    
Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
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Votes: 0 | | Posted on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 7:59 pm: | |
Subject: Concentrate on the Gulf Bottom for Fish
Concentrate on the Gulf Bottom for Fish
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
Over the next few weeks fishing activity offshore on the Gulf will be geared toward bottom fishing. Anchoring the boat over some sort of structure and putting a bait down where they live is common practice among anglers that consistently produce fish. Fishing during the day around the new moon should be good as the nights are dark thus pushing the fish to feed in the daylight hours.
Grouper will be the main target for those looking to catch the meat. Gag grouper should be moving into shorter bottom as they do each winter. When a good school is located it's not uncommon for the bite to last until most of the fish are caught. With this in mind take only what you plan to eat and release the rest for another day. The reason I say this is we all need to govern ourselves on the number of fish we take. With more and more anglers out on the water learning how to catch fish, the pressure on the winter gag grouper bite is enormous. The simple weight of our numbers amplifies the amount of fish being harvested from the Gulf. It really is time to consider taking only enough fish for a few meals and releasing the rest, or we can expect complete closures of the grouper fishery in the future.
You may be surprised to learn that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is actually looking at closing gag grouper for a month or so next year. Check out their WebPages at http://www.gulfcouncil.org for their current news releases.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 17 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based one mile
from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico fishing charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit Capt. Dave's web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com |
