February Fishing Action is Heating Up
Capt. Dave Pinkham
January 31, 2009
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
The month of February is about as close a semblance of winter as we get down here along Florida's south west coast. The gulf's water temperature is cold and most of the offshore fishing action will concentrate on the bottom, although there are some exceptions such as catching shark, little tunny, and amberjack.
Following is a list of some of the species of fish we target on the gulf this month. There are no hard rules when it comes to fishing, so be flexible in your techniques and be on the lookout for the unexpected.
- Mangrove snapper, yellow tail snapper, lane snapper, trigger fish, and other small reef species such as porgie and white grunt will be hanging around just about any type of hard bottom. Look for action with these species on areas such as the artificial reefs, natural ledges, or any other hard bottom structure you can locate. Lighter tackle baited up with shrimp or cut bait will often get these fish turned on.
- Red grouper fishing should be very dependable this month. For the keepers start fishing bottom at least 10 miles offshore. If you want to catch the big ones in the 10 to 20-pound class then plan on dropping your first bait out past 18 to 20 miles. The most important means to catching red grouper is to make sure your bait gets down to the bottom where the fish live. Because of this it's important to make sure you put enough weight on to get your bait down quickly. It's a simple fact that the more bottom time your bait has the better your chances of catching red grouper. Don't forget red grouper must be released from February 15th to March 14th because of the 30-day recreational closure.
- Gag Grouper are a blast to catch and that will have to satisfy you this month because gags must be released from February 1st to March 31st. Gag grouper can be found on just about any decent bottom structure. Depending on the day and the conditions gags should fall for both live and cut baits.
- Greater Amberjack fishing will be good this month. These fish get large upwards to 80-pounds, so if you are hoping for big action the AJ's are the fish to target. Amberjack like to school over and around the deeper shipwrecks, ledges, and springs out past 90-feet of water. Quite often the water visibility is clear at this range so a frisky baitfish may be what it takes to excite these big game fish into hitting. . The same areas that hold the schooling AJ's will also attract other large species such as blackfin tuna, shark, Goliath grouper, and cobia so as I said earlier you never know what may take your bait.
- King and Spanish mackerel may perhaps make an early showing toward the end of the month. This really depends on if the weather and the waters temperatures start warming up. We'll be sure to let you know when we start catching mackerels again.
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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