Backwaters good, offshore iffy with storms
By Capt. Mike Heistand
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| Capt. Logan Bystrom, left, and brother Connor Bystrom, both of Holmes Beach, came up on some tuna while on a summer fishing trip to the Florida Keys. |
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Big red
Joey Gillis of Tampa caught this fine-looking redfish while fishing with Capt. Tom Chaya aboard Dolphin Dreams Charters.
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Offshore anglers are having a tough time, what with the mix of tropical weather associated with Fay and Gustav and the anticipated rough seas with the approach of Hurricane Ike.
But the backwater fishers are doing well with trout, snook and redfish.
Capt. Sam Kimball, out of Annie’s Bait & Tackle on Cortez Road, said he’s staying in the backwater, catching snook, redfish and trout.
Capt. Mark Johnston of Annie’s said he’s also catching trout, redfish and snook.
Bill Lowman at Island Discount Tackle at Catchers Marina in Holmes Beach said offshore fishers have had a rough time getting out, but those who do are catching a few grouper. Backwater anglers are catching redfish, snapper and trout.
Bob Kilb at the Rod & Reel Pier said anglers there are catching small mackerel, mangrove snapper, redfish and black drum.
Dave Sork at the Anna Maria City Pier said fishers there were pretty much echoing what was coming from the Rod & Reel: macks, snapper, reds and drum.
Dave Johnson at Snead Island Crab House said he’s seeing big snapper coming to the dock, as well as big redfish from Terra Ceia Bay.
At Tropic Isles Marina, reports include some big 60-pound bull sharks, plus trout and snapper.
Capt. Rick Gross on Fishy Business out of Catchers Marina in Holmes Beach said snook season’s opening has been good so far, with limit catches every day to date.
Capt. Larry McGuire of Show Me The Fish Charters said he didn’t go out last week due to the bad weather, but expects fishing “to be fantastic when the weather clears up. These storms always push new fish into our area, including lots more grouper, snapper and cobia on the ledges and hard bottom. I forecast more pelegic fish being pushed into our area, like big mahi mahi, wahoo, billfish and kingfish.”
Capt. Zach Zacharias on the Dee-Jay II out of Parrot Cove Marina said he took Homer and Jesse Williams of Tampa out last week and caught spotted sea trout and mangrove snapper. “We fished primarily in the Tidy Island vicinity of north Sarasota Bay and Palma Sola. White bait was plentiful, good-sized, and easy to get. The heavy rain bands from Gustav over the weekend didn’t mess up the water quality, in fact, the storm helped by lowering the water temps,” he added.
On my boat Magic, we’ve been putting charters onto trout, mangrove snapper to 20 inches and too many sharks.
Good luck and good Fishing.
Capt. Mike Heistand is a 20-year-plus fishing guide. Call him at 723-1107 to provide a fishing report. Prints and digital images of your catch are also welcome and may be dropped off at The Islander, 5404 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, or e-mailed to news@islander.org. Please include identification for persons in the picture along with information on the catch and a name and phone number for more information. Snapshots may be retrieved once they appear in the paper.
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