With a reprieve from thunderstorms, Anna Maria Island anglers are eagerly getting out on the water to experience some of what September fishing in West Central Florida has to offer.
With American red snapper recreational season open on the weekends, you can bet weekend warriors are out in force to catch their limit.
Other snappers, such as mangrove and yellowtails, are being added to the aggregate as near-limits are easily attainable.
Anglers who aren’t equipped to venture long distances into the Gulf or have no desire to do so, are catching enough to satisfy them. With a multitude of bait fish — shiners, sardines, threadfin herring and glass minnows — flashing in and out of Tampa Bay on the tides, Spanish mackerel, bonito, ladyfish and jack crevalle are taking a hook without too much hassle.
Whether you’re in a boat or fishing from a pier, you should be able to get action on these tough-fighting fish as they frenzy around the bait schools.
If you’re looking for something larger, redfish and snook are lurking around the passes and the adjacent beaches, waiting for a tasty morsel.
The same applies on the flats. Casting baits along mangrove shorelines — especially oyster bars and where good water flow exists — can result in great action on both reds and linesiders.
Fishing deeper grass flats is another option to finding a bite, especially spotted seatrout. Casting medium-size shiners in these areas can yield many hookups on trout, as well as ladyfish and jacks.
If you’re willing to brave the September heat, there is fishing to be done. Just keep an eye on the horizon for pop-up thunderstorms.
Capt. David White is working inshore throughout Tampa Bay while targeting a variety of species. During the two-week gag grouper season, White says his anglers caught a respectable number of keeper-size fish using live pinfish as bait. Fishing areas such as rock piles, wrecks and reefs was most productive.
Now that gag season is over, White is spending his time catching bull redfish along the beaches and passes, where, using pinfish and crabs as bait is leading to reds exceeding 35 inches in length.
After wearing out on redfish, White turns to the hunt to big snook. Again, the beaches and passes are producing the best action.
Capt. Johnny Mattay is fishing offshore on calmer days, where depths of 70-100 feet are yielding excellent action on mangrove snapper and yellowtail snapper. Using live shiners as bait works well, although offering frozen sardines is working, too.
Moving inshore, Mattay is putting clients on large redfish around the beaches and passes. Casting live pinfish or shiners to these fish is resulting in a bite and some tired anglers with sore arms due to the large size of the fish, some exceeding 35 inches in length.
Mattay says snook are being found in the same areas and are reacting to the same offerings of pinfish and shiners as bait.
Meanwhile, when moving to the backcountry, Mattay says spotted seatrout are being caught on the deep grass flats. Limits of trout are being caught and the flats excursions also are producing a mix of other species, such as macks, ladyfish and jacks.
Send high-resolution photos and fishing reports to fish@islander.org.