Vortex Charters Fishing Report
01-07-2004
Captain Chuck MacIntyre
Vortex Charters of Tampa Bay
www.vortexcharters.com
With warmer than average January temperatures, you would expect the Gag and Red Grouper to be excellent. But slow moving tides and a full moon dashed any hopes of filling the boat this past week. On 2 successive trips to 60 feet, we fished desperately to get 3 keepers, with only a few shorts to fill the gap between bites. Luckily, my clients bagged a couple of hogfish and Mango Snapper, making the trips somewhat worthwhile.
The inshore trips were quite the opposite. On three inshore trips, my clients kept busy catching some of the largest winter Seatrout I have seen in a long time. Three and Four pounders were the norm, with 2 fish tipping the scales at 5.5 pounds. These are not your typical year-round Trout, but the yellow-mouthed variety that invade our area as the cold sets in. We fished in residential canals using large free-lined shrimp, swithing to 4 inch DOA’s after the live bait ran out. It didn’t matter as the Trout seemed to eat everything we threw at them.
Good Fishin’ to ya!
Capt. Chuck MacIntyre
www.vortexcharters.com
