Fishing after work can pay dividends with longer days

With spring pushing toward summer, many “9 to 5” working anglers get a little extra time to sneak out and toss a line after a day at the office or out on the job. Some even prepare for their afternoon fishing trip, packing everything they need for a sunset bite at their favorite spot when the fish will be biting.

“We decided to do a little fishing after work,” said James Zornan, a Bradenton-born angler who fishes as much as he can. “I do service work and was working in Palmetto last Tuesday, so brought all my stuff with me to the job.”

Zornan was prepared, but wasn’t certain where to fish. The closest location? Emerson Point.

“We don’t fish it too often; it was a spur of the moment thing.”

Along with friend Matt Whitfield, the duo parked outside of the gate that closes at dark.

“If the fish are biting, you don’t want to take any chances on being stuck inside,” Zornan said. They began to walk along the trail, eventually getting in the water where they caught bait.

“We netted some whitebait and pinfish along a grass flat. From there we started walking and fishing.”

With the tide going out and plenty of water moving, the duo started catching quality fish.

“We caught snook, redfish, trout, gag grouper, mangrove snapper… everything.”

The eight or nine redfish they landed ranged between 24 and 34 inches.

The half-dozen snook measured up to 32 inches.

“It seemed like every other bait caught a fish. It stayed like that until the tide stopped moving.”

Like other anglers who will participating in upcoming tournaments, Zornan is always checking new spots that will potentially hold winning fish. Last year his team took home eighth in the Crosthwait. This year he just completed the Bearded Clam tournament and will follow up by participating in next week’s Sticken Pigz tournament from the Palma Sola Bay boat ramp.

“We fish everywhere from John’s Pass to Venice Jetties looking for big fish,” Zornan said. “Pretty much all of our trips we consider prefishing for upcoming tournaments. The big thing is we target big fish.

“Next weekend we’ll be doing the Sticken Pigz. I think a few of the guides have been catching 24- to 27-inch trout so it’s going to take a big trout to win that division. Redfish have been tough to come by in the slot. The key for us catching redfish has been wading; they are tough to get from a boat. It’s much easier to stay stealthy and not spook fish while wading.”

Judging by this recent fishing trip, Zornan should have a good chance at finding quality fish.

This story was originally published April 15, 2017 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Fishing after work can pay dividends with longer days."