‘All available.’ What good spring weather means for Manatee County fishing
Captain Eric Chaignet has run into a good problem as the weather calmed down over the past few weeks.
“The last couple of days we’ve been getting a limit so quickly,” said Chaignet, who is a charter captain out of Anna Maria Island. “I’ve tried to go play with some barracuda and goliath grouper after, but they haven’t been as aggressive quite yet.”
Each morning for Chaignet has started with a trip to the Skyway fishing piers where he’s loaded up with bait. Once water temperatures started to rise, he noticed bait has become easier to get. From there he’s picked up his clients and on calm days he’s headed west into the Gulf, stopping around 40 feet first thing in the morning where mangrove snapper have been as aggressive as he can ever remember.
“We start by fishing some knocker rigs on the bottom, trying to get hogfish on bigger ledges. They’ve slowed down over the past few weeks. But the snapper have been rising up to the surface. I’ll chum and they’ll start beating the baits up on the surface. We just have been free-lining baits and getting a limit pretty easily. Some of the days we’ve got a limit of 20, then catch another 10 for fun,” Chaignet explained.
The 5-per-person limit of snapper has been coming so early in his trips, he’s had to find other fish to target. When it’s good, he likes to hook up to show fish like goliath grouper and barracuda, but says they haven’t been aggressive yet due to the cold water. He’s been heading back inshore where rising temperatures have redfish and snook as a great secondary target after filling the cooler with snapper.
“It’s still a little pre-spring and will probably get even better over the next few weeks. Everything is good right now. Redfish and snook are really good. On Wednesday, after getting our fish in the Gulf we came back and threw three baits out inshore. Those first three baits got one keeper snook and two small ones. I’ve seen some lunkers, but they haven’t quite been eating.”
Chaignet said the water quality both inshore and offshore has been fantastic.
“Offshore the ledges we’re fishing you can see them from the surface and their definition. It’s been so clean you can see the structure on bigger reefs as well. Inshore we’ve been sticking closer to the creek mouths and it looks clean there too. When the tide is up we’ve fished the edges of mangroves and potholes. It’s pretty much all available right now.”
With another midweek cold front approaching, water temperatures will continue to yo-yo and fish will be confused. But dropping water temperatures means the warmer days ahead will send them rising again, and that’s when springtime fishing is at its best.
Chaignet anticipates continued great fishing this spring, continuing what he’s been experiencing over the past few weeks.
Captain Eric Chaignet can be reached at (941) 807-1221.
