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Fishing Reports for Local Area - Location |
    
Jack Campbell (Videorov)
New member
Username: Videorov
Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 11, 2004 - 8:29 pm: | |
How deep were you trolling?
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2001 - 10:09 pm: | |
Subject: Start of Fall Kingfish Run Upon Us!
Start of Fall Kingfish Run Upon Us!
By, Capt. Dave Pinkham
10/24/01
If you haven't already heard it, you have now, the kingfish are returning.
Friday we ran into a school of jumping Spanish Mackerels about 13 miles offshore on the Gulf. Looked like the ideal spot so we started trolling. In the following 2 hours we managed to hook up with and boat a number of Spanish as well as king mackerels. This type of fishing is fun for the whole family and a great way to get them hooked on fishing.
With the daylight hours now growing shorter each day, the Gulf of Mexico's water temperature has been cooling down after the long hot summer. As it does the yearly southward migration of king mackerel should bring some great angling opportunities right through to Thanksgiving Day. Kingfish are a fast hitting, hard fighting fish, and are often within easy reach of a half days fishing out of Venice Inlet. For the record, kings were close to total decimation in the late 70's. Since then they have made an almost unbelievable recovery with the help of reduced bag limits. This is great news for the charter boat industry as well as the local bait and tackle stores. Catching fish makes for happy customers that keep coming back.
The bay is full of mullet, and they are big and laden with fat. If you hurry you've still got time before they lean out and get full of roe. It's not to hard to net up a couple and throw them on the grill. I've been munching on them all week and they're great! Easiest way to fix them is to filet them out and leave the skin on. Slow cook them skin side down in a smoker or on a grill with wet or green wood chips to provide the smoke flavor. I like to use green cuttings from citrus, or buttonwood. Lightly salt and pepper the meat and that should do it. Of course there's plenty of old timers out there that can smoke up a batch of mullet twice as good as mine.
Remember, if you're not out fishing you're wishing you were. Get out and go fishin, cuz' it's good fer ya!
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 18 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com |
Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2001 - 11:54 pm: | |
Subject: Rainy, Windy Weather Should Shake Up The Fishing
Rainy, Windy Weather Should Shake Up The Fishing
By, Capt. Dave Pinkham
Fishing out on the Gulf over the past couple weeks was actually pretty good. Aboard my boat Legacy we're still hooking up on some nice sized kingfish including one that went close to 35 pounds. The funny thing was the fish hit a dead sardine that was free-lined off the back of the boat. We also lost several kingfish to big fish with teeth. The culprits that ate the kings were most likely sharks and or barracuda. Mixed in with this menagerie of fish have been hoards of little tunny. Although not prized for their eating quality, this smaller member of the tuna family offer the sporting angler an excellent battle on spinning tackle.
Following is sort brief synopsis of what you may expect to catch fishing offshore in Gulf over the next few weeks.
- King mackerel are still hitting along with some big Spanish mackerel. I normally prefer to use live baits or troll when fishing for kings, but as mentioned above they will often hit dead baits with a little wave action at the surface helping to give them some movement.
- Permit should be still holding around area artificial reefs and wrecks. The key here is the bait. They feed on crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp. Fishing either of these two baits under a cork helps suspend them over the
structure, and can be irresistible to a hungry permit.
- Grouper fishing this time of year can be productive; you just need to locate the keeper fish. Hard bottom out past 70' deep will account for most of the keeper red grouper. Keep your bottom machine running as you search for a change in the sea floor's composition. Any change is a good place to try. Drift fishing these spots on the calm days can be a good way to locate them. Red grouper will be scattered out on this type of bottom, so when you hit some good fish toss a marker jug. Now you can re-drift the area.
- Snapper fishing will be best over ledges, wrecks, and the artificial reefs. The biggest problem here is that the Goliath groupers have taken up residence on many of these locations. It seems that every time the snapper start feeding these huge grouper move in and take over.
- Sharks have been plentiful for those of you yearning for a battle. In the past two weeks we've hooked into and seen many different species such as lemon sharks, black tip sharks, nurse sharks, hammer head sharks, bull sharks, and one that we call a reef shark. Chunks of little tunny work great for baiting them on a hook. Remember to keep an eye on the weather as it can and does change in a hurry this time of year.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on this coast for more than 17 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com |
Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 1:11 am: | |
Subject: How Close is Too Close?
How Close is Too Close?
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
Over the past week fishing conditions out on the Gulf of Mexico have been picture perfect if you like flat calm sea conditions. As a matter of fact at certain times of the day it got so still there wasn't a trace of wind. When it gets like this, the bite can really slow down. I like to take advantage of this point of the day by moving on to the next fishing spot.
Depending on the fishing vessel's range, summertime fishing on the Gulf offers anglers many different choices as to what species of fish they can target. For those with the capability to run offshore 30 to 60 miles there is a good possibly of hooking into blue water type fishes such as a sailfish or wahoo. These deeper waters are also a good bet when you're in the market for some big groupers. When the water temperature gets warm, some of the best grouper fishing will be found out past the 80' line.
In closer to the coastline most of the action will be centered around the areas that are holding baitfish. Good bottom structure such as some of the man-made artificial reefs often will attract large schools of baitfish. This bait will in turn draw predator fish such as sharks, little tunnie, groupers, snappers, Spanish & king mackerel, cobia, permit, amber jack, and dolphin.
Now of course when the fish do make a showing it usually doesn't take too long before the word gets out, and boatloads of anglers and divers start showing up. When this happens some of these reefs can get awfully crowded.
This brings to mind a call I got the other day from a fella that wanted my opinion on a close encounter he had just had at one of these reefs. The fella said he was fishing out on the Gulf with his family. They were anchored down over the "Ferry Reef ", which is one of the artificial reefs west of Stump Pass. Anyway he said a boatload of divers came up and started circling around his boat with obvious intentions of diving the site. He said the divers pulled their boat so close to his he thought they would run into him. I guess at this point the situation went downhill, he said in so many words that he lost his cool and some very unfriendly words were exchanged. The fella finally got so aggravated that he pulled his anchor and left.
