May is a Great Month for Fishing the Gulf
Capt. Dave Pinkham
April 29, 2009
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
I love fishing this time if year. As a matter of fact, my wife Melissa and I were out wade fishing along the beach early this morning. We were hoping to catch a keeper snook before the season closes tomorrow. Anyway, she was the champion of the day with a decent flounder which is cooking on the grill right now.
I did not find any pilchards where we were fishing, which is one of the best baits to castnet in the surf. I did manage to quickly net up some mutton minnows and small pinfish though. The baits were a bit smaller than I prefer which may have been why we didn't entice any snook into hitting
Throughout the month of May both inshore and offshore fishing action should be very good. Actually this is some of the best time of year for fishing. Following is some of the fish you can expect to catch offshore on the Gulf over the next few weeks.
- Kingfish action has been decent throughout April and this should continue into May. The big kings will often be caught by slow trolling live blue runners, or try anchoring down and free-lining live bait fish.
- Barracuda are already stacked up over the wrecks and artificial reefs. Some of these toothy monsters can grow in excess of 6 feet long. Generally we catch them on live blue runners or what is left of the mackerel they just bit in half.
- Permit will make a showing on area wrecks this month. They feed on crabs and shrimp. If you see permit fining at the surface, cast your bait out in front of them allowing it to fall naturally.
- Grouper and snapper action is usually very dependable on the gulf coast. When bottom fishing for both of these species there are plenty of small ledges out there which hold both bait and the larger fish. When you notice a change on you bottom graph indicating a rock crevice below, toss a marker jug and try it. Normally if you hook into gag grouper or mangrove snapper then you've located good structure. As the water continues to warm up this month, red grouper should make a good showing. For the keepers concentrate your efforts 20 to 50 miles offshore.
- Black fin tuna should make a good showing this month in the 80 to 140-foot range. Most of the blackfins I've caught have been by drift fishing across the wrecks and springs with live bait fish.
-Tarpon should make a showing later in the month. Sight fishing just west of area beaches is one favorite way to fish for them. Once a pod of tarpon is located, try casting a live crab out in front of them. Large numbers of tarpon should also begin showing up in Boca Grande Pass this month. On the falling tide the Tarpon will be feeding on the small crabs that are washed out of the bay. Bring along a long handle net and try scooping up your own crabs.
-Shark fishing will really take off this month. Some of the sharks we catch on the Gulf are bull, blacktip, tiger, hammer-head, lemon, and sand.
-Cobia fishing will get good this month. Clearer gulf water will make them easy to see. Casting live baitfish in front of sighted cobia is about as exciting as it gets. Cobia tend to hang around any sort of structure, so when fishing around these areas keep looking down into the water.
-Greater amberjack and giant jack crevelle and huge Permits will be hanging around the deeper wrecks and big ledges. Healthy live baits will often provoke fish into hitting that otherwise wouldn't feed. Be sure to keep your rigs simple as clear water makes it harder to get them to hit.
May is one of the best months of the year for fishing on the gulf. 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!
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