Despite having to dodge some pop-up thunderstorms, Anna Maria Island anglers are finding the inshore bite to be good.
Although the mighty tarpon are still calling folks to complete their bucket list.
With water temperatures reaching the mid-80s, catch-and-release snook fishing is the best inshore bite.
Whether on the flats around mangroves and oyster bars or along the shorelines of the gulf beaches and in the passes, the linesiders are accommodating to anglers of all skill levels.
Using live bait — shiners or pinfish — works well to get the popular fish to bite.
If live bait fishing isn’t your thing, artificials will work.
When fishing around piers or along the beaches, the Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow can be deadly. On the flats, soft plastics on a jighead or topwater plugs will get the job done.
When using lures, don’t expect to catch the numbers of fish you would when using live bait, but the enjoyment of figuring out how to trick snook with a lure is a real reward.
With an influx of hatch bait showing up in Tampa Bay, many anglers are gearing up for a mangrove snapper party.
It’s time to break out the 15-pound fluorocarbon leader and size-4 hooks to trick the spooky fish to take a bait. Anchoring over wrecks and reefs and chumming is effective when targeting snapper. As they frolic in the chum, they become less wary of being caught and will take a small shiner without close inspection. And with a light leader and small hook you can find your way to a limit of fish before you know it.
You may attract mackerel in the chum, so go prepared with plenty of hooks and patience. A light fluorocarbon leader and a number-4 hook is no match for the razor-sharp teeth of the macks.
If the macks are too much to handle, instead of free-lining baits to the snapper on the surface in the chum — try bottom fishing. There could be more on the bottom.
On my Just Reel charters, I am seeing plenty of snook reeled to the boat for a quick trophy photo and then released into the water. Both visiting and local anglers enjoy the steady action of catching this hard-fighting fish. With drag-screaming runs toward the mangroves and acrobatic jumps into the air as they attempt to throw the hook, the fish are and always will be a crowd-pleaser.
After getting worn out on snook, my clients are enjoying targeting redfish along the mangrove shorelines. Casting live shiners or fresh-cut chunks of pinfish works well to lure the elusive fish from their hiding places among the roots of mangroves.
Lastly, spotted seatrout are rounding out the bite and the coolers. Fishing deeper grass flats is resulting in numerous catches.
Capt. David White is working the inshore waters of Tampa Bay as numerous days of west winds curtailed long ventures offshore into the Gulf of Mexico.
While inshore, White is enjoying catch-and-release snook action when using live shiners as bait. Casting shiners around mangrove shorelines and oyster beds is resulting in explosive action as the hungry snook devour the baits on the surface.
For anglers wishing to take a fish home for dinner, White is turning them onto redfish and spotted seatrout, as well as mangrove snapper.
The technique for catching reds is similar to targeting snook. Mangroves edges — where oyster bars exist — is great territory to have a chance of hooking a redfish. White also is finding reds along some of the sandy beaches in the Gulf of Mexico.
For the trout, deeper grass flats are producing action. And on some occasions, mangrove snapper are inhabiting the same areas, resulting in some nice fillets for dinner.
Targeting snapper around inshore wrecks and reefs is producing a bite.
Jim Malfese, although still out of work due to an injury, is managing to visit the Rod & Reel Pier to enjoy being out on Tampa Bay. And while he’s out there, he’s reporting anglers are catching a variety of fish, including mangrove snapper, redfish, Spanish mackerel and catch-and-release snook. For most of the species, live shrimp is working well. The snapper and reds are responding nicely to such offerings and even a few snook are taking shrimp.
For the macks, anglers using jigs or silver spoons are getting results, and these lures can attract other migratory fish, such as jack crevalle and ladyfish.
Send high-resolution photos and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.