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Venice - January 2nd, 2004
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
RECORDED: 
75 °
FISHING: Great
The last week of December 2003 finished off with plenty of fishing action out on the gulf. The bite has been good, and there is a plethora of fish to be caught.
Cobia made a decent showing in December. And, although they are a migratory species, and generally move father south as the gulf's water temperature decline, there is still a good possibility depending on the weather of course, that there may be some cobia hanging around some of the offshore artificial reefs. When fishing these spots there are two methods you can use this time of the year, drift fishing and anchoring over the structure. If you do anchor down, attempt to get directly over the structure. This will put the odds in your favor for catching fish. When drift fishing, try fishing at different depths with live baits. Drifting these areas will work best on the days the winds are light.
Gag grouper action is really picking up now that we’ve had a taste of winter. The same cold fronts that pushed the kingfish south of here will often push gag grouper closer to the coastline. To catch gag grouper I suggest with the aid of your fish finder, you locate some hard bottom such as a ledge, an area of coral, shipwreck, or one of the artificial reefs. Once again, try to get your boat anchored over or near the structure. Now, using live and or cut bait drop your rig to the bottom. It's that simple! A good stout rod with heavy line (50-pound test) should be used. Gags tend to hit hard, and then run for the nearest cover, so hang on tight and crank the handle!
Mangrove snapper should help put dinner on the table on the days the gags don't want to cooperate. You'll find the snappers at the same bottom structures as the groupers inhabit. When targeting snappers use a lighter rod. I prefer to use a 20 to 30-pound rig. Snapper often will hit just about any natural bait when they are hungry. Although mangrove are the most commonly caught snapper for this area, with the cooler water temperatures look to catch others species such as muttons, yellow tails, lanes, and vermilions as well.
Greater amberjack fishing should be good through the month. To catch the keepers, don’t stop running west until you hit 100-foot of water or deeper. These big bruisers will make a believer out of anyone that’s looking for a real battle. Amberjack can usually be found in areas around sunken structures such as wrecks, ledges, and springs. Live bait fish, and or rapidly retrieved jigs or lures will get them fired up and feeding.
If you plan to be fishing offshore on the gulf over the next several weeks be sure to keep a close eye on what the weather may be doing. As the cold fronts start lining up and marching down across the state, wind and sea conditions may be pushed up. In my opinion, the best time to fish will be when the sun is shinning and the wind is not blowing too hard. Look for these nicer days after the cold front has passed through, and high pressure has brought with it clear blue skies and sunny days.
Well, good luck and good fishing, and remember if you're not out fishin you're wishin you were. Get out and go fishin cuz' it's good fer ya!
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Venice - December 31st, 2003
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Great
Gulf of Mexico fishing forecast looks good for 2004
By Capt. Dave Pinkham
The last week of December 2003 finished off with plenty of fishing action out on the gulf. The bite has been good, and there is a plethora of fish to be caught.
Cobia made a decent showing in December. And, although they are a migratory species, and generally move father south as the gulf's water temperature decline, there is still a good possibility depending on the weather of course, that there may be some cobia hanging around some of the offshore artificial reefs. When fishing these spots there are two methods you can use this time of the year, drift fishing and anchoring over the structure. If you do anchor down, attempt to get directly over the structure. This will put the odds in your favor for catching fish. When drift fishing, try fishing at different depths with live baits. Drifting these areas will work best on the days the winds are light.
Gag grouper action is really picking up now that we’ve had a taste of winter. The same cold fronts that pushed the kingfish south of here will often push gag grouper closer to the coastline. To catch gag grouper I suggest with the aid of your fish finder, you locate some hard bottom such as a ledge, an area of coral, shipwreck, or one of the artificial reefs. Once again, try to get your boat anchored over or near the structure. Now, using live and or cut bait drop your rig to the bottom. It's that simple! A good stout rod with heavy line (50-pound test) should be used. Gags tend to hit hard, and then run for the nearest cover, so hang on tight and crank the handle!
Mangrove snapper should help put dinner on the table on the days the gags don't want to cooperate. You'll find the snappers at the same bottom structures as the groupers inhabit. When targeting snappers use a lighter rod. I prefer to use a 20 to 30-pound rig. Snapper often will hit just about any natural bait when they are hungry. Although mangrove are the most commonly caught snapper for this area, with the cooler water temperatures look to catch others species such as muttons, yellow tails, lanes, and vermilions as well.
Greater amberjack fishing should be good through the month. To catch the keepers, don’t stop running west until you hit 100-foot of water or deeper. These big bruisers will make a believer out of anyone that’s looking for a real battle. Amberjack can usually be found in areas around sunken structures such as wrecks, ledges, and springs. Live bait fish, and or rapidly retrieved jigs or lures will get them fired up and feeding.
