Homosassa Mid May Fishing Report
Capt. Zachary Hoffman
May 15, 2014
Homosassa - Saltwater Fishing Report
I finally got a few minutes to sit down and write up a fishing report, so I put the whole past week into one quick report. The fishing has been Great both inshore and offshore of Homosassa, especially the offshore fishing… With the new regulations on Red Grouper we have been limiting out on average by 11 am and coming in to target cobia and kings. For those of you who have not yet heard, the new regs are 3 red grouper per person, and they are closing the season mid september… I want everyone to think what that will mean for the fishing industry, from the tackle shop to the guide, and the marinas that we all run out of. They also changed it to where a captain and crew can keep their limit on charters, this I do not support and will not do. But on to the fishing side of things, the Red grouper have started moving in, we are staying in 45-60 feet of water and picking up some quality fish, we have had a few trips where we limited out and the average was 9 pounds on the red grouper. They are hitting almost anything you throw at them, My favorite way to catch them is on buck tails tipped with cut bait, we are using 2-3 oz circle hook bucktails made by T&A jigs, and they are working even better than the traditional J hook jigs. I have noticed two separate patterns over the past few weeks of grouper fishing. They either hit on the drift or you have to anchor up and chum them in, be ready to do both if you head out because it has been different day to day. When we say "chum them up" we mean drop a bunch of dead stinky bait down and mess with the grunts till the big reds come under you to see what is going on. I don't even want to talk about how many gags we are getting while trying to catch reds over live bottom….. The kings are very thick right now, we have been putting out flat lines while we grouper fish, then chasing down big schools of bait and tossing lives into the center of the bait pod and just smashing some big kings. Our biggest this week was 35 pounds, on the certified scale at Mac Rae's, not to bad for this area. And we can't forget the COBIA, they showed up about 2 weeks ago in real numbers, I am seeing a bunch and catching a few almost every trip! They seem to be holding best in 12-30 feet of water, on almost all high relief spots. We have tried chumming for them but our best results have been from cruising from spot to spot in 20 foot and just looking for them and sight casting black gulp eels at them. I love fighting those big brown bombers, and they taste good too! Good luck to anyone heading out in the near future, just be sure to watch the weather, it has been spotty the past few days but looks like it will be good late this weekend and early next week!
Yesterday we went out in target of some big trout and red fish, we left the dock around 730 am and we had the first trout over 20 inches by 8 am. The fishing was on and off all day long, it was windy so we stayed in close, using a combination of shrimp under a cork and DOA jerk baits. We also threw some of the unfair lures (rip n slash 70) and had some great trout eat those. We were faced with a very low tide in the morning so went and fished the pot holes on the flats where the trout, lady fish and jacks get concentrated on low water and had a blast catching lots of all three species on artificial lures. Once the water came in we started targeting reds, but ended up only getting a few, what we did find though were some pretty big trout! Our biggest went 6.2 inches on my boga grip and measured 28 inches! We landed that homosassa monster on a piece of cut lady fish, meant for a Red fish on a point….. The past few inshore trips I did, we came across lots of reds, mostly on high tide, but there have been lots of schools of under slot fish on most of the rocky points, and a few schools of over slot fish. I love this time of the year because on a calm day we can run out and pick up some offshore trout and cobia, and the windy days we can stay in close and get some monster trout and reds! The triple tail are still around, but mostly out of crystal river. Shrimp on a jig head has been the most constant bait for the reds, but they are also hitting good on spoons, so get out there and catch a few!
Homosassa Fishing Forecast:
Just watch the weather and go on the good days, the fishing is hot, and this is one of the best times of the year to get out there!
Target Species:
Red Grouper Cobia Trout Red Fish
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