What I told him is what I tell myself every time I get in this situation. First control your temper! all a hot temper does is aggravate the situation. These man-made reefs are built with public tax monies, and the numbers are published. This means that everyone has just as much right to use them as I do, or you do. In this particular instance, I would have stayed right where I was unless I was finished fishing. Most likely the divers would be willing to wait to get in the water until you're done. For me the shoe is often on the other foot and I'm the late comer. If I see there is a dive boat on a reef that I've traveled a distance to fish on, I try and hail them on the VHF radio. Most of the professional dive boats monitor channel 16. These guys are usually very cooperative and will let you know how much longer they'll be there. If it's a recreational diver, it's a good idea to move off to another reef and return later. The last thing you want to do is run over a diver.
So how close is too close? Well, it kind of depends where you're fishing. If you're chasin tarpon in Boca Pass, rubbin rails is a daily occurrence. Offshore on the Gulf, the artificial reefs have seen a dramatic increase in boat traffic the last couple years. As mentioned earlier, courtesy is the key. I'd rather have a friend fishing next to me than someone that we've just been hollering obscenities at back and forth. Once you leave these congested areas and move off to fish a piece of hard bottom, the space between boats widens considerably. It takes time to locate good bottom, and it's just down right discourteous to pull close enough to steal someone else's coordinates. If you're under way, steer wide up to a ¼ mile in order to go around a boat
at anchor fishing. With more and more anglers out on the Gulf with bigger and faster boats, we all need to be considerate to others. It is supposed to be fun you know.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on this coast for more than 17 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com |
Capt. Merrily Dunn
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 08, 2001 - 1:13 pm: | |
Subject: Fishing Report WE 7/7/01
Fishing Report for Bradenton/Sarasota, Florida 7/7/01
What a "firecracker" of a week for fishing here on the Southwest Coast of Florida. We're still catching and chasing tarpon along the beaches from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor. This year I've put most of my clients on to the Silver Kings along the barrier island of Casey Key. The Monday after the big boat races off Siesta Key, I had the pleasure of fishing with the Plaxico family of Macon, Georgia. Capt. Kelly Stilwell took the guys, dad Dave and his son, Tyler, while I fished with the gals, mom Sally and daughter, Corbett. We started at Grassy Point and they began at a spot just south of the old Midnight Pass. Corbett and her mom love to fly fish for trout in Highlands, North Carolina and thought that they would like to try for tarpon on the fly. What they didn't realize is that the 12 weight would be more of a challenge than they expected. We saw many a northbound school approach us and then disappear, only to pop back up many yards away from us. But one school did finally show that must have had 50 - 75 fish in it. We got the fly into them but they wouldn't take it. What Corbett hadn't known was that I tossed a crab on a circle hook way ahead of the approaching school and just let it sit while I ducked out of the way of her fly casting. Meanwhile, Sally was sitting coaching her daughter with hopes of a take on the fly. Well can you guess what happened next? A tarpon took the crab but being that it was a circle hook, I didn't set it. The line went tight away from the boat, the tarpon just kept swimming and I gave the rod to Sally. Corbett knew the school was out of range of her fly. That's when I told her it was okay because her "Sal Pal" had a fish! For the next hour the two tag teamed the rod and brought it to the boat. It was about an 80# tarpon, solidly hooked in the upper lip. Both were very lucky that day because the boys' team only got a hook up and a jump out of their efforts. Way to go girls! Just because one day we get 'em doesn't mean the next day we will. I took out John Schneider of Chesapeake, Virginia and his brothers-in-law, Christopher Duff and John Stoneburner of Chicago area, Illinois on Tuesday. We had both north and south bound schools and our baits well into them but ended up without a take for all our tries. We felt we were being avoided because we did see two schools bite for two other boats once they got by us. Don't brag too much, it'll come back to bite you! On the 5th, Capt. Rick Grassett and I took the Plaxico family out again but the seas were a little too rough for the girl's team, so I took Sally and Corbett inside for some bay fishing. The outgoing tide had brought a lot of brackish water into the bay and the fish were hard to find. Corbett did end up with a nice 2# trout caught on a trout color Slimy Slug, while Sally only caught lizardfish and a catfish.
Capt. Merrily Dunn
Game Fish-her Guide Service
reelsaltylady@cs.com
coming soon: www.gamefish-her.com
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Capt. Merrily Dunn
Unregistered guest
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 12:33 pm: | |
Subject: Fishing Report for Sarasota/Bradenton, FL WE 6/30/
Fishing Report for Sarasota/Bradenton, WE 6/30/01:
Our week started out with thunderstorms all day long but we are actually thankful for the much needed rain. After all, if we don't get rain to keep the chance of fires way down, we might get another Fourth of July without fireworks and wouldn't that be very disappointing!
