Spring is so close and the changes are happening every day as we watched several different pairs of Manatee stop by for a drink of water right here in the cut behind the house. The fishing on the reef has really settled in as of late. Both “Pretty Work” and “That’s Right” have enjoyed some quality fishing most of the week. The Cold front zapped us on Friday and Saturday with things slowly working their way back on Sunday and Monday. The best fishing most of the week was spent in 60 feet or less as we had a very strong SW current this week which made fishing a little challenging. But we all managed to produce some very nice catches.
Fishing the bottom was not practical with several knots of SW current so we found that heavy chum was the ticket to catching the nicer Flag Yellow Tails, which ranged up to 5 pounds. Along with them yellowtails we also found some real nice quality Mangrove Snappers ranging up to 5 pounds. Both boats found nice catches of King Mackeral and plenty of Cero Mackeral on the lures. “Pretty Work” managed to find them offshore one day and found some nice Dolphin and one nice Wahoo. The Blackfin Tuna also found themselves pushed inside in about 190 to 280 feet of water and could be caught on feathers and skipping a Ballyhoo from the Kite. Oh ya, and they also caught a Sailfish; they have been few and far between as of late as they seemed to be held up above pretty good thou. “That’s Right” closed the weekend out with a real nice catch of Tails and some real nice Hogfish. The days were filled with steady action. Capt. Jeff and Gary got the Center Console out this weekend and found a nice catch of Blackfin Tuna and a few schoolie Dolphin. The gang then spent some time on the reef edge and managed a real nice catch of Yellow tails and a few bottom fish.
The back country is still productive and producing some real nice Tarpon!! The guys have been starting to find some super nice days with plenty of bites from real large Tarpon both on the Fly and cut baits on the bottom during the cold front. The Speckled Trout are becoming a little smaller and the Red fish have been chewing! Both Captain Jeff and Captain Clyde have found real nice Pompano this week which is great dinner fare. The mackerels are still snapping and providing super action on the 4 and 6lb test. The Cobia are still popping up on the wrecks. They did get a bit finicky this week for some reason. The guys are also finding plenty of Ladyfish and Jacks to fill the day with even yet more action!!
