Best bets this week beach, deep-water fishing
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By Nick Walter
Islander Reporter
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Lynn French shows off a pair of gag grouper she reeled up while fishing with husband Capt. Tom Chaya of Anna Maria Island Charters.
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First-mate Larry Bethke of Show Me the Fish Charters caught and released unharmed this 9-foot hammerhead shark in about 130 feet of Gulf water. Capt. Larry McGuire snapped a few photos from the boat before the release, but, he said, “The shark was too big and dangerous to bring in the boat for a pic.
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Lee Browne of Roanoke, Va., with a Terra Ceia Bay flounder caught on a CAL jig with a shad tail while fishing with Capt. Ray Markham aboard the Flat Back II.
Anglers can expect cold fronts blowing through every five to seven days, which amounts to a wintertime fishing pattern.
But sheepshead are not around in big numbers, as some anglers have found them scarce over bay wrecks and reefs. Within the next few weeks, look for sheepshead to gather around rocks and bridge and dock pilings, feeding off barnacles and crustaceans.
Inshore anglers may want to consider fishing deep-water canals and deep grass flats in protected areas, as well as docks and channels.
The fishing off the beaches has been top quality, as Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jack crevalle and pompano attack bait fish.
Capt. Warren Girle said between 3-7 miles offshore there have been plenty of Spanish mackerel, undersized red and gag grouper, limits of mangrove snapper, as well as porgeys and Key West grunts. “You’ve got to catch 20-30 to get a keeper grouper,” he said.
Girle said he’s still getting a decent bite in the bays on redfish to 30 inches, nice trout, several of which were over 20 inches, and scattered flounder. “There’s not as many flounder,” Girle said. “I think they’re not catch and release anymore, they’re catch and grease. A lot are going home.”
Girle said he also had a lot of nice pompano to 4 pounds. He said there are a lot of ladyfish and bluefish near Longboat Pass.
“There’s so many,” Girle said, “even if they’re not showing, they’re on the edges of sand bars.”
Girle suggests using a quarter-ounce jighead in chartreuse. With the toothy bluefish, he’s been using a 25-30 pound fluorocarbon leader.
Capt. Zach Zacharias of the DEE JAY II out of Parrot Cove Marina in Cortez said he hasn’t been out much due to the fog, wind and rain. But he reported good late-fall and early-winter action out on the open flats of the local bays with big bluefish, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, flounder and occasional pompano in depths of 5-7 feet over broken grass flats.
“Bait is not necessary, as all the above will readily attack a jig, spoon or small lure,” Zacharias said. “Around the area canals, creeks and bayous, there has been decent action with reds, black drum, sheepies and mango snapper. Live shrimp would be the primary bait to hook up around deep-water docks. Look for docks with large boats that do not appear to be used a lot. Fresh-cut bait will work for winter reds and snook in the same locations. This manner of fishing will only get better as the weather gets colder.”
Zacharias said that the Gulf reefs have been productive with grouper, cobia, snapper, flounder, sheepshead, bluefish and Spanish mackerel. He said there also are some hogfish in 30-40 feet of water that can be hooked with live shrimp or crabs.
Capt. Mark Howard of Sumotime Charters said the trout catch-and-release bite was “off the hook” last week drifting deep grass flats with jigs.
He has been trolling for grouper in the bay, catching a few. “There are some big grouper in the bay right now, I’ll tell you that,” Howard said. “One guy had a grouper pull the hooks out. It was a big fish, probably over 10 pounds.”
The strange thing, Howard said, was that during the afternoon, he was able to net some nice shiners in the Key Royale flats. “Looking at my [fishing] logs, usually by now I’m not getting shiners,” Howard said. “But they were there and they worked.”
Howard used the shiners over a drop-off on some deep grass for speckled trout, bluefish, ladyfish and some Spanish mackerel.
He also tried targeting sheepshead over a wreck in the bay and hooked a few. “We didn’t get them like we thought we would,” Howard said.
Capt. Tom Chaya of Anna Maria Fishing Charters said anglers have caught pompano on the edges of holes on lower tides with shrimp or jigs, and when the weather has been calm, nearshore areas have produced some keeper gag grouper to 24 inches over hard bottoms, plus a few big flounder and mangrove snapper.
James Followell from the Sunshine Skyway south pier said he has seen some keeper grouper, small Spanish mackerel, and lots of big bonito caught there.
Rocky Corby from Anna Maria City Pier said Spanish mackerel are sparse and small in size, and a couple anglers have landed some scattered bonito. Finally, he said some shark have been caught both day and night.
Erica Webb from Rod & Reel Pier said anglers have caught some sheepshead on live shrimp, a few redfish at night, as well as black drum and a few Spanish mackerel.
Aaron Lohman from Discount Tackle at Catchers Marina sad the beach fishing has been abnormally good, with lots of flounder, a few pompano using Goofy jigs, quite a few Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and jack crevalle, which have been chasing bait fish. Anglers can use small silver spoons to imitate the bait fish.
Inshore, there are a lot of big trout, nice redfish around residential docks in 2-12 feet of water that can be caught on Gulp shrimp.
There also are snook on the same inshore docks.
Send fishing news and photos to fish@islander.org.
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