Outdoors Column | ‘The sharks have been bad.’ Predators are among the challenges to anglers right now
“Everything is firing,” said Captain Pablo Koch-Schick, who charter and commercial fishes offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. “Grouper fishing has been awesome, tuna fishing has picked up, kingfish are still around and lots of other fish showing up, too.”
Koch-Schick has been fishing from 40 feet out to 150 feet. Since the middle of April he’s targeted the Gulf’s best pelagic species. The fishing has been good, but the weather hasn’t.
“It was a pretty cold winter and that has made it so good right now. Since it was cold water temps have shot up the past couple weeks and now everything is out there. But we’ve had to pick and choose days with the wind and I’ve had a bunch trips canceled,” Koch-Schick explained.
On shallow charters Koch-Schick has noted kingfish between 40 and 50 feet over hard bottom. When the weather allows, he’s been running deeper to find tuna and grouper around schools of bait.
“Since it’s spring its all about bait. I usually head toward a group of numbers and stop and look for bait. When I see it I troll two lipped plugs to find the tuna. When we find the tuna I can post up with live bait and chum. If it’s hard bottom and the bait is below the boat that’s also where we’re getting bigger red grouper, too. The key for red grouper has been using locally sourced sardines that match what’s out there right now.”
In addition to those fish, cobia and other gamefish have been caught in the past few weeks. Keeping a flat line out with live or dead bait as pelagic fish roam offshore is a surefire way to increase your catch. Baits like sardines, threadfin or pinfish make a great flatline presentations.
“We got a 40- to 45-pound cobia on 20-pound leader while snapper fishing. It was a 40-minute fight. Another cobia we got on the bottom while grouper fishing. You never really know what will show up. One of my buddies got a real big wahoo, as well. I always try to keep a pitch rod ready since they could come up at any moment.”
One of the few fishing problems for Koch-Schick has been the predators that move in when fishing. His only option is to move spots and start fishing again.
“The sharks have been bad. Sometimes we can only pluck a few fish then we got to move on.”
The next few months will provide anglers with even more options, that Koch-Schick is excited about. May will be the return of amberjack season, while June will provide licensed captains the ability to target red snapper along with gag grouper for recreational anglers, as well.
And on Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a red snapper recreational season that will run from June 4 to July 28, with a possible reopening in the fall if quota is available.
Captain Pablo Koch-Schick can be reached at 404-438-8732 or through his website reelcoquinafishing.com