Fishing for tarpon hasn't exactly been exploding this week but a few fish have been hooked and boated along the Casey Key beaches of Sarasota. Tuesday I fished a group with Capt. Jeff Olsen. He had aboard the Hook'em & Book'em, Helen and Eric Dembinski of Connecticut. While I fished with their father, Tom and grandma, Sarah of Sarasota. My group started off of Grassy Point and the kids were up a little north along Turtle Beach. We both had fish all over the place early in the morning but neither group could find a fish to bite. We tried crabs, threadfins, pinfish, MirroLures and DOA Swimming Mullets and DOA Jumbo Shrimp but with no bites for our efforts. It wasn't until around 10:30 a.m. that we moved up to hang near Jeff that we found a northbound school. Sarah and Tom both threw threadfins in the path of the school and Sarah exclaimed, "I've got one!" She had indeed hooked into about a 90 pounder that she fought for around 45 minutes until the 80 lb. fluorocarbon leader was worn through. Sarah didn't mind because she said she was going to let it go anyway. With crabs now being scarce and at a high price when you can buy them, on Wednesday Porter Harris and I threw the DOA Swimming Mullet at tarpon along the Turtle Beach portion of Siesta Key. The early morning stillness might have been some of the problem with hooking into fish because it seemed like they could really sense our presence. By 8:45 a.m. Porter threw to a southbound school and intercepted one that chomped on the big bait. He had been jigging it using the big Star rod with a Penn 750, which was quite a chore. A disappointing 50 minutes later he lost the fish when the 80 lb. leader was worn through. So far, we've lost two nice fish because we lightened up on the leader...back to the 100 lb. size! Thursday's outing for fly fisher Ted Tafaro of New Jersey started out with fish holding close to the beach at the old Midnight Pass between Siesta Key and Casey Key. We figured they hadn't been told the Pass has been closed since 1977 but I suppose in tarpon terms perhaps some of those fish are just coming back from South America! Anyway, Ted had a few good shots at some slow schools but perhaps the fly color wasn't the right choice that morning. We worked hard to find schools that would slow down. We have also noticed that there are more and more northbound schools than early last week. I took a day off with my boyfriend and new Captain, Terry Simmons on Friday and literally hovered around a crab pot just south of the Point of Rocks along Siesta Key. We had fish all around us and Terry hooked into a nice 80 pounder using the DOA Swimming Mullet. He was in the process of telling me that he thought he was working the lure a little bit too aggressively (in hopes of a hook up) when he met a great resistance and his tarpon leaped into the air! You should have seen his face. In fact he was just about as surprised as Porter had been but we ended up boating Terry's fish. Better go for that 100 lb. leader because they really take that bait down inside their mouths. I also took Terry for some beach snook action and he caught and released a nice 26" fish using a threadfin and a smaller one using a DOA shrimp.
There are a few more weeks of tarpon fishing left and just a couple of days still open. After the tarpon are gone I'll be concentrating on early morning and evening snook fishing under the lighted docks because it is getting too hot for daytime. Let's hope the thunderstorms won't keep us off the water too much. Contact me for dates and rates at ReelSaltyLady@cs.com
Tight lines and solid hookups,
Capt. Merrily Dunn
GameFish-her Guide Service
website under construction www.gamefish-her.com |
Capt. Merrily Dunn
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2001 - 10:53 pm: | |
Subject: Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida WE 6/23/01
Fishing Report for Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida Weekending 6/23/01
Fishing pals Todd Rosenthal and Tony Mutter of Twinsburg, Ohio have experienced tarpon fishing aboard the Game Fish-her in a way that only true buddies can. After a morning of casting to several schools of tarpon with only one hook up on a 70# fish for Tony that came at first light just off of the northern end of Casey Key, Todd was getting pretty discouraged but I told him to have some patience, it will pay off. Shortly after noon, now off of the public beach in Venice, both Todd and Tony threw a couple of fresh crabs into a slow moving school of tarpon. Tony's line went tight, then Todd's did also and one really big fish jumped past the boat! Two anglers tight but only one fish! What's with that? We finally figured out that both anglers had hooked up to the same tarpon. What a fire drill that was. I've heard fellow Captain, Jeffri Durrance, tell a tale of one such incident on his boat but it hadn't happened to me, until that Friday, with two guys from Twinsburg. Where else? They fought that fish to the boat in about 15 minutes and we even had another boat witness the whole ending. Thanks Austin for the photos! Todd claimed the catch because his hook was in the upper lip, while Tony's was on the side. We estimated the fish weighed close to the 150# mark but Tony still only credits Todd with a 75 pounder. Frank Treglia and Mike Distephano of Queens, New York got into several schools of north and south bound fish but got the cold shoulder. Mike finally hooked up using a threadfin but lost the fish after about a 20 minute fight when the line broke. Phil Turgo of Sarasota and his son, Brad, of Atlanta were into tarpon near the Point of Rocks but couldn't get any to bite. On the way back to the launch I stopped to pick up some trash floating in our Gulf waters, as is my habit, but ended up finding a 3# tripletail hanging by it. We cast a DOA shrimp to it and it ate it willingly. The fish was released so it could find another piece of trash. Brad caught and released a couple of juvenile snook along the Big Pass rocks by using a DOA glow shrimp. By the end of the week, Florida is getting soaked in the morning by lots of rain. Aledia Tush, owner of CB's Saltwater Outfitters, brought her long time friend David Herrick of Virginia along on Saturday for some pre-dawn catch and release snook action in Snook Alley using DOA's glow shrimp, then some tarpon fishing but those morning showers chased us back in before 8:30 a.m..
Tarpon season isn't over just yet and there are just a couple of days available before they're gone from the beaches. I'm just an email away: ReelSaltyLady@cs.com
Thanks,
Capt. Merrily Dunn
Game Fish-her Guide Service
website underconstruction: www.gamefish-her.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2001 - 11:26 pm: | |
Subject: Capt. Dave Pinkham/ Venice Area Fishing Report
Fishing offshore this week has been pretty good. The kings are still running out in 45' to 55' foot of water, and there have been some reports of black fin tuna action in the 80' to 100' range. If I get booked with a long day this week I'm planning on running out and finding some. A good place to start looking would be in the area of an anchored shrimp boat. They normally pull their trawls at night as shrimp bury up in the daytime. Often they will anchor down and pick through what they've netted throwing the by-catch overboard. This sets up a natural chum line and will often draw blackfin tuna in the area.
One method I've used in the past is anchoring out behind or down tide of the shrimp boat. If you do this make sure you don't get too close keeping safety and courtesy in mind. Now you can start a chum line of your own. If there are any blackfins in the area this should pull them to you. If you have live bait put a couple out on top. I've had tuna come right up behind the boat and eat out of the chum line. If and when this happens put a chunk of cut bait on and let it drift down with the chum. I'd be interested to know how you do so give me a call and let me know.
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 |
Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 8:29 pm: | |
Subject: Venice Area Fishing Report
Weather Changes Shake Up Fishing
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
The cold fronts that blasted though the end of March sure were packing a punch. With wind gusts at times to upwards of 40 miles per hour, getting caught out on the Gulf of Mexico was the last place that I wanted to be. One problem with fishing after a major blow is the dirty water conditions due to the high seas churning up the bottom sediment. The key to catching fish under these circumstances is to get out past the muddy water, or at least get out far enough so you see some improvement in the water clarity.