If you plan to be fishing offshore on the gulf over the next several weeks be sure to keep a close eye on what the weather may be doing. As the cold fronts start lining up and marching down across the state, wind and sea conditions may be pushed up. In my opinion, the best time to fish will be when the sun is shinning and the wind is not blowing too hard. Look for these nicer days after the cold front has passed through, and high pressure has brought with it clear blue skies and sunny days.
Well, good luck and good fishing, and remember if you're not out fishin you're wishin you were. Get out and go fishin cuz' it's good fer ya!
Capt. Dave Pinkham docks his deep sea charter fishing boat "Legacy" at The Crow's Nest Marina, Venice South Jetty. For questions or to book a fishing charter call (941) 473-4603, or visit: www.charter-boatfishing.com
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Venice - December 2nd, 2003
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Good
I really can’t think of a better place to enjoy the month of December than fishing out on the Gulf of Mexico along the coastline of South West Florida. Cooling water temperatures should help get the grouper and snapper in the feeding mood. So far this season we really haven’t had much in the way of cold weather fronts yet. Who knows, a good blast of cold air might be just what these fish need to really get them fired up. Of course, in my opinion, the best time to fish will be when the sun is shinning and the wind is not blowing too hard. Look for these nicer days after the cold fronts have blown through and high pressure has brought with it clear blue skies, plenty of warm sun, and flat calm sea conditions.
Following is a gulf fishing forecast for the month of December.
Kingfish action should continue to be good right into December. Last year we were catching king mackerel on New Year’s Day. Passing cold fronts may churn the water muddy, so look for kings in clean water conditions. You may have to run a few miles farther offshore to find the clean water, but the rewards could be well worth the effort.
Spanish mackerel are usually a dependable catch right though the end of the month. Some of the biggest Spanish will be caught within a mile of the coastline. Live baits such as pilchards are hard to beat to get the Spanish mackerel hitting.
Gag grouper fishing should really start picking up now that winter is on our doorstep. The cooler water temperatures that are pushing the kingfish south will often push gag grouper into short bottom. To catch them I suggest you concentrate on hard bottom such as a ledge, an area of coral, shipwreck, or one of the artificial reefs. Some of the best grouper bites we’ve been on have been located just by searching with the bottom machine. Once you find some sort of structure, the key to success is to try to get your boat anchored directly over or up wind of it. Now, using live and or cut bait drop your rig to the bottom. It’s really that simple! A good stout pole with heavy line (50-pound test) should be used. Gags tend to hit hard, and then run for the nearest cover, so hang on and crank the handle!
Red grouper are always a standby. Once you’ve tried a couple rock ledges with no success with gags or mangroves, consider searching out some red grouper. Any sort of hard bottom outside of 75’ foot of water will usually hold some keeper reds. Most natural baits will work, and sometimes the stinkier the bait the better. Nothing works like an old piece of cut mullet or bonito to get a big red grouper to bite.
Mangrove snapper should help to fill the gap if the gag groupers don’t want to cooperate. You’ll find these tasty snappers at the same hot spots as the groupers. When targeting mangrove snapper try using a lighter rod to increase the hits. I like to use a 30-pound rig. Snapper will hit just about any natural bait when they’re hungry. When the bite slows, try switching what bait you’re using.
Triggerfish are one of my favorite fish to eat. They usually hang on structure. Keeping your gear light, and hooks small will greatly increase your triggerfish catches. One of the best baits to use when fishing for triggers is shrimp.
Greater amberjack are one of the hardest fighting fish you will encounter on the gulf. If you’re looking to do battle with one of these brawlers, try fishing over and around some of the deeper wrecks, and artificial reefs. Live fish such as grunts, pinfish, and threadfin sardines make great bait.
Blackfin tuna may still be around for a while in December. Most of the blackfins I’ve caught have been on live bait fish. When bottom fishing for grouper, I always try to keep a couple live baits free lined out behind the boat. Most of the blackfin tuna we’ve caught aboard the Legacy are caught using this method.
Cobia should still be around in December. Some of these fish will top the scales at over 80 pounds, so be sure to eat your wheaties. Generally, cobia love to hang around structure, so fishing around ship wrecks will be a good area to start you search.
Well, good luck and good fishing, and remember if you’re not out fishin you’re wishin you were. Get out and go fishin cuz’ it’s good fer ya!
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Weather and Lunar Phases
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Venice - November 15th, 2003
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Good
I can hardly believe November is right around the corner. This is a great time of year to be here in the Sunshine State. There's still plenty of warm weather to enjoy, so make sure to take some time and get out on the Gulf and go fishing. The fall season is most definitely one of my favorite times of the year because it offers many different fishing opportunities for area anglers.
