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Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico

Capt. Dave Pinkham
April 5, 2004
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report

April is a great time for fishing the Gulf of Mexcio

With the arrival of April, the final winds of March will soon exhaust themselves. As this annual calendar event takes place, it’s obvious a change of season is in the air. It’s now quite evident that spring is here, as with each passing day the water temperature of the Gulf of Mexico continues to inch its way warmer.

Anglers fishing out on the gulf over the next month should be well pleased with the amount of fish activity that this warming trend brings with it. Schools of baitfish such as Spanish sardines thread fin herring, and scaled sardines will be popping up all over the place. The appearance of all this baitfish sets the stage for the emergence of the larger predator fish that the Gulf’s annual spring run is known for.

Anglers looking to hook up with some fish should 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 species to go after. Following is a list of some of the species of fish that anglers fishing the gulf in the month of April can expect to find.

- Kingfish and Spanish mackerel action will really heat up in the next few weeks. Provoking them 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 many of these critters 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 sharks. Trolling with planning boards and spoons is a great way to cover a lot of ground and locate feeding fish.

- Grouper action in the short bottom has gotten tougher so anglers in search of these bottom denizens may consider heading out to deeper water for the keepers. 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 try tossing a marker jug and give the new spot a try. Normally if you hook into gags 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 livies free-lined 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 up, red grouper should take the spotlight for those 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 anything 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 next month. 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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Having worked as a fishing guide on Florida's west coast for 30 years, Capt. Dave can show you how to rig your boat and fish from Sarasota to Boca Grande

Contact Info:

Capt. Dave Pinkham' Fishing Service
Phone: 941-223-9352
Email the Captain
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