 |
Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
February 18, 2000
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Mangrove snapper have been consistently reliable even on the tough days when nobody else wants to eat. There seems to be no shortage of them if you just look around a little bit. As a matter of fact, I often turn to “mangoes” when all else fails. I’ve been fishing my clients over hard bottom from 40’ deep on out to 90’ deep depending on how long the charters are. When I have more time I run out farther in hopes of bigger fish. This has been paying off; we’ve been catching some big “mangoes” up to six pounds.
Mangrove snapper can show up almost anywhere as long as there is some sort of structure or hard bottom in the area to hold them. One nice thing about them is that once you get them turned on they will eat most anything you put on the hook. I often use different baits such as cut sardines, squid, shrimp, and small live baitfish. Tipping jigs with squid or shrimp can turn fish on that are slow to bite. It’s also a good idea to keep the hooks small and the line’s diameter light as possible to get more hits. Not only are mangrove snapper a blast to catch, they are one of the best eating fish the Gulf has to offer.
There’s also plenty of grouper out on the Gulf this time of year. We’ve been sifting through the shorts, and putting a few keepers in the box on the half-day trips in 40’ to 55’ deep. On the longer trips we’ve been running out 20 to 30 miles out and scoring with some big catches of grouper and snapper. Every day has been different as to how good the bite is. When conditions are just right to trigger their appetites you can’t miss. Other days you can hit them in the face with a live pinfish and all they want to do is kill it and spit it out. When action is slow and I know we’re sitting over a good hole loaded up with grouper I’ll usually hang in there and give-em a chance to feed. Usually when I anchor down over a spot that I have been catching good grouper, I’ll use my heavy gear first. By doing this, if the big one hits from the get go, we’ll have a good chance of putting that fish in the boat.
Amberjack are finally showing up on the deeper wrecks in decent numbers. Thirty to fifty miles out just seems like a long way to go after them with the creel limit of amberjack down to one fish per person.
Cobia have still been around. I’ve been running across quite a few in the past weeks. Often they can be spotted just cruising along right at the water’s surface. They are a curious fish and will sometimes swim right up to the boat. The trick to catching them when they approach the boat is to get a hookup on the first attempt or they can smarten up real quick and disappear.
Well that’s about it for this week. 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!
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