The cooler weather combined with shorter daylight hours will begin to push the gulf's water temperature down. As these annual changes take place, the stage is set for the fishing action out on the gulf to explode!
Following is a forecast of what anglers fishing out on the Gulf of Mexico can expect to catch over the next month or so. If there were ever a time to experience some of the best fishing the gulf has to offer, I would have to say November is one of my top picks.
King mackerel as well as their smaller cousins the Spanish mackerels should be plentiful from just off the beaches on out to 100 foot of water. When looking for them, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for dead giveaways such as fish feeding at the surface, and or jumping fish. Both live bait fishing and trolling artificial baits will produce these toothy speedsters.
Another way to locate either species of mackerels is to look for birds diving down at the waters surface for bait. I've said it before and I’ll say it again, where you find the bait, you’ll find feeding mackerels. When live bait fishing, consider trying one of the many types of proven live baits that work good such as shiners, sardines, blue runners, large shrimp, and even grunts. When fishing specifically for Spanish mackerel, one of my favorite ways to catch them is by anchoring the boat and free-lining live shiners or shrimp to them on light spinning tackle.
Blackfin tuna are always exciting to see and most definitely an exceptional catch to any angler. The first couple weeks of November should be a great time to target these members of the tuna family. If you see them jumping then you are in the right place to fish. As with fishing with for mackerels, both trolling hardware such as large silver spoons, and live bait fishing will produce fish. Most of the blackfin tuna I’ve caught have been out in water depths from 100’ to 120’ foot of water.
Cobia are already making a good showing on some of their normal haunts. The artificial reefs located up and down the coast are a good place to bump into these awesome brawlers. Live baits such as pilchards, grunts, pinfish, crabs, blue runners, and sardines will usually provoke inquisitive fish into hitting.
Mangrove snapper continue to be a reliable catch on most any offshore structure. Usually the best way to catch them is by anchoring directly above the spot and dropping down rigs baited with natural baits such as cut sardines, squid, or shrimp. Chumming with pieces of cut bait to get snapper feeding works well when the wind and current allows for it.
Gag Grouper fishing usually starts getting better as the water temperature cools down. As this cooling effect happens this month, look for gags to start moving closer to the coastline into some of their winter haunts. Gag grouper often will tend to hang close to some sort of structure such as shipwrecks, and rocky ledges.
Red Grouper fishing will continue to be good out past 60' foot deep. Although the minimum size for gags was pushed up to 22 inches, red grouper size limit remains at 20 inches. On the days with light winds, try drift fishing new areas. Bouncing jigs tipped with squid or a piece of cut sardine as you drift along over hard bottom will usually provoke hits.
Greater amberjack should start to make a better showing over the next month. As the weather continues to cool off these big jacks usually converge on the deeper wrecks. Revered for their size and strength, amberjack will test most any tackle, as well as the endurance of the angler. Live bait fishing over these spots is generally one of the best way to get them hitting.
From the looks of it, the fishing action is fixing to bust loose in over the next few weeks. Remember, if you’re too busy to go fishin, you’re just too busy. Get out and go fishin cuz’ it’s good fer ya!
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Weather and Lunar Phases
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Venice - October 15th, 2003
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Good
Arrival of October ushers in some exciting fishing on the Gulf of Mexico
The weather this past weekend was a bit on the rainy side as a slow moving cold front stalled and then finally pushed across the state early in the week. This is exactly the type of transitional weather changes that can send fish into a ballistic feeding mode.
A testimony to this fact would the almost unbelievable fishing action experienced by a group of local anglers from Port Charlotte this past weekend. Dr. David Hotchkiss, Dr. David Brewer, and the Sun Herald’s own “Health & Vitality” columnist, Dr. Steve Shell, all fished aboard the charter boat Legacy out of Venice this past Saturday. Guiding this hardy crew of weekend warriors aboard the Legacy was the team of Capt. Ed Johnson steering the ship, and Capt. Andy Siegel working the deck.
In Capt. Ed’s words, “It was just one of those days when all my spots were really working good!” Not only did the happy fishing clients manage to box a nice mess of big groupers and snappers, but to top off the day, the extraordinary action came in the form of a huge cobia. From the sounds of it, the battle with this 70- pound brawler can be described as “controlled turmoil” at best. The fish fell for a live blue runner rigged to a 20-pound class fishing rod. The battle itself raged on long enough that all three anglers each had a turn at doing combat with the cobia. Finally, the fish was subdued, gaffed, and hauled aboard.
As we move forward into the month of October, get set for the fishing action to bust wide open. Following is a fishing forecast of some of the species of fish that you can expect to catch on the gulf in the next month.