With more and more fisherman on the water leaning how to catch fish there is a lot of pressure on all the fisheries. The Gulf of Mexico has a lot to offer, but it's not a bottomless well when it comes to the taking of fish by so many. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that we all need to consider carefully each and every fish we kill. The reason being this, once we throw the fish on ice, that fish will never reproduce. Please handle all fish to be released carefully, and release as many as possible. There's always
tomorrow to think about you know.
Just remember, if you're not out fishin you're wishin you were! Get out and go fishin, cuz' it's good fer ya!
Captain 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 charter information call Captain Dave at
(941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com |
Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 16, 2001 - 2:57 am: | |
Subject: Arriving Front Excites Gulf Fish into Feeding
Arriving Front Excites Gulf Fish into Feeding
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
It always amazes me when just the slightest change in something as simple as the wind direction will set fish into a feeding mode. To illustrate what I'm talking about I'd like to share the experience I had aboard my charter boat last Friday. The day started out early as we left the dock and headed offshore at 7am. This was to be a half-day trip, and we planned on returning at 11am. I had an afternoon trip scheduled at 11:30, thus allowing me 30 minutes dock time for my clients to unload and for me to clean their catch.
The fog was thick as we idled out of Dona Bay bringing back some old memories of days gone by, of hiding in the fog over secret honey holes loaded with huge grouper. Once we cleared the Inlet I made for an area of hard bottom about 8 miles west of the pass that I was sure would produce some good fish. There's something about fishing in the fog that I just love. Anyway we arrived at our destination and anchored over the spot and dropped some baits to the bottom. There was plenty of fish showing, the problem was they just didn't want to eat. That's how the morning went, drop the baits to the bottom, catch a few white grunts, a couple of short grouper and a lone snapper and the bite would shut down. The next spot was ditto, and so on. When it was time to head back, sure we had enough fish for a good meal but it was nothing to brag about.
By the time the folks for my afternoon trip loaded up and we stuck our bow out the pass the conditions on the Gulf had changed. Earlier the fog had been thick and the Gulf had been slick as a baby's behind with barely a trace of wind. Now the fog was completely gone and there was a stiff wind out of the northwest. The seas hadn't caught up to the wind yet, so after listening to the latest weather update on my marine radio indicating nothing too severe in the forecast we opted to go for it. We went to the same area as I had on the morning trip. This time the minute the baits hit the bottom all heck broke loose. For the next two hours we couldn't get a bait to the bottom fast enough. Groupers, snappers, triggers, flounder, grunts, you name it, they were all hungry. Anyway the barometric pressure must have changed with the wind direction because something sure set those fish off.
On Sunday I had the crew from Gold's Gym of Venice out fishing. Rov Vongkorad the manager is a fishing fanatic, and when he is not working at the gym he's out honing his expertise with a fishing pole. Sunday, Rov was on his toes and took full advantage of the good bite putting his limit of gag grouper in the boat along with several nice mangrove snapper. Rov's girlfriend Christine Davis not to be outfished tangled with some nice fish also. Dennis Lynch also an employee over at Gold's was no slouch at catching grouper and snapper either. Sunday was just another example of the reason we all love Southwest Florida so much.
If you're not out fishing, you're wishing you were! Get out and go fishin, cuz' it's good fer ya!
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 17 years. His Deep-Sea Fishing Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico fishing charter information call 473-4603, or visit Capt. Dave's web page at,
www.charter-boatfishing.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | 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 |
Capt. John Sackett
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 8:40 am: | |
Subject: The latest action from www.AnglingAdventure.com
So many choices, so little time…
Boy, the above statement has never seemed as true as it does right now. Sure, the choices that we have to make in May and June between the Tarpon, Snook, Cobia and Permit can be pretty tough to make too, but right now we’ve got a ton of opportunities with the weather being our only limiting factor.
Offshore…
The offshore fishing has been the most limited of all our options right now, not because of the fishing itself, but the persistent winds that have given us so few chances to get out. If by chance you get a day set aside for offshore action, make the most of it. Since my last report and the Amberjack/Tuna action that I reported on then, I haven’t had a single day that the weather allowed us to get out to the blue water again! The god news though is that you don’t have to go deep right now if you are looking for a big tug of war, or some great fish for supper.
Case in point, one of our rare, calm, days was just yesterday. While I worked Nearshore sightcasting to Cobia (more on that below), my partner Capt. Chris Seger was out in the waters off Sarasota in his big Merrill Stevens Sportfish absolutely abusing the local Grouper population. To say the bite was on out there would be an understatement. While Chris didn’t give me any estimates on the total number of fish caught (normally you’ll land 5 or 6 short fish to every keeper), he did give me the total tally of 24 “keeper” sized ones coming over the rail. The really cool stat he also shared with me was that at least 15 of them were in the 15 pound range! Perhaps best of all for those of you that get a day out there when the wind does give us a break again, is that there was nothing fancy to Chris’ approach yesterday. We’re talking 55 feet of water and shallower, and were talking the fish slammed every type of bait they dropped with equal recklessness. Frozen whole Sardines, frozen Sardine halves, live Pinfish, it just didn’t seem to matter! Just watch your weather closely and get out there soon. If by chance your not equipped with the boat and gear to take advantage of this winter Grouper bite, but you want to experience a fish that can knock you to your knees, just get a hold of Capt. Chris at (941) 362-4032. When it comes to Grouper action, if you visit our website, http://www.AnglingAdventure.com you can arrange a trip there with Chris, myself, or one of the best Grouper guides in the Bradenton area, Capt. Sam Kimball. Anyway you look at it, try and get out soon.
Nearshore…
The only decent thing about the winds over the last week or so has been the direction. We’ve had at least a few days where the wind ran a little too stiff to have comfortable conditions in the waters far offshore, but thanks to the direction of that wind being from the East, Southeast, or even Northeast, we’ve had really decent conditions if you stayed relatively close to the beach. About the biggest challenge that we’ve had in the Nearshore waters has been the cloudiness of the water as a result of all the days with onshore waves.
