our waters but worth mentioning is mako shark. While free-lining a large blue runner behind the boat, Girle hooked into an 8-9 foot mako. After two jumps, the fish wrapped up the leader and broke the line. “You never know what you’re going to hook into out there,” he said.
Capt. Aaron Lowman at Island Discount Tackle in Holmes Beach is finding good results on mangrove snapper from working the nearshore structure. Small- to medium-size live shiners combined with a 1/2-ounce knocker rig are resulting in limits of 12-15 inch mangrove snapper. Along with snapper, Lowman is reeling up Key West grunts and flounder.
Around structure along the beaches, Lowman is finding Spanish mackerel, kingfish and jack crevalle. All three species are more than sufficient adversaries on light tackle. Drag-screaming runs and battles to the bitter end are what makes these fish popular with sport fishers.
Into the backcountry, Lowman is finding rallies on spotted seatrout. By casting live shiners throughout the lush grass flats of Sarasota Bay, he’s catching spotted seatrout within the slot of 15-20 inches. Over-slot trout also are hooking up, although since over-slot trout are generally loners, they are not typically found among the smaller schooling trout.
Finally, snook remain a mainstay in the backwaters of Sarasota Bay and in the Intracoastal Waterway. Free-lined shiners are resulting in fish measuring 20-26 inches.
Capt. Rick Gross of Fishy Business Charters is fishing the flats of southern Tampa Bay and Terra Ceia Bay with good results on the trio of most treasured flats species — snook, redfish and trout. All three are responding to live shiners. For snook and redfish, Gross is fishing shallow grass flats around mangrove islands and around submerged oyster bars. For the trout, he’s moving to slightly deeper grass, where he’s finding trout of 15-22 inches are common.
Fishing structure in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico is resulting in bent rods and happy fishers for Gross. Mangrove snapper and flounder, two of the best eating fish, are being reeled up with consistency. Live shiners on bottom rigs are triggering mangrove snapper 12-15 inches to take a taste. As for the flounder, an ample number of keeper-size fish are going in the cooler.
Jim Malfese at the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria says the Spanish mackerel bite is improving. Pier fishers using white or pink speck rigs are catching keeper-size macks during sunrise tides. Mixed in with the macks are ladyfish, blue runners and jack crevalle.
Pier fishers using shrimp as bait are reeling up flounder, although most are barely legal. Casting shrimp under the dock is the key to getting a bite. While using shrimp, you may also encounter sheepshead and black drum.
Finally, snook are starting to take up residence around the pier. Pier fishers using live shiners or shrimp are catching under-slot linesiders as well as an occasional lower slot-sized fish. Although large numbers of fish have yet to be seen, persistence is paying off.
Send high-resolution photos and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.