- King Mackerel once again should be making a big showing. In fact, we’ve already been seeing some kings free-jumping west of the beaches out 20 miles or so. As the kings migrate down the coast of Florida, they’ll offer plenty of quick action just west of area beaches and passes. There are many methods used to catch king mackerel from trolling different types of hardware to live baiting. Trolling silver king spoons in the areas where jumping fish are being seen is pretty much a guaranteed hookup.
- Spanish Mackerel are plentiful right now offshore. In my opinion, nothing works better for mackerel than netting up some live shiners along the beach or ICW and heading out on the Gulf for some action. Anchoring the boat and free-lining the live bait on the surface works best. If you don’t want to work for the live bait, try trolling silver spoons behind #1 or #2 planners.
- Grouper fishing is hot right now, and could possibly get better throughout the month.
As the weather changes and the Gulf starts to cool over the next couple months look for gags to start moving into some of their winter haunts. Gag groupers often will tend to hang closer to structure such as wrecks, and ledges. Live baits will often entice them to turn on especially in the heat of the day. Good stiff stand up tackle works best here. Red Groupers are always a standby, sort of the meat and potatoes when it comes to grouper fishing. When everything else fails head out to hard bottom in 70’ to 120’ foot of water and go after some big fat red grouper
- Cobia should also start to make a good showing over the next month. Expect to find them hanging around channel markers, pilings, piers, and offshore rock ledges. The artificial reefs are also a great place to look for them. To entice them into hitting, I prefer using live baits such as grunts, shiners, and pinfish.
- Dolphin fish, also called mahi mahi, should still be able to be caught throughout the month of October. When fishing for the mahi, concentrate you efforts out deeper in at least 100’ foot of water. In the past, couple weeks we’ve caught a few decent ones up to15 pounds. The dolphin just sort of show up around the boat while at anchor grouper fishing. The key here is to be ready to cast out a live bait when they make a showing.
- Blackfin tuna is one of my favorite fish to catch. Most of the ones we’ve caught in the past few years have been on the longer trips out 30 miles or so. Most of our hookups with blackfins have been on live bait fish such as sardines, or pinfish free-lined out from the boat.
- Snapper are an excellent eating fish, and this area offer several different types of snappers to go after. One of my favorites is mangrove snapper. Best places to find the mangroves as well as the yellow tail snappers will be around structure such as ledges, wrecks, and the artificial reefs. Snapper can be somewhat finicky at times so keep your terminal tackle as light as possible. I prefer using natural baits such as shrimp, live shiners, and squid.
Remember, the fall is some of the best time of year to experience the excellent fishing the gulf has to offer. 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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Venice - September 23rd, 2003
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Good
Fall Season Ushers in Excellent Fishing Action
Looking ahead a couple of weeks on my monthly calendar, I’m actually starting to get a little excited with anticipation. With only a few days left in September, the thought of October looming just around the corner brings back all sorts of positive memories of many past successful fishing adventures.
Actually, the first day of autumn this year that is known as the Fall Equinox, was September 23rd. Each year on the Fall Equinox, both night and day are of equal length. As we move forward into the fall of the year, this annual transition when the night hours become longer than the daylight hours is in itself a signal to savvy anglers who have experienced first hand some of the awesome fishing opportunities that the fall or autumn season has been known to usher in.
One big event that happens during this time of year is the annual fall kingfish run. Over the next couple of months, large schools of king mackerels will once again be moving south down our coastline toward their winter-feeding grounds. This annual fall migration brings these fast hitting, hard fighting fish within easy reach of a half days fishing out of most of the local passes up and down Florida’s west coast.
Back in the mid-70’s, due to heavy commercial and recreational fishing, Florida’s kingfish stocks hovered at near decimation. Over the last twenty years or so with much stricter state and federal fishing regulations governing their harvest, kingfish have made a tremendous recovery, thus guaranteeing this awesome game fish for future generations of anglers. The resurgence of all the kingfish tournaments throughout the coastal southeast is a testimony to the value of this vastly recuperated fishery.
King mackerels are fairly easy to locate and catch once you learn their habits. Generally, the best water depths to find the main schools of kings seem to be over hard bottom in 35’ to 65’ feet of water. One of the simplest ways to locate them is to look for birds such as pelicans or terns diving on baitfish. Most fish tend to follow a food source, and kings are no exception.
There are many methods used to catch king mackerels from trolling different types of shiny hardware such as silver spoons and lures, to fishing with live bait such as threadfin sardines or pilchards. Over the next couple months as we move into the height of the kingfish run you can count on this column for more information on where and how to catch kingfish.
For you shore bound anglers, Spanish mackerels should offer some great action in the passes and along the beaches. Casting silver spoons with a fast retrieve is a time-proven technique to catch them.
Remember, if you’re not out fishing you’re wishing you were. Get out and go fishin, cuz’ it’s good fer ya!
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