That cloudiness sure doesn’t make things off the beaches any easier, but if the breeze is blowing from any direction with an “E” in it, get out there because it’s Cobia time. Prime example of just how good a day you can have, even in cloudy water, came just yesterday when I got a call from Capt. Mike Wise from down in Englewood. To make a long story short, I got the call, loaded a couple of my 12 pound G.Loomis spinning outfits and my father in-law in the truck and I headed South toward Boca Grande. In the end, we didn’t find a single pod of 30-70 fish like the ones that Mike was on just a couple of week ago when the water was clear, but we had a blast! This was entirely sightcasting to fish that we would spot cruising just under the water’s surface. What can I say? I love high adrenalin style fishing and sightcasting to Cobia certainly fits the bill. End of the story on yesterday was 6 fish in about 3 hours of “hunting” them, with only one fish that refused a live Shrimp tossed it’s way. If you’d like to get “hooked-up” with Capt. Mike, you can reach him at (941) 475-2687 in the evenings. One other aspect of this fishery that bears mentioning, has to be the fact that these fish are extremely strong candidates for flyfishing enthusiasts! Whether you are looking to pursue these hard fighting fish up adjacent to Tampa Bay in my home waters, off the beaches from Sarasota to Venice where Capt. Chris Seger chases them, or even down Mike’s way from Englewood to Boca Grande, the common denominator for success is going to be hard or rocky bottom in relatively shallow water. Needless to say, every opportunity I get when the conditions are right from now through February, I’m going to be out there doing the Cobia hunt.
Inshore…
It’s till Snook central around here and the clod front that’s passing us by tomorrow should only serve to solidify the winter type pattern we’re enjoying. Whether it’s been anglers aboard my 21 foot Hydra-Sports or Capt. Chris Seger’s 16 foot Talon, the Snook results have been pretty impressive throughout the Sarasota/Bradenton area. No, we’re not talking about finding them on picturesque flats, but we are talking again about a sightcasting situation, and one that will normally produce catch totals of at least a dozen or more fish on a half-day trip. Not bad for the dead of winter eh?! Look for the deepest of residential canals and creeks, peer carefully below docks, boats and mangroves and you’ll find the fish. Flip a live Shrimp, or for artificial fanatics a D.O.A. Shrimp as close to the mangrove roots as you can get it, and try not to lose your nerve as you watch the fish glide toward your offering. You’ll need to set the hook quick as you’ll have to try and keep him out of the roots or the dock pilings, but without a doubt you can expect that a few of the bigger fish will get the best of you.
Now if by chance you think you’d rather spend some time out on the flats themselves, and not in the canals or up the creeks, then my recommendation would be to set aside the whole day and head down South. Obviously, the more temperature tolerant species like our Redfish and Trout will be your focus, rather than the aforementioned Snook, but the experience can be out of this world. Capt. Chris offers full-day trips into the backcountry of Charlotte Harbor, and Capt. Mike offers both full, and half day trips down his way. When it comes to pristine backcountry, the waters that these guys cover down there are just incredible! If you’d like a little more insight into that area and the incredible Redfish potential it offers, be sure to visit the “articles” page within http://www.AnglingAdventure.com and check out the article that I wrote about fishing there with Capt. Chris last winter. That place is incredibly HUGE and absolutely beautiful during the winter months. Well worth the hour drive.
Even though this winter has been fairly extreme in terms of temperature swings, I guess there’s really never a bad time to plan a trip down our way. If you are looking for more information on all the opportunities we’ve got going on, or are interested in booking a trip with one of the finest guides in the area, be sure and visit their individual webpages within our website www.AnglingAdventure.com , or give me a call at (941) 920-4891. Either way, we’ll be out there to let you now what’s going on.
Like our friend Capt. Mark Rankin always said,
“Catch ‘em up”
Capt. John Sackett
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 03, 2000 - 9:04 pm: | |
Subject: Venice Area Offshore Report - Dec 1, 2000
As November Closes Fall King Run May Almost Finished
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
Despite the cold front that brought in the much-needed rain we got over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Gulf was quite fishable for those that were hardy enough to go for it. As promised by the weatherman, Thanksgiving Day turned out to be one of the nicest days of the week. Trace Greeley of Venice and a couple of his friends took time out from turkey and football to get out with me and do some fishing. I love days when the fish cooperate and it seems like you can't do anything wrong. Well, it was one of those kinds of days.
First the kingfish and the Spanish mackerel bit hard and then the grouper turned on. The best part of it was we were back to the dock before noon.
On Friday the wind picked up out of the south keeping us from venturing too far offshore. Luck was with us once again as the first couple stops of
the morning produced kingfish and gag grouper. By lunchtime the bite went flat as we tried moving several times attempting to locate some fish that
might be interested in an afternoon snack. The slow moving front finally pushed through on Saturday and Sunday causing the fish to feed on and off
though the weekend.
As the calendar ushers in December the fall run of kingfish may be just about over until they return in the spring. The Spanish mackerel should be around for while though, they always seem to hang around longer than their larger cousins the kings.
Grouper fishing has been pretty good and usually will get better in the cooler months. The same cold fronts that eventually will push the mackerels south of here should help to push more groupers our way. Anchoring the boat down over some type of structure and dropping weighted baits to the bottom is a sure-fire way to catch them. Grouper will eat most any bait including pinfish, grunts, shrimp, squid, sardines, and cut pieces of fish. When searching for good grouper bottom please remember it is common courtesy to go out of your way not to approach other boats that are grouper fishing. While you are grouper fishing don't forget to gear down for some snapper. Mangroves should be stacking up on some of the ledges as well as on good pieces of hard bottom. The artificial reefs are also a good place to catch these tasty pan size fish. Keep your tackle light as snapper can be quite smart about biting on big hooks or heavy leader lines. Use the same fishing techniques as you would for grouper fishing just use lighter gear.
I expect the month of December to offer some excellent fishing opportunities on the Gulf of Mexico. If you don't have your own boat then
consider trying a charter with one of the many excellent skippers in the area.
If you're not out fishing, you're wishin you were! Get out and go fishin,
cuz' it's good fer ya!
