Nature Coast: William Toney

Sorry about missing last week’s report but I have a good excuse. I was attending the Restore America’s Estuaries Conference in New Orleans. The panel I was with PEW, spoke on the new Nature Coast Aquatic Sea Grass Preserve. It spans over 750 miles covering Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. This mantel of protection will ensure our fishery stays strong for everyone including our commercial fishermen, anglers and all who enjoy the Nature Coast waters. One of the bigger concerns is prop scarring. It takes years for a small one to heal over and decades for larger ones. The easiest way to prevent prop scarring is to trim your motor and putt out to deep water or use a push pole. 

 The trout bite has been good about every where. Near shore I’ve been targeting trout with D.O.A. 5.5 glow jerk baits around creeks mouths and bars on the outgoing tide. Out deeper I’ve been catching trout, sea bass, spanish mackerel, blue fish and ladyfish on MirrOlure LIL Johns in watermelon red flake with a 1/8th oz. red jig head. The near shore rocks also have been producing some big grunts and a few keeper mangrove snapper. 

 On the incoming tides look for schools of mullet around the western facing points to find some redfish. Live shrimp has been the best bait. There is still a couple weeks of grouper season, most fish have been coming from 16 to 25 feet. Trolling for them is a fun way to catch them and also find new spots. High incoming tide will be in the morning this weekend.