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Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico

Capt. Dave Pinkham
June 22, 2003
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report

Summertime is grouper time offshore on the gulf

More than likely by the time you read this report West Florida residents will have finally gotten a reprieve from all the precipitation that was steadily pumping ashore off the gulf most of last week.

Despite this somewhat crappy weather we did still manage to squeak in a few fishing trips. There's still seems to be plenty of Spanish mackerel hitting just off the beaches. Trolling small silver spoons behind #1 planners has been producing most of the mackerel action for us. Live baiting on light spinning tackle can be even more fun and often a more fruitful way to catch Spanish mackerels. The key ingredient behind this productive fishing technique is to cast net up some live pilchards and then anchor the boat several hundred yards west of the beach. Once you have the boat anchored down over a likely spot such as a rocky bottom, just free-line the live pilchards out behind the boat. This technique works real well if you keep your leader material fairly light such as with 20 or 30 pound monofilament. It's also a good idea to use a long shank hook to help avoid cutoffs. No weight is required, just hook the live shiner in the nose and let it swim out behind the boat. If the action is slow or non-existent and you have plenty of extra pilchards, try tossing a few injured ones in the water to get the fish turned on.

By the way it's now officially summertime, and that means it's time to make some long boat runs farther offshore. Before all this rain moved in, and actually even during the rain, the grouper bite seemed to really have started picking up. Now that this wet weather has let up and the wind and seas have lain down, I've got grouper fishing on my mind.

It's really no secret that this time of the year is when most of the grouper fisherman gear up and head out for a full day of fishing. Certainly there'll be some keeper groupers caught inside of 20 miles, but the larger concentrations of the bigger fish; both gag and red groupers will be out in the 25 to 50 mile range. Flat calm days are much appreciated as it makes for an easier faster run to the deeper waters.

One of my favorite ways to fish for groupers this time of year is drift fishing for them. Once we get offshore a bit and we start closing in on the area we intend to fish, I make sure to watch the fish finder a little closer. If I happen to see any change in the sea floor, whether it's harder bottom, a change in water depth, or a fish or bait show on the bottom, I'll swing the boat around and take another look see. Now with the boat slowed to an idle speed, I'll kick up the power gain on the fish finder to put out a stronger signal. If the color picture I see of the ocean floor shows enough to stir my interest I'll stop the boat directly over or just up wind of the point of interest and have some baited rigs dropped to the bottom.

The way I see it is this is where a charter boat has a huge advantage over a couple guys or gals in their own private vessel. When we stop the boat, we're like a fishing machine with six weighted, baited rigs headed for the bottom. If there's hungry groupers below and they take the bait, the plan worked. If not, we give it five minutes or so and then move on to the next hole. There's really not much time wasted using this technique, and we can bounce around until we do locate some decent fish. Quite often even out in these deeper waters you will get into bites of short or undersized groupers. When this happens please be sure to release them as carefully and quickly as possible.

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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Having worked as a fishing guide on Florida's west coast for 30 years, Capt. Dave can show you how to rig your boat and fish from Sarasota to Boca Grande

Contact Info:

Capt. Dave Pinkham' Fishing Service
Phone: 941-223-9352
Email the Captain
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