April Offshore Forecast
Capt. Dave Pinkham
March 25, 2008
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing action on the Gulf has been excellent and I'm expecting the action to bust loose this month
Schools of baitfish such as Spanish sardines, thread fin herring, and scaled sardines will be migrating up the coastline this month. The appearance of all this baitfish sets the stage for the annual kingfish run.
Generally those anglers looking to hook up with a big fish need only to locate a school of baitfish. It's a simple fact, that where you find the schools of bait, you'll generally find hungry fish feeding in the area. The exciting thing about fishing the gulf this time of year is the large variety of different species to go after.
Following is a list of some of the species of fish that anglers fishing the gulf during the month of April can expect to find.
- Kingfish and Spanish mackerel have already been making a showing and I would expect the action to just get hotter in April. Provoking either of these mackerel species into taking your hook can be a cinch by using simple proven techniques. Live baits will usually out fish artificial baits this time of the year, so it should be worth the effort to load up the bait well. Keeping your rigs as light as possible will help to account for more hits. You may consider using a light gauge single-strand piano wire for leader as these hard hitting fish have a mouth full of teeth. These same areas where the bait is located will also be homing magnets for other large gamefish such as little tunny, barracuda, cobia, and shark. Trolling with planning boards and spoons is also a great way to cover a lot of ground and help to locate feeding fish.
- Grouper fishing is always a favorite for local anglers. If you plan on targeting gag grouper try fishing around a wreck or some good broken bottom. There are plenty of two foot ledges or breaks scattered all over the floor of the gulf so keep your bottom machine running. When you notice a change on you bottom graph indicating a possible rock crevice below consider tossing a marker jug and give the new spot a try. Normally if you hook into a gag grouper or fish like mangrove snapper then you're in the right place. When bottom fishing be sure to put out the extra effort and keep a couple of live frisky baits out on top, you never know when a mid-water fish such as a kingfish or blackfin tuna may be in the area. As the water continues to warm, red grouper should please anglers looking to put some meat in the box. For the keepers concentrate your efforts out past the 20-mile mark. Red grouper have a reputation of sucking up just about any food they can get in their mouth. Drift fishing with large lead head jigs tipped with squid is a great way to locate these bottom feeders. Keep your marker jug handy and when you get one on your line throw the jug to mark the location. Now you can re-drift the same spot over again.
- Black fin tuna should make a good showing this month in the 80' to 120' deep water range. A good place to seek them out will be around the deeper wrecks and springs. Live baits such Spanish sardines and spot tailed grunts make excellent baits. Trolling and or live bait fishing around anchored shrimp boats is another great place to look for tuna. The shrimpers often will toss bycatch into the water, which often attracts the tuna to the area.
- Cobia fishing should also be good this month. These big brawlers are known to hang around bottom structure such as wrecks and the artificial reefs. When fishing these types of areas be sure to keep an eye out for them to swim up around the boat, as they are a curious fish. Closer to the coastline, another method used to fish for cobia is sight fishing for them. On a clear sunny day, cobia can be seen swimming at or near the surface. Casting a live bait out in front of them should provoke a hit. The key when sight fishing is not to spook the fish with the boat.
Like I said, there'll be plenty of fishing opportunities in April. Remember, if you're too busy to go fishing you're just too busy. Get out and go fishin cuz' it's good fer ya!
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