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 at Dona
Bay Marina in Nokomis, 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 |
Capt. Ken Shannon
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 24, 2000 - 3:35 pm: | |
Subject: West Coast of Florida Nov.24,2000
Finally the cold fronts are coming through on schedule. Now what does this mean for us
fisherman. If you like to offshore fish, first this means that for two or three days you will
be on the hill. If you are an inshore fisherman you will have very low tides after the cold
front passes.Now to the fish: Snook fishing has been quite good with a lot of fish around
the Intercoastal Waterway and in the creeks and rivers, there is also as many small Tarpon
as I have ever seen in the creeks and rivers during this time of year. Redfish are very
scattered on the grass flats.
One fish that many people overlook is Pompano. Pompano is arguably the best tasting of
the fish in our area. Pompano are in most of the natural passes like Big Pass, Stump Pass,
Gasparilla Pass, Redfish Pass and Captiva Pass.They will also be outside the passes and
along the beach. Probably the best way to fish for Pompano is to use the common
Pompano Jig to find the fish and then use Sand Flea’s once you find them.
Now along the beach and just offshore: Schools of Spanish Mackerel, Bonito, King
Mackerel and some Cobia. For the first Three, trolling with a verity of spoons on #1 to #3
Planers will do the trick, for Cobia look for Sharklike fish on the surface and toss anything
from jigs to live bait there way and if they are in the mood they will eat it up, if not they
will totally ignore your offering. For the Grouper fisherman the colder the water gets, the
better the fishing will get. Grouper, especially blacks (gags), will move to within a mile or
two of the beach. Live Bait will work best but Spanish Sardine will work very good as a
substitute. You can also troll up Gag Grouper with a large deep diving plug.
Good Fishing
Capt Ken Shannon
www.backlash-charters.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 04, 2000 - 4:44 pm: | |
Subject: What's Biting on the Gulf in November?
I can hardly believe it's already November. Seems like October just flew by. I sure hope the gorgeous weather we've been having holds for a while.
Tell ya what, as pretty as it's been on the Gulf, we've been enjoying one of the best fall kingfish runs I've seen in years. Of course all it takes is a good hard Nor'Western blowing for a week or so to push them right on down to the Florida Straits. Otherwise if the weather continues to hold who knows we may be eating kingfish for Thanksgiving Supper.
You know occasionally I hear people say they don't care to eat kingfish. Too oily or some jibber jabber like that. I've got to tell ya, if cooked fresh on the grill, I love it. White tender meat that's so moist it melts in your mouth. Anyway fishing is not all about killing and eating everything you catch. Sometimes I like to just catch'em for the fun of it, and then carefully release them so they can reproduce. You know the way I see it is whenever you release a fish today, it will be there for tomorrow. It's kind of neat when you think about the fisheries as a reusable resource. As Florida's population continues to explode we must all work together to protect these valuable resources for us as well as future generations.
King Mackerel - Have been stacked offshore for weeks now. Best areas to locate the main schools of them seem to be over hard bottom in 35' to 50' feet deep. One way to locate the kings is to look for the birds. Once you spot some birds such as pelicans or terns more than likely you'll find baitfish. I've said it before; the kings follow the bait schools. There are many methods used to catch king mackerel from trolling different types of hardware to live baiting. There are many types of live baits that work good for king mackerel such as shiners, sardines, blue runners, large shrimp, and even grunts.
Spanish Mackerel - Are everywhere offshore right now. One of my favorite ways to catch them is anchoring the boat and free-lining live shiners to them on light tackle. If you don't have any shiners try trolling silver spoons behind #1 or #2 planners.
Snapper - Lately we been catching a lot of lane snapper. They seem to be on just about every piece of bottom that we anchor down on. They are beautiful fish, and they are sweet to eat. All you need to do is locate any kind of hard bottom out past 40' feet deep and drop a rig to the bottom. They will hit any cut bait you put down.
Gag Grouper - This area is known for it's excellent grouper fishing, and I would say the most sought after grouper is the gag. Recently the minimum size limit was pushed up to 22 inches. This is a good thing due to all the pressure on this species. As the Gulf continues to cool this month look for gags to start moving into some of their winter haunts. Gag grouper often will tend to hang closer to structure such as wrecks, and ledges.
Red Grouper - Most of the keeper red grouper will be out past 60' foot deep. Although the minimum size for gags was pushed up to 22 inches, red grouper size limit remains at 20 inches. On the days with light winds, try drift fishing new areas. Bouncing jigs tipped with squid or a piece of cut sardine will provoke hits.
Cobia - have already made a showing in the past couple weeks. Look to find them hanging around channel markers, pilings and piers. The artificial reefs are also a great place to fish for them. I like to use small live fish such as grunts or sardines for bait.
If you've never had the chance to get out and catch king mackerel and you'd like to experience some of the fast non-stop action these game fish can provide, there's a window of opportunity right now to catch them. If you don't have your own boat or a boat big enough to get offshore, consider chartering one of the many qualified captains in the area.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 16 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based at Dona Bay Marina in Nokomis, one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at,
www.charter-boatfishing.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, October 20, 2000 - 8:08 pm: | |
Subject: Kingfish Are Just Offshore!
Kingfish Are Just Offshore!
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
This is one of my favorite times of the year. As each day that passes grows a little shorter and the nights longer, the air and water temperatures have starting to cool down, thus opening up all sorts of fishing opportunities out on the Gulf of Mexico. Fall is the time of year when the Gulf's surface waters can come alive with all sorts of fish feeding in the
upper water column.
Although the wind blew pretty steady out of the northeast all last week, for those that managed to get out on the Gulf and do some fishing the action
was nothing short of exciting. Last Friday I had the pleasure of guiding Ferold Davis along with Dick and Carol Bader of Englewood out for a "bankers
holiday". Considering there was a stiff northeast blowing as we cleared the jetty, compounded with the fact of a full moon the night before, I was
somewhat apprehensive as to whether the fish would cooperate or not.
