Fishing Reports

OFFSHORE

Grouper are scattered right now, according to reports from Gulf waters. Anglers fishing from Sarasota to Tarpon Springs are finding gags in water ranging from 20-to 80-feet, with no depth in particular producing best. North, from Pasco to Citrus counties, anglers are hitting gags in 4-to 25-feet of water, but the shallows, being the short run, are where many anglers have been targeting grouper. On a recent trip, Capt. William Toney fishing out of MacRae’s of Homosassa, scored 27 gags with a handful of keepers while fishing for a few hours. Toney has been casting Rapala lures for the gags that have been tipping the scales up to 18-pounds, but also employs a technique of chumming with small chunks of mullet. Most of the shallow fish are on limestone ledges or in tiny springs that dot the flats in the Crystal River/ Homosassa area. By chumming, the fish are pulled out of the holes, allowing the anglers to hook and pull them away from the rocky crevices.

Capt. Frank Bourgeois, fishing out of Hernando Beach reported as many as 70 gags on full day trips with about 10% keeper-sized fish to show for the efforts.

Capt. Larry McGuire out of Bradenton continues to hit gags and mangrove snapper in 95-feet of water, opting for the longer runs. While the deep water can still be productive for bottom drops, plenty of spots on the way out are producing kingfish up to 40-pounds as the kingfish run begins winding down.

Cobia have been on the list of species anglers are targeting on the nearshore reefs from St. Petersburg to Anclote Key. Live pinfish are working well for the cobes.

INSHORE

The action over the past week has been outstanding. Loads of big trout moved into Tampa and Sarasota Bays and took up residence in the potholes. Last weekend’s full moon produced some very low tides that nearly drained the bays of much of the water, leaving deeper holes to hold fish. These holes concentrated fish, making them easy targets. Redfish, snook, trout, flounder, and even cobia were found in the holes in Lower Tampa Bay. CAL Jigs with shad tails and 7MR MirrOlures were attractive to the big specks.

The Manatee River between Palmetto and Bradenton has been giving up some silver trout recently. The deep holes in the river of 14-feet and more are holding the small “sugar trout” as some call them. These tasty small fish put up quite a fight on light tackle. Love’s Lures tandem Jigs are a local favorite in white, pink, and silver, in both straight tail grubs and curly tails. The light rigs can also be tipped with shrimp when the bite slows a bit. Non-stop action can be the order of the day making it easy to get carried away with silvers, but these fish do not freeze well, so limit your catch to a fresh meal or two for best flavor.

Pompano were skipping on the edges of the bars in Sarasota and Tampa Bays. Capt. Rick Grassett, fishing out of CB Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught pompano to 3 ½ pounds on jigs and flies on the Sarasota Bay Middle Ground flats. Anglers fishing from the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers also bagged some pompano using fiddler crabs and Doc’s Goofy Jigs. Capt. Rick Frazier, out of Mastry’s Bait and Tackle in St. Petersburg reported pompano being taken around Pinellas Point near the Clam Bar.

Veteran fly guide, Capt. Paul Hawkins out of St. Petersburg has been targeting black drum to 50-pounds on fly. Hawkins has been stalking the big shovel tails around the flats in Boca Ciega and Tampa Bay on low tides. Redfish have also been on his catch list that looks like a laundry list of who’s who in the fish books. Snook, permit, trout, redfish, bluefish, bonefish, tarpon, Spanish mackerel, kingfish, cobia, black drum, pompano, and others will take a fly and Hawkins has done it. The St. Petersburg guide may be reached through his website at www.flatsguy.com.