Tampa Bay Fishing Report 8-26-2003
Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:45 amVortex Charters Fishing Report
08-26-2003
Captain Chuck MacIntyre
Vortex Charters of Tampa Bay
www.vortexcharters.com
With the summer heat still upon us, the ‘go deep’ concept is still the way to go if you want to bring some dinner home.
This past week, we fished the 90-foot depths and found the Red Grouper willing to take just about anything sent down. Most of the fish were in the 17-19 inch range, so you had to go through a dozen or more to get one big enough for the fish box.
It seems that just about every trip results in a shark frenzy as I think they are drawn to the hoards of fish feeding on our offerings. When they show up, it’s time to move on.
Another spot that seems to be holding large numbers of fish is the natural gas pipeline that was dug recently. Sitting in 102 feet, it holds Mangrove Snapper, BIG Red Grouper, Black Sea Bass, and Scamp. Saturday, we caught a couple of the largest Sea Bas that I have ever seen -- 22 inches in length! As you know, this is one of the tastiest fish in the Gulf.
To keep clients happy, it is imperative to mix things up once in a while. When the Grouper stop biting, we usually end the day on one of the local inshore reefs in search of Barracuda. They will readily take a slow-trolled Spanish Mackerel either on a downrigger or just slow trolled on the surface. Last weekend, we caught and released 2 that measured 5 and 6 feet long, respectively.
Good Fishin’ to ya!
Capt. Chuck MacIntyre
www.vortexcharters.com
08-26-2003
Captain Chuck MacIntyre
Vortex Charters of Tampa Bay
www.vortexcharters.com
With the summer heat still upon us, the ‘go deep’ concept is still the way to go if you want to bring some dinner home.
This past week, we fished the 90-foot depths and found the Red Grouper willing to take just about anything sent down. Most of the fish were in the 17-19 inch range, so you had to go through a dozen or more to get one big enough for the fish box.
It seems that just about every trip results in a shark frenzy as I think they are drawn to the hoards of fish feeding on our offerings. When they show up, it’s time to move on.
Another spot that seems to be holding large numbers of fish is the natural gas pipeline that was dug recently. Sitting in 102 feet, it holds Mangrove Snapper, BIG Red Grouper, Black Sea Bass, and Scamp. Saturday, we caught a couple of the largest Sea Bas that I have ever seen -- 22 inches in length! As you know, this is one of the tastiest fish in the Gulf.
To keep clients happy, it is imperative to mix things up once in a while. When the Grouper stop biting, we usually end the day on one of the local inshore reefs in search of Barracuda. They will readily take a slow-trolled Spanish Mackerel either on a downrigger or just slow trolled on the surface. Last weekend, we caught and released 2 that measured 5 and 6 feet long, respectively.
Good Fishin’ to ya!
Capt. Chuck MacIntyre
www.vortexcharters.com