Wahoo !!! A great week in paradise.
Offshore action has been absolutely awesome this week -- actually the last six weeks have been phenomenal with American red snapper season open. On Show Me The Fish Charters operating out of the Bradenton Beach Marina running out in my custom 31-foot Morgan Sportfish, my anglers are catching lots of red, mangrove and yellowtail snappers along with fire-truck red grouper up to 25 pounds, mahi-mahi, porgys, big sharks, barracudas, catch-and-release gag grouper and amberjacks. We’ve been working depths from 125 to 160 feet offshore of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. Live and cut bait all producing. On July 19, red snapper season closed, but all is not lost: the red grouper catches are improving daily and heating up with the summer. Amberjack are back in season Aug. 1 and will be there to hurt you and fill the cooler. On one trip, catch of the day went to 12-year-old Rocky Finerty from Wellington, Del., catching his limit of red snappers, a pair of 7-pound mangrove snappers, grouper and amberjack. Rocky Carry’s his name very well: He was my go-to man outfishing all of the experienced adults on this trip. I specialize in helping the inexperienced, the kids and the ladies outfish the guys who can fish. It always happens. I have even experienced this personally.
Catch of the week goes to Josh Phillips from Lakeland, with a great wahoo he caught using a sardine in about 125 feet offshore of Anna Maria Island. The day started out heading far offshore and we stopped closer in on an area where we saw a school of mahi mahi. But on the bottom we found a new area of large red snappers and huge red grouper. We were catching lots of them when the wahoo came to the back of the boat. First mate Anthony kept him happy feeding him bits of bait until I got a flatline ready and all the grouper rods out of the way. Then I just pitched a sardine to the ’hoo and asked who wants some of this? Josh jumped on it and the fight was on. An hour later a wahoo was in the boat. Josh is a deputy with the Osceola Sheriff’s Office and was on a special trip with his dad and three brothers. I love to support law enforcement and show them the fish. Life is good fishing is great come on out and get ya some. Fish and be happy!
Capt. Larry McGuire
Show Me The Fish Charters
(941) 720-6475
www.captlarrymcguire.blogspot.com
With the recent rains bringing water levels up high enough to allow my 24-foot pontoon boat to be put back into beautiful Lake Manatee, we headed out at dawn hoping to put some crappie and catfish in the cooler for a fish fry. The crappie fishing was slow, as I kind of expected for this time of year. The eight crappie we did catch were all nice-size fish, measuring 13-13½ inches. We also were hoping to catch some catfish during the day while crappie fishing. These fish did not disappoint us with seven fish in the cooler, the biggest of those being just over 8 pounds. Nothing huge, but a blast to catch on microlite equipment.
On the saltwater side, the redfish are abundant and are easy to see and sight. The flip side to this is one day we’ll catch good numbers and everybody’s happy; the next day we can cast to the fish in the same area and watch the bait sit right under their noses and watch them turn away. Reminds me of tarpon fishing. I guess this is why they call it “fishing” not “catching.” Trout are a different deal; there are plenty of trout around, and they are easy to catch. We are weeding through a lot of undersize fish to get to a keeper-size fish. If just bending a rod is your thing, there are large schools of ladyfish around, just look for large flocks of birds hovering over the water, and cast anything to them and you’ll have one. This is a great thing if you have small children out fishing who don’t have a lot of patience. They will have a blast.
Capt. Mike Senecal
Paradise Pontoon Charters
(941) 704-4832
www.pontoonboatcharters.com
Steady action and a variety of fish landed have been the norm on recent charters on my 23-foot Hydrasport, fishing out of Anna Maria Island. Speckled trout, redfish, mangrove snapper, bluefish and mackerel are some of the varieties of fish caught this past week.
Smaller shiners that are abundant in our area waters have been the bait of choice. Use a quarter-inch net to get these smaller baits and downsize your hooks and leaders to match the tackle to the baits.
Speckled trout and mangrove snappers have been feeding heavily in 4-6 feet of water on the smaller shiners with abundance and vigor. Just throw a handful of shiners behind your boat to fire up the bite and get the tasty fish to start chewing. In this shallow of water, the mangrove snapper are perfect eating size when you cook them Bahamian style -- scaled, gutted, seasoned and heads off -- on the grill. Take advantage of the mango season and add some mango salsa to the grilled fish for some good eats.
Redfish schools are still scattered in the mangroves at high tide and in the potholes on low tide. Use a cork to float your bait tight to the bushes for fun colorful fish; also try a variety of baits as redfish can be choosy as to what they will eat on. Shiners, shrimp, pinfish -- live or dead -- will usually do the trick.
Capt. Mark Howard
SumoTime Fishing Charters
www.sumotimefishing.com
(941) 704-6763
