Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
February 28, 2000
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Another beautiful week on Florida’s Southwest Coast. The Gulf of Mexico water temperature is on the rise and has been teaming with fish. Although we’ve had a few breezy days, the Gulf has been fishable with seas less than four foot even on the windy days.
Bottom fishing is a good standby and has been the main objective for those that want to bend poles.
Grouper action has been decent. With the water warming we may need to start running out a little deeper to get them. Mangrove snapper are still plentiful on some of the offshore ledges. We’ve also been catching some lane snapper when drift fishing in the 70’ to 80’ range.
King and Spanish mackerel could be showing up any day now with all the warm sunny weather we’ve been having. Today I saw schools of thread herring working the surface five miles west of the beaches. Bonito are scattered around farther offshore in the 80’ to 100’ range. Casting spoons or jigs is a good way to provoke one into hitting. These silver speedsters put up one heck of a fight. Cobia can pop up almost anywhere so be prepared with a rod and reel rigged up and ready just in case.
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