The Tampa Bay Times
The West Coast of Florida luckily has escaped a tropical storm. We’ve had some wind over the weekend, and combined with the full moon made fishing a little tough. I prefer to fish leading up to the full moon. As the moon gets more exposed fish tend to eat all night when the light is very bright, gorging themselves making it difficult to catch them during the day. Combined with the heat of summer, early morning and dusk have been the best times to catch fish. Midday low tides have made it difficult as the water temperatures approach 90°. Offshore reports have been good with a few keeper grouper surprisingly close to shore. Within 4 – 8 miles. For guaranteed action, I’ve been running offshore a bit on calm days to catch grunts and a few mangrove snapper. Snook are still on the beaches but the numbers are decreasing as the larger females have spawned. There are quite a few smaller male fish still hanging around the structures of the jetties and the troughs along the beach. Small hatchling baits have moved in, offering plenty of food. Redfish are hanging around the beaches in the cooler waters where we catch snook. Redfish on the flats have been moving under the shade of the mangroves on the high tides, but are not plentiful. Look for mullet schools pushing into the shoreline for the best chance to find a group of reds. They will usually school with the mullet under the same mangrove branches.
- Captains Corner - March 23, 2024
- Brian Caudill - March 4, 2024
- Brian Caudill - December 5, 2023
