AMI fishers match the hatch, make the catch
If you haven’t noticed, the abundance of small “hatch bait” has reached the waters around Anna Maria Island.
It’s time to scale down to your 1/4-inch mesh cast nets to avoid gilling these small baits. You surely don’t want to end up with a Christmas tree — that’s what we call it when you throw your bait net on a school that’s too small for the mesh of the net. If you do, your net comes out of the water with gilled bait in nearly every hole.
Not only do you kill all that bait, but it’s a real pain to pick those little shiners out of the mesh.
I’ve seen people throw a castnet away instead of taking the half-hour or more to remove the dead shiners. There are larger shiners around, so don’t just bring your 1/4-inch mesh net. If you see the larger bait you can use a 3/8-inch or 1/2-inch as long as the hatch bait isn’t mixed in with the school you’re targeting. As fishers, we always have to be ready to adapt. In this case, we have to adapt to the bait.
Inshore fishers are having good results on the flats of Anna Maria Sound and Sarasota Bay using hatch bait as their primary bait. Spotted sea trout, bluefish, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel are dialed in on this smaller bait. While fishing the flats of Sarasota Bay, I experimented with using small baits versus larger baits for trout. I found the trout would come up and slap at the larger baits without eating them, but it swallowed small bait whole.
Redfish and snook are patrolling mangrove edges to escape the day’s heat. They like to hide deep in the shade of the mangroves, so try chumming the edges to lure these fish. I also suggest bumping your leader size to 30- or 40-pound fluorocarbon in case a bigger fish pulls you back in the mangrove roots.
Nearshore fishing within 9 miles of our beaches is producing good numbers of mangrove snapper. Just remember, when the mangoes load up on these shallow water reefs, so do the goliath grouper. Reel your snapper up quickly so you don’t attract a goliath to your spot on the reef. Once they show up, you won’t be able to get a whole snapper up without it being chomped by a goliath grouper.
Dave Sork at the Historic Anna Maria City Pier is noticing the abundance of small bait. With the small hatch bait come Spanish mackerel and ladyfish. And pier fishers using the hatch bait are producing nice catches of Spanish macks in the mornings. Also feeding on the hatch bait are hungry mangrove snapper. Drifting small baits under the pier is a great way to catch some tasty little mangoes. Night fishers at the pier are catching over slot-size catch-and-release snook on pinfish and bigger shiners. These snook are big, so make sure you have tackle big enough to handle them. Meanwhile, Sork asks that boaters catching bait around the pier be courteous of pier fishers with lines out. “At times,” Sork says, “ it can get a little hostile out there.”
Bob Kilb at the Rod & Reel Pier is seeing decent numbers of Spanish mackerel being caught. Fishers using small whitebait on a No. 2 Aberdeen hook are the most successful. Black drum are being caught around the pier on live shrimp and crabs. “There are some nice reds and black drum under the pier,” says Kilb, “but it’s tough to get a bait down to them due to an abundance of pinfish and grunts.”
Jonny Keyes at Island Discount Tackle is hearing good reports for inshore fishing around the flats in Anna Maria Sound. “The spotted sea trout bite has been great on the higher tides,” says Keyes. Fishers using live shrimp or small white bait under a popping cork are getting the best results. Also, while fishing this way, don’t be surprised to catch bluefish, Spanish mackerel and ladyfish in the same areas. Moving closer to shore, redfish and catch-and release snook are being caught along the mangrove edges on high tides. Chumming with whitebait is a great way to lure these fish from the roots of the mangroves. It also gives you a casting target.
On the nearshore structures within 9 miles of the Island beaches, fishers are catching good numbers of mangrove snapper. Fish to 20 inches are being reported at depths of 40-50 feet. Also patrolling these depths are kingfish and Spanish mackerel. A flat line rigged with some wire and a long shank hook is a good way to target the species while you’re bottom fishing for snapper.