Originally the plan was to do some bottom fishing for grouper, but as we put a few miles between us and the protection of the coastline the northeast winds pushed the seas higher the farther we went. We luckily spotted some terns working the surface about 6 miles out and decided to check it out. Sure
enough under the diving birds there was a lot of splashing going on indicating feeding fish. We quickly put out a couple of planing boards and
spoon trolling rigs behind the boat and headed for the fish and bird mayhem going on just off the bow. As we made our first pass through the surface
activity both the reels started screaming obviously with fish on. After a good round of tug-of-war between fishers and fish, two 12-pound jack crevele
were brought to the boat, photographed and released.
For the next couple hours no sooner than we would get the rigs out then we would have another fish on. At one point we pulled though a school of big
redfish which probably weighed in close to the 25 pounds. As you know, or should know the maximum size for redfish is 28" inches long, so after a quick
photo session they were carefully released also. Up to this point with all this action we still hadn't caught anything we could take home for dinner. That is until we started hitting the kingfish! Anyway just so you all know, right now the catching not just the fishing is happening on the Gulf.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 16 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based at Dona
Bay Marina in Nokomis, 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
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2000 - 6:40 pm: | |
Subject: Venice Area Offshore Report 9-18-2000
Thanks to Hurricane Gorden the Gulf of Mexico sure got stirred up a bit this week. But honestly other than a few missed days of fishing, the enice/Engleood
area once again got spared from a direct hit. We did spend the better part of Sunday down at Dona Bay Marina in Nokomis adjusting dock ropes. Although the
storm passed by 100 miles west of our area, the winds at times gusting up to 60 mph helped to push the high tide waters up over the top of the docks.
Anyway with Gorden now safely past our area, the Gulf should once again be fishable by midweek. This means we will be getting back to the normal weather patterns for this time of year. Thunderstorms will often build along the coastline in the afternoon. Some of these T-Storms can pack quite a punch or this case a bang. That's one reason I like to get an early start in the morning. Seems like when the sky is clear in the morning, there's time to get out and back to the dock before those afternoon clouds really start building.
Just a word of caution though, do keep a constant eye on the weather this time of year when you're out on the water, or for that matter when you are any distance from shelter, as these storms can and do build quickly.
One thing I am sure of is that it stormed hard last Friday night and Saturday morning was clear as a bell. Not only was the sky blue, but the Gulf was flat as a pancake. My clients wanted keeper grouper and despite being determined to get them some, I couldn't pass up a quick throw on some shiners
as we were heading toward the Venice Jetty's. Live shiners are kind of ace in the hole for me. If the grouper won't eat, the white bait is great for
snappers and trigger fish on the bottom and mackerels on the surface.
I'd been hearing reports of some keeper grouper coming in fairly close to the coastline in the past couple weeks so we figured on doing some fishing in
the 7 to 15 mile range. First stop was about 12 miles out and the red grouper bit hard and fast. We went darn near through 15 pounds of frozen sardines
trying to put a few keepers in the box. A lot of the fish were red grouper in the 12" to 19" range. If handled carefully fish caught in short bottom seem to do well when released. We did manage several keepers along with some mangrove snappers. There was still plenty of Spanish mackerel hitting on the top too.
The next stop was several miles farther out on a little spot I found while trolling. It didn't mark much on the graph on this day, but I figured we might as well fish it. No sooner than we got the boat set down on the jug, and some bait on the bottom, the grouper started hitting. This time they were a bigger class of fish, and we quickly put some 22" inch plus red groupers in the box. They turned off just about as quickly as they started, which was OK with me since everyone seemed happy enough with the catch.
The past couple days right before Gorden came through the grouper must have felt the weather changing because they were really biting. I've seen
this happen before, when a low pressure system such as a tropical storm approaches the fish bite like crazy. It's as if they know once the storm gets here they'll have to lay low for a few days.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 16 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based at Dona
Bay Marina in Nokomis, one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com |
Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2000 - 8:56 pm: | |
Subject: FOR BIG FISH HIT THE GULF
For those of you anglers that desire to catch the big one, you really don't have to travel halfway around the world to do it. Just west of local
area beaches, beneath the seemingly harmless placid green waters of the Gulf Of Mexico swim many fairly large species of fishes. Just the shear size and
weight of these monsters will test the strength and endurance of any angler that is willing to stand toe to fin with these brutes.
Whether you know it or not it is common knowledge that a lot of sharks inhabit our local waters. During the warmer months of the year an encounter with a shark while out on a Gulf fishing trip is more the norm than the exception. Why just today I had the pleasure of guiding Paul Stone and his family all of Port Charlotte on a fishing trip. Paul wanted to do some bottom fishing for grouper so we headed out about 20 miles in pursuit of some keepers. The first stop provided fairly quick action although none of the red grouper that were boated stretched over the 20" inch mark on my law stick.
From there we worked our way out past 80' foot deep hoping to locate some larger fish. With high hopes, baited hooks were once again lowered to the
bottom. This time luck was with us as several of the grouper measured well over the minimum keeper size. With the bite on, all anglers aboard now moved
as quickly as possible to get their baits to the bottom in order to take advantage of the bigger grouper that were feeding. Paul baited up with a live
grunt hoping for the fish of the day. It didn't take long, and by the way his pole bent when his bait was engulfed I wasn't so sure what was pulling on
the other end was a grouper. Tell ya what, Paul sure put that rod to the test and within minutes he had what looked to be a seven-foot nurse shark close to
the surface. Tagging along the tail end of the hooked shark was what appeared to be a second shark, most probably it's mate. So there you have it, a couple
hours on the Gulf and we've already seen two fish bigger than the fisherman.
By the way, we released the shark unharmed to fight another day. Some of the other species of sharks that are fairly common to this area are hammerheads,
lemons, black tips, and an occasional tiger shark.
You want big fish? Right here on our doorstep is Boca Grande Pass, world famous for all the tarpon that show up there every year. But there's more!
