Fishing still great in bays, Gulf, passes
By Paul Roat
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Record catch
Amy Sharma may have set a world record with her black grouper catch Saturday with her 93.5-pound fish, caught in the Gulf of Mexico off Anna Maria Island. She was fishing with husband Dr. Andy on Team Legmakr with Capt. Anthony Manali and his wife Joann. She is a speech therapist and director of rehabilitation at Kindred Hospital in Ocala; Andy is a physician in Ocala and Inverness and both are frequent visitors to the Island. islander Photo: Courtesy Joann Manali |
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Hook, line and license
Beginning Aug. 1, resident angles who fish from the shore will need a $9 shoreline fishing license or a $17 regular saltwater fishing license. The state instituted the license requirement in advance of what was expected to be a more costly federal requirement. islander Photo: Lisa Neff |
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Great catch
Frank Almeda of Anna Maria City caught a nice catch of gag grouper while fishing with Dan O’Toole on Capt. Larry McGuire’s Show Me The Fish Charters. They caught the fish in about 100 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico using sardines and pinfish as bait.
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Hot weather is producing some hot fishing action in the bays and in the Gulf of Mexico offshore of Anna Maria Island.
Backwater action is great for trout, redfish and catch-and-release snook. There are also some reports of flounder and snapper in the bays.
Mackerel are a good bet in the passes, plus a few pompano and an occasional bonita.
Offshore action continues to be excellent for grouper and snapper.
Don’t forget to get a fishing license if you’re going to fish from shore after Aug. 1. It’s only $9, available at most tackle shops or the tax collector’s office. Before you go into sticker shock, remember, a bunch of the money will go toward fish research.
Danny Stasny at Island Discount Tackle at Catchers Marina in Holmes Beach said the heat is prompting many fishers to do “low-light” fishing — dawn and dusk. Inshore action during the cooler times is producing lots of catch-and-release snook, redfish and trout around the lights in canals, with live bait like shiners working best for the bigger fish. Passes are producing epic quantities of big snook, with Longboat Pass being the best spot for both linesiders and juvenile tarpon. Offshore action continues to be great for lots of mangrove snapper, gag grouper and even some dolphin-the-fish near the weed lines, about 30 miles out.
Capt. Mark Johnston at Annie’s Bait and Tackle in Cortez said he’s catching lots of snapper on live bait, plus redfish “are really starting to turn on.” He’s finding lots of catch-and-release snook by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, as well as tarpon.
Capt. Sam Kimball out of Annie’s said his offshore trips are producing lots of grouper and snapper.
Frank Whitney at the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria said fishing has really picked up the past few days. Anglers there are catching lots of big redfish, many too big to keep, “and you can walk on all the snook around the pier. They’re just terrorizing the place.” Mangrove snapper are also a big deal, with most in the 16- to 20-inch range. Mackerel are also a good bet at the pier, plus a few sheepshead.
At the Anna Maria City Pier,Jesus Rosario said the catch ranges from mackerel to mangrove snapper, with some early-morning tarpon hits. One 90-year-old man caught a 5-foot-long silver king last week on 12-pound-test line and jumped the fish twice before it broke off. They’re also catching flounder, sheepshead and catch-and-release snook, plus sand perch and cobia off the shallows.
Capt. Larry McGuire of Show Me The Fish Charters said offshore action “is intense.” He reports catches of large red grouper, amberjack, mahi-mahi, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, yellowtail snapper and big sharks, including blacktips. “The best action is past 100 feet, and live bait such as pinfish has been working best.” He took Frank Almeda of Anna Maria and friends out last week for a bunch of gag and red grouper and snapper. “Fishing was fast and furious,” Capt. Larry said, “but while working with Frank, his experience and skill had us catching the largest and most impressive grouper. Frank is not only a 38-year resident of Anna Maria, but he's 87 years old, which made his fishing skills even more astounding. It was his first trip with Show Me The Fish Charters, and it was most definitely phenomenal. Way to go, Frankie!”
Capt. Mark Howard on SumoTime Charters said the speckled trout bite continues to be strong along the Intracoastal Waterway and near the deep ledges. “Redfish are biting underneath deep docks along the Manatee River and potholes along the mangroves,” he said, “and mangrove snapper are thick along structures in the bay and the nearshore reefs. The shark bite has been very good inside the bay.”
Capt. Zach Zacharias on the Dee Jay II out of Parrot Cove Marina in Cortez said not to expect any radical changes in fishing for the next few weeks. “It’s hot. The water is hot, and, fortunately, the fishing can be hot as well.” He said the catch for the next few months should be diverse but constant: “decent trout action, most of the specks are of average size, but some nice gators are definitely out there running up to 27 inches. They have been found on open-water seagrass beds in 5 to 7 feet of water. Redfish are scattered and ranging in size from 15 inches to 35 inches depending on the area you’re fishing. Mangrove snapper are the staple catch of mid-summer and can be found anywhere from bay ledges, wrecks, dock pilings, and deep-cut mangrove shorelines. A surprising number of big mangoes have been encountered on the open grass beds while pursuing trout, bluefish and mackerel. There also have been reports of pompano in Sarasota Bay. In order to target them you need to use pompano jigs or live shrimp, but it’s unusual to have them around with the water as hot as it is. Tarpon are still a possibility, but the big thick schools are dispersing and the best bet for encountering a silver king is inshore where they will be found in smallish pods in deep channels and dredge holes just inside Gulf passes and at the mouth of large bays. Snook have wrapped up there spawning on the past two full moons and are beginning to filter back to the bays and will be found staging just inside the passes until the first cold weather drives them farther inshore.” Offshore action includes snapper, grouper, mackerel and bonito.
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. |