The weekend didn’t quite clear up in time for great fishing. But late Sunday and Monday things began to settle down and the northwest wind should calm down by mid-week.
Mackerel, kingfish, bonito, sharks and other migratory gamesters are still here and should congregate when the winds turn easterly. Snook fishing was slow. But flounder, perhaps the most unlikely of gamefish, made a terrific showing.
These flatfish are a cyclic creature marked by good and bad years. They are also an underrated gamester and one of the best eating of all fish. Finding them in profusion is a rare event.
Yet just about everybody has been catching them recently and that’s an uncommon bonus, particularly with trout closed to harvest.
The regular gun season for deer, turkey, quail and other resident game animals opened last weekend along with the second phase of dove season. However, that occurred only for the privileged few who have access to private land. The lone Duette Park rifle hunt in December is full and the nearest public hunt areas are at the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area near Lakeland and the Babcock/Cecil Webb WMA in Punta Gorda. Neither of these allows hunting except for permit holders during the first nine days after the season.
I’ve hunted both Webb and Green Swamp and would recommend against Webb. It’s been taken over by swamp buggy riders in the past and the game is spooky there.
Green Swamp is a good place to hunt. But if you hunt there plan to endure some rugged terrain. As one hunter wryly told me, “It’s named well.”
n Steve Golla of the south Sunshine Skyway fishing pier reports limit catches of flounder are biting there along with grouper and a good number of pompano. Spanish mackerel fishing has slowed, but some kingfish and sharks are around.
n From Island Discount Tackle comes word that Captain Tom Chaya may have had the best catch of the week. He docked with lots of flounder including a whopper nearly 30 inches in length.
n Dave Miller of Cannon’s Marina on Longboat Key reports Bruce Rofene landed with a nice catch of grouper plus mangrove and yellowtail snapper.
n Lots of flounder, a few snook and plenty of bonito and Spanish mackerel made up the catch list at the Anna Maria City Pier according to Dave Sork.
n From Dry Dock Marina comes word that Captain Johnnie Walker has been catching lots of mackerel and bonito in the gulf. A few kingfish and sharks are mixed in.
n Jim Eliason of Discount Tackle Outlet reports kingfish are biting on trolled spoons just offshore. Further out a few brave souls caught red grouper despite the bumpy seas.
The weather should settle and bring mackerel and kingfish back into the focus of the fishing scene. It’s still a bit warm for winter snook. Meanwhile, more and more doves are filtering south for wing shooters.
The state of Florida has more than a dozen public areas to hunt doves, including the field in Punta Gorda. Check with the commission for opportunities.
G.B. Knowles, outdoors writer, can be reached at (941) 730-3234.
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