    
Capt. Mike Winn
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Thursday, August 15, 2002 - 3:36 pm: | |
Subject: Big Bend Report
BIG BEND
It looks like we can look forward to decent weather this weekend with an east wind ten knots and seas two feet. Your best bet will be to fish the late morning outgoing tide. Thunderstorms and lightning are still a major threat so use common sense when deciding to stay or go.
If you happen to be near a TV on Saturday at 12:30 pm, and you get the Outdoor Life Network, check out Csonka Outdoors. I took Larry and Smokey Joe out of Cedar Key in May. I have not seen the show yet, but at the very least you should get to see Larry pull in some Big Bend gags, red grouper and amberjack.
Redfish are still your best bet inshore with equal numbers coming from oyster bars and inshore grass lines. Anglers using grub-tail jigs, gold spoons, live shrimp and pinfish are producing the top catches. Clouser minnows and small poppers are producing for fly fishers working flooded bars at high tide. Many fish are within the 18- to 27-inch slot size. Crystal River and Homossassa anglers are finding many reds are over the slot size.
Fishers targeting temperature sensitive trout are working hard to find keeper-size fish in near shore waters. With the exception of a few closely guarded areas inshore, most larger fish are still coming from deep grass located further offshore. With pinfish being so numerous right now, grub-tail jigs, cut bait, or medium-size pinfish will produce the most strikes. Saltwater Assassin jig tails fished under a Cajun Thunder rattling float is a tough combination to beat for spotted sea trout. Free lined pinfish or pigfish are also producing some nice trout, Spanish mackerel and bluefish.
Spanish mackerel and a few kings are slashing through bait schools offshore. There is so much grass floating around offshore that trolling for mackerel is just about impossible. This goes for dragging diving plugs as well. Your best bet is free lining live or cut bait in a chum line, or drifting and casting jigs.
Grouper fishing is inconsistent at best. A good day of a near limit catch is followed by a dismal day with one or two keepers. There are lots of short red and gag grouper in 50-feet of water. Keeper gags, triggerfish, and grunts seem to be a bit more abundant in 40- to 45-feet of water. Homosassa and Suwannee anglers report better catches in 50- to 65-feet of water. Live pinfish or threadfin herring have accounted for most of our fish over 22 inches, but many anglers swear frozen baits work just as well.
Some impressive catches of sharks and cobia have been made over the last week. Tiger sharks from four to ten feet long have been caught, as well as countless acrobatic blacktip, sand and Atlantic sharpnose sharks. Cobia to 62 pounds have been boated inshore and offshore. Surprisingly, cut bait has accounted for the largest fish.
Good fishing, see you next week!
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