| FISHING REPORTS |
ARCHIVE: |
Your search returned 76 items (most recent reports for all waters in )
Now showing items: 41 - 50. Select page: 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
|
Venice - October 18th, 2005
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Good
October ushers in good action on gulf
Up and down Florida’s west coast the month of October is well-known as the kick off to the fall kingfish season that usually peaks sometime in November. These toothy ferocious speedsters are the largest member of the mackerel family commonly growing to sizes exceeding fifty pounds. If you’re looking for some non-stop rod bending action, the king of mackerels should exceed your expectations.
October is also a great time for catching many other species of fish on the gulf. In fact, if the weather cooperates it can be some of the best fishing of the year. You name it, and if it swims in the