Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
December 21, 2006
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Indian Summer Brings Gorgeous Conditions on Gulf
If you’ve had the pleasure of being out on the gulf over this past week and you had not looked at your calendar for a while; you probably would never have guessed it to be the month of December.
The reason I say this is the gulf has been simply gorgeous. The other day I ran an eight- hour fishing charter aboard the Legacy and sea conditions were almost slick calm with barely a trace of wind on the water.
As we cruised west heading offshore we passed school after school of baitfish working at the surface breaking the gulf's placid waters. Some of the bait was showering out of the water obviously in an attempt to elude the larger predator fish giving chase from below.
When I see surface action like this my mind always seems to drift as I wonder what species of fish has the schools of bait so skittish. The fact is out here on the gulf the surface commotion such as this can create a long list of possible suspects such as barracuda, king mackerel, blackfin tuna, Spanish mackerel, little tunnie, amberjack, blue runners, cobia, and a variety of sharks.
These warm balmy calm conditions coupled with all the bait working near the top are to be anticipated in the spring or fall of the year, not when we're two weeks out from Christmas Day. Just so you know, I'm certainly not complaining.
In fact, due to all the tropical type weather we've been enjoying the fall run of pelagic fishes is still on! Not only are the kings still passing through, but there's also been some huge Spanish mackerel running with them. And for those of you that like a good hard tug on the end of your line, the little tunny have been showing up just about anywhere we put the anchor down. One thing about little tunnie, when you get hooked up with one you may want to consider reeling in all your bottom lines as quickly as possible. The way little tunnies fight they have a way of tangling up all the lines you have in the water.
The bottom fishing on the longer trips has been decent with my clients catching some bragging sized grouper.
This past week I guided local residents of Sarasota, Dr. Chris Kaufmann and his family to a full day of fishing. It was just one of those days where everywhere we went we caught fish. It’s great when kids are catching fish and enjoying some of the great fishing this area offers.
For me the highlight of the day was when Dr. Kaufmann’s niece Emma Dobiash hooked and battled a beautiful red grouper up to the boat. Emma was so excited about her catch. The fish wasn’t the biggest of the day, but to Emma and me it was the catch of the day.
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