Capt. Mark Howard of SumoTime Charters says last week’s weather was a major factor in his fishing success — overcast skies made sight-fishing tough for tarpon. Howard says that while tarpon are still off the beach, the schools have been dwindling. Big shiners and threadfins have been the ticket to his success to entice the silver kings.
On a recent charter, Howard pulled up to a grass edge and slowly swimming in 2 feet of water was a 6-foot blacktip shark. “It’s tail and dorsal fin were slicing through the water like a hot butter knife,” Howard said. He suggests using chum blocks and lots of chum shiners, a bloody mackerel or ladyfish to get these toothy fish to bite.
During the incoming tides, Howard reports redfish feeding heavily around the mangrove shorelines. Live shiners and pinfish will entice these hard-fighting bruisers to bite. Howard suggests using a bobber to keep your bait from swimming into the grass.
Looking forward, the full moon will bring huge and fast moving tides during the week. Howard suggests tarpon will congregate in the passes and feed in preparation for their move to open water to spawn. “The key to fishing success is to take advantage of the moving water and be at your fishing spot when the tide turns,” Howard suggests.
Jeff Medley at the south bait shop on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Fishing Piers says Spanish mackerel and pompano are dominating the catch this week. For the Spanish mackerel, Medley suggests using a small shrimp under a popping cork. “For some reason,” Medley says, “they’re hitting small shrimp better than anything else. Even better than greenbacks and silver spoons.”
As for pompano, pier fishers are having success with Love’s lures pompano jigs tipped with a small piece of peeled shrimp. Other catches include blacktip and bonnethead sharks, mangrove snapper and a few kingfish. “There are sharks everywhere around the pier,” says Medley. “I think they followed all the mackerel in.”
For the mangrove snapper, night fishers are targeting them with good results. Small pieces of scaled and cut greenbacks rigged on a No. 4 hook with a small split shot is a sure fire way to bring home dinner.
Capt. Mark Johnston of Just Reel fishing charters is working Sarasota Bay using whitebait and shrimp to get a strike. Spotted sea trout to 24 inches have been the most abundant species on the grass flats in the upper bay. Johnston is targeting redfish around docks and oyster bars with daily slot-size catches.
Johnston also is hooking up flounder and bluefish around the passes. He suggests using white bait along the edges or drop offs in Longboat Pass.
Capt. Warren Girle is fishing offshore structure catching mangrove snapper, red and gag grouper and plenty of Key West grunts. “There are so many red grouper out there, it’s hard to catch anything else,” says Girle.
Once he filters through the red grouper, Girle is catching mangrove snapper in the 18-inch range on small shiners and shrimp. Key West grunts also are abundant on offshore structure now, which means fish-fry potential.
Moving inshore, Girle is wading the flats of Sarasota Bay targeting snook, redfish and spotted sea trout. “There are as many trout as you want out there,” says Girle. Girle is catching limits of spotted sea trout on live shiners or Exude darts. On a recent trip, he also caught and released a slot-size snook on a top-water plug while targeting trout.
The highlight of the week was a 26-inch redfish caught while wading the eastern flats of Sarasota Bay. Girle prefers wading to the boat to sneak up on his prey more effectively.
Capt. Rick Gross of Fishy Business is fishing the flats of Anna Maria Sound, Terra Ceia Bay and Sarasota Bay resulting in a multitude of species being brought to the boat. Gross has made the switch to hatch bait, which is producing more hookups than larger shiners. Limits of spotted sea trout are being caught on the grass flats at depths of 3-5 feet. Along with trout, Gross is catching ladyfish, silver trout and small blacktip sharks in the same areas. Along the outer flats on low tides, Gross is hooking up catch-and-release snook “like crazy.”
Moving to the nearshore structures, Gross is catching mangrove snapper and black sea bass up until the goliath grouper show up and turn off the bite. “You gotta get your fish up quick,” says Gross, “or you’ll lose then to the goliaths.
Send fishing reports to fish@islander.org.