Cool weather transition: sheepshead move onto structures
James “Wyre” Lee of Cortez Bait and Seafood retail market in Cortez by the Cortez Kitchen restaurant says he has plenty of stone crabs this week.
He said the annual November mullet run is coming. He said fishers are only getting 30-40 cents a pound wholesale for mullet this week. “There’s no market here this year for the roe, not in China,” Lee said, “where they say they are growing their own, and there’s plenty of it produced elsewhere. The wholesale store is cutting fish for smoker orders, but most aren’t mature enough yet to have roe.” But it’s “coming on.”
Capt. Mark Howard of SumoTime Fishing Charters reports the past week was one of his best weeks for fishing in area waters. “On a scouting trip with sister Cindy McClure, we netted bait in two throws with both live wells filled to the brim with a nice mix of shiners and thread fins.” Then, while trolling the hard-bottom areas of Tampa Bay, Howard reports they caught 10 grouper, four of legal size and “ready for the grill.”
He said the lure of the day was a gold Bomber Long A Magnum with a broken back. “We literally left the fish biting,” he said.
“Switching gears, we moved up to the flats for some spectacular catch-and-release speckled trout fishing (out of season until Jan. 1) with a few going over 20 inches.” “As the tide continued to rise, we moved to the potholes and mangroves and chummed with shiners. The redfish bite turned on and McClure landed a nice redfish in the 30-inch club. Don’t forget to use the dead shiners in your live well as chum because the predators of the flats will be drawn to the smell of the bait.”
Looking forward, Howard said, the “transition from the fall to winter pattern has begun,” noting that sheepshead have started to move in the waterways around pilings, docks and structures. “It’s a sure sign of the seasonal change.”
Kingfish and cobia should stay in our area as the cold fronts come through, Howard said, but not if the water temperatures drop dramatically.
Capt. Larry McGuire of Show Me the Fish Charters reports offshore fishing is heating up. “On our parties, we are catching gag and red grouper, mangrove snapper, lane snapper, amberjack, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, barracuda and a variety of big sharks.” McGuire says weekend trips are seeing limit catches of large American red snapper. “But don’t wait too long to catch yours, they’re out of season after Nov 21,” he added.
The best action for McGuire is still out past the 100-foot depths, “but as the water temperature drops and the days grow shorter, my very best friends, the gag groupers, move closer into shore in droves,” in around 50- to 60-foot depths. “Last year in mid-November and December, we experienced some of the best gag grouper fishing I had seen in 10 years, and I forecast this year to be even better.”
McGuire said this time of year he fishes between the cold fronts. “As I am writing this report, our weekend forecast includes a small-craft advisory. The first boats that hit the Gulf after the front will be rewarded with some wild and crazy action as these storms push lots of new fish in on the reefs, wrecks and rock piles and bunch them up. It’s like hitting a gold mine. Now’s the time to come on out and get your catch of a lifetime.”
At Island Discount Tackle in Holmes Beach, Jonny Keyes said fishers looking for beach action this week will see mostly Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and small jacks to target with spoons.
“Inshore fishers on the reefs are finding nice grouper, snapper and some decent cobia cruising with sharks. The kingfish bite is good south of Longboat Key and, in the bays, there’s plenty of redfish and trout on the bulkhead and at Long Bar.” Keyes said there’s black drum schooled up inside the bay closer to Anna Maria Island, and they can be targeted with shrimp or sand fleas.
Cold weather will clear out by mid-week and turn warmer, so Keyes suggested getting offshore to target grouper “while we still can.”
Capt. Warren Girle reported finding some nice grouper and snapper offshore in 50-70 feet of water. Closer to shore, “almost on the beach,” Girle said, “we found kingfish to 30 pounds. Spanish mackerel were everywhere on the beach and, on rock piles close to shore within 3 miles, we found some nice flounder and cobia, one 38 inches in length and some other shorts.”
Girle said inshore fishing, before the cold front, he found redfish up to 32 inches in north Sarasota Bay, trout in 2-5 feet of water, although the trout is out of season until Jan. 1, and scattered bluefish and macks.
Bob Kilb from the Rod & Reel Pier said “fishing’s been lousy.” He said the bay water’s so dirty from the stormwater runoff, the macks don’t come in. He’s seen some drum caught, as well as a half-dozen early winter sheepshead.
Jesus Rosario from the Anna Maria City Pier said there’s better luck to be had on his deck than at the Rod & Reel. He’s seeing lots flounder being caught, and they’re still seeing mackerel and some tarpon in the very early morning hours. Some redfish were observed cruising by, but they were too big. Also, sheepshead are showing around the pilings but no bite yet. Rosario said they’ve seen a few large snook cruising the pier waters and they’re hoping to see a comeback from the winter freeze. They make for a great catch — and release — as snook remains closed until Sept. 1, 2011.
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