Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
June 23, 2007
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Summer is the Time for Gulf Sharks!
Shark! Shark! The yell of it should make anyone’s blood boil, especially an angler that is looking for some big rod-bending action. In fact, if you’ve ever dreamed of hooking into a shark, the summer months are the best time to make this happen. There are a lot of sharks around offshore right now which makes the probability of catching one a very real possibility.
Lately some of the sharks we’ve been catching aboard the Legacy have been both blacktips and lemons. Many of the sharks have been in the 6-foot range and easily weighed in at over 100 pounds.
One method we use when fishing for shark is using live baits. Small bait fish such as blue runners, spot tail grunts, threadfin, cigar minnows, and large pilchards will all work when free-lined out around the boat. Spinning tackle in the 20 to 30-pound range works great for casting out from the boat.
When using live bait such as a blue runner anglers will need to make sure that bait is not swimming back up under the boat. What happens is once the bait gets under the hull they will often tangle in the running gear or out drive. Casting the bait out away from the boat should help to alleviate this problem. If the live bait takes off swimming away from the boat allow extra line.
Another technique we use when fishing with live baitfish is slow trolling. The key here is to nose hook the baitfish. This will allow the bait to swim naturally as you slowly pull it along. It’s a good idea to stagger one line long and another line short to prevent tangles. If you see the baits skipping at the surface you may be trolling them too fast. If you need to try bumping the engine in and out of gear. This will not only allow you to pull the bait slower, but it also helps to make them appear to be swimming away as fish approach them often provoking a fish into hitting that may otherwise have just taken a pass at it. Another added benefit with slow trolling is fewer cutoffs to the monofilament line as it is kept taught, thereby less chance of it getting hit by a feeding fish.
Most of the fish that will take these trolled baits are toothy critters such as shark, so wire leader is highly recommended. A second hook called a stinger hook is often tied on with a short piece of wire to the nose hook. This stinger hook is usually an extra strong 4x treble hook. We usually tie the length of the stinger rig according to the size of the bait. The treble should fall just past mid-way on the baitfish. This works great on most any species such as shark, barracuda, kingfish, and cobia. On occasion we’ll even get lucky and catch a nice grouper using this method.
Like I always say keep doing everything right, and sooner or later you’ll get lucky. 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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