Amberjack Fishing Boca Grande
Capt. Andy Boyette
November 17, 2008
Boca Grande - Saltwater Fishing Report
Every year at this time, after spending some great fishing days inside the backcountry flats and tarpon filled holes of Charlotte Harbor, I take a annual trek offshore. With a break in charter action and the right weather conditions Capt Scot Hughes and myself took a break and headed offshore in search of the annual kingfish action. With light winds and warm air temps and water temps in the low 70s we headed about 12 miles west of Boca Grande to an undisclosed wreck. With no bait in sight in the harbor we figured we could sabiki some bait offshore and slow troll it near the wreck and pickup some Kingfish. About halfway we found a nice pod of threadfins about the size of two football fields and proceeded to fill the live well. Once on the wreck we immediately marked plenty of suspend fish on the color machine and deployed some frisky baits behind the boat. First fish to the boat was a small king about 7 lbs. Not exactly the kingfish we where hoping for but kingfish none the less. Next couple of drifts bring the same size king fish, when suddenly another hookup looks to be much bigger fish. Not running like a kingfish, after about a 20-minute, fight and some imaginative guesses about what could be on the end of the line, we boat a 25lb Amberjack.
Really great action on the light tackle we where using with multiple fish landed over the next hour, the largest about 40lbs
Kingfish should hold in the area for another few weeks and the Amberjack we encountered will stay on these near shore wrecks until the warm weather returns in the spring. The grouper bite has been fair close to shore along with the snapper and like the amberjack should stay close as long as the weather stays cool.
Inshore fishing will be in a transition until water temps stabilize. With the bait supply drying up your favorite plastic and jig combination should bring plenty of trout action. Big redfish should start showing in the potholes where chumming with cut bait like ladyfish will pay off. Snook fishing in the canals and in the rivers should be good. After cold mornings warming afternoons will be the best time to be on the water.
A short video of our amberjack action can be seen at http://flixoutdoors.com Look in the members section under captandy
Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006
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