I'd have to say the absolute biggest fish we hook into on a regular basis in the Gulf would be the Jewfish. The problem is they are actually becoming a
nuisance. They have pretty much taken up residence on just about every wreck and artificial reef all up and down the coast. These holes that were once
sure-fire snapper and grouper hot spots are now dominated by schools of hungry monster jewfish. Anyway the one in the photo was handled as carefully
as possible and released. In my opinion it may be time to lift the moratorium on the jewfish. I'm certain with proper protection through size and or creel limits they could be harvested without being depleted.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida for more than 16 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat "LEGACY" is based at Dona
Bay Marina in Nokomis, one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at,
www.charter-boatfishing.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 03, 2000 - 9:25 pm: | |
Subject: Venice , Sarasota Offshore Fishing Report
This time of year there are many different species of fish available for those who venture out on the Gulf of Mexico. With so many choices to make it can be tough deciding which type of fish to target. Usually I’ll take the easy way out and let my clients make that decision for me. I prefer to give them choices, such as one option would be we could fish over a wreck or artificial reef. Barracuda are usually stacked up on these spots all summer long due to the large amount of bait this type of structure draws. Or this same man-made structure may provide for an appearance of some cobia enticed to the boat with a chum line. There would also be the possibility of hooking into some permit that decided the live crabs we were using as bait were to their liking. Sometimes spots like this are hot and the action can be fast and furious. On the other hand there are those days when between the jewfish on the bottom, and the barracuda on the top, it’s difficult to get anything to the boat.
Of course we could just skip the wreck fishing and do some bottom digging for grouper and snapper, and thereby avoid some of the many line break-offs and lost fish that are unavoidable when fishing over wrecks and the artificial reefs.
Lately when all else fails, I like to turn my efforts to dropping baits to the bottom and going after some grouper. Both red and gag groupers have been making a pretty good showing anywhere from 17 to 30 miles offshore. There are several ways I locate and fish for grouper. But first before I go any farther, one way I don’t fish for them is by looking for other boats that are anchored down and then pulling up on them. There’s good grouper bottom all over the place. As a matter of fact, some of my best catches are often over something I’ve just located that day. So if you heading out, and you don’t really have any good grouper holes, let me suggest that you head out about 20 miles, turn on your fish finder and start looking. With a little persistence I promise you will locate some grouper of your own.
Once you see bottom that appears to be hard consider drift fishing. This will allow you to quickly find out whether there are grouper in the area or not. I like to drift with sardines or squid bouncing along the bottom. Or you could try tipping a 4-ounce jig with a chunk of bait and bouncing this on the bottom as you drift along. Once you hit a grouper, mark the location with a marker jug. Now you can re-drift the area, or anchor over it if you choose to do so.
Please handle those fish to be released carefully, and be courteous to other anglers out on the water.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida
for more than 16 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat “LEGACY” is based at Dona
Bay Marina in Nokomis, one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico
charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his
web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2000 - 7:31 pm: | |
Subject: Venice-Sarasota FL Fishing Report
Well, it sure has been a scorcher the past couple weeks. With the long hot days and warm sweaty nights, the Gulf of Mexico’s water temperature has been steadily creeping up. By August if you go for a dip in the Gulf it should feel like getting in a warm bathtub. This is the time of year that these warm air and water conditions can spawn some nasty thunderstorms, so keep a vigilant eye out. I would encourage you to consider getting a quick look on the morning news to see if there is any severe weather bulletins up before you head out to sea.
July is a good month for fishing for dolphin on the West Coast of Florida. They are most definitely a warm-water loving fish, so now is the time to find them. Most of the mahi mahi, (another name for dolphin) I’ve caught west of our coast have been outside of 80 feet deep. That equates to at least 20 miles offshore. One way to locate them is to look for weed lines or big bunches of floating sargassum grass. The dolphin will actually hang around or under these floating fish nurseries. I’ve done well just trolling up and down the weed lines. If it’s a real flat day, the sargassum grass will often gather into big clumps. In this instance I like to pull up alongside the weeds and cast my bait so that it falls below the floating grass appearing to be an injured small baitfish. White jigs work great for this as you can cover a lot of water quickly. Live baits such as pinfish, shiners, shrimp, or any other small baitfish for that matter should also work to draw a hungry fish out from under the shady cover of the floating weeds.
Another method I’ll use when conditions are flat calm is to start chumming with cut bait along the edge of the grass. This will often draw the attention of most any game fish that’s in the area looking for an easy meal.
While you are fishing the upper water column, you may as well drop down a weighted bait to the bottom. Grouper action is usually good out in these depths. You may consider using circle or jap hooks on the bottom rigs. These hooks are designed to be self-setting. Now you can just stick the baited bottom rigs in the rod holders and get back to fishing for dolphin.
Capt. Dave Pinkham has been a fishing guide on the Southwest Coast of Florida
for more than 16 years. His Deep-Sea Charter-Boat “LEGACY” is based at Dona
Bay Marina in Nokomis, one mile from Venice Inlet. For Gulf of Mexico charter information call (941) 473-4603, or visit his web page at, www.charter-boatfishing.com
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Capt. Dave Pinkham
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 04, 2000 - 10:58 am: | |
Subject: Greetings from Capt. Dave Pinkham Sarasota-Venice Area
With the Gulf of Mexico’s water temperature as warm as bath water, and thunder storms moving through at Mother Nature’s will, I guess it’s safe to say summertime type fishing is here. Grouper are moving farther offshore seeking the cooler water. Over the past week we’ve had several good catches of red and gag grouper out past 70’ deep.
King mackerel are still scattered all up and down the coast; as a matter of fact this is the time of year that “smokers” are often caught free lining live baitfish such as thread herring. I always try to keep live bait out on the surface when we’re pounding the bottom for groupers. Little tunny have been on a feeding frenzy out past 15 miles. If you’re looking for a battle with a hard fighting game fish, bonito should help fill the bill.
Fishing over wrecks and the artificial reefs can be real productive this time of year. These fish havens often hold schools of bait, which in turn will draw larger fishes such as groupers, snappers, barracuda, kingfish, cobia, and of course Jewfish. We also have been catching some big permit on these same reefs. They usually will fall for a crab or jumbo shrimp free-lined or fished under a cork.
Capt. Dave Pinkham Deep-Sea Charter-Boat “LEGACY” is based at Dona Bay Marina in Nokomis, one mile from Venice Inlet.
(941) 473-4603,
www.charter-boatfishing.com
email, pinkfishes@aol.com
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