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Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
June 16, 2003
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Diving birds action can indicate fish below
Fishing out on the gulf west of Venice over this past week was lots of fun. With the wind and sea conditions constantly changing, every day has been somewhat of an adventure. What I mean by this is there really has been no sure thing as to the where and the what species of fish we may catch. Each day has been completely different, which at times can make for a challenge to locate the fish, and once you do locate them get them to bite. .
Looking back into last week an example of this would be all the surface action that was everywhere out about 10 miles offshore. At the time the fish were feeding on wads of small shiners. It really was quite a commotion. The first day we found it was because we spotted some birds diving down into the water. A closer look was all it took to realize that the entire area was loaded with all sorts of fish gorging themselves on all the small baitfish. Once we figured it out, and started trolling some spoons through the area we managed to hook up with quite a few different species including bonitos, Spanish mackerels, and blue runners. Nothing too exciting, but still plenty of action to keep the rods bent. .
For those of you that have never seen this phenomena. The larger feeding fish push the tiny baitfish into tight schools. These bait schools look like moving black balls anywhere from 10 to 30 feet across. With the larger fish feeding from below, these blacks, or knots of bait are pushed to the surface. This can often turn into a feeding frenzy as the larger predator fish blast through the bait schools feeding at will.
I vividly recall one time years ago when we ran across one of the most impressive feeding frenzies I've every seen in my life. We were several miles west of the beach and we noticed some splashing and fish jumping. As we moved in closer we saw that it was sharks that were flying out of the water. Most of them were 4 to 6-foot blacktip sharks. Anyway they where spinning flips six foot up into the air. As we approached closer we realized the water was alive. Mixed in the commotion were all sorts of fish from jacks, bluefish, blue runners, Spanish mackerels, kingfish, cobia, barracuda, lemon sharks, blacktip sharks, and even a few big hammerheads. It was incredible to say the least!
It was like sitting in the middle of an overstuffed fish aquarium. These fish were all determined to stuff themselves as they ferociously fed on the knots of small baitfish. There was no spooking them with the boat either. They were all quite determined to eat, and no matter what type of bait either natural or artificial that we would cast in the water, it was immediately inhaled by one species or another. What a day to remember.
Anyway back to the present, these blacks of bait have moved in closer to the coastline over the past week. The mackerels have been feeding on them just off the beaches, and over the last couple days the bait has actually moved right up to the beach, and inside the Venice Inlet. As a matter of fact the whole area around both the North and South Jetty is loaded with bait. I'll guarantee you this, with all the bait around there's got to be some good shore and jetty fishing going on right now. If you get a chance stop down to one of the jetty's and check it out.
Out deeper on the full day fishing trips the focus has been on bottom fishing for grouper and snapper. As we move more into the summer months red grouper is usually a big target fish. The nice thing about getting out deeper is you never know when you might run across other species of fish such as mahi mahi, black fin tuna, cobia, and amber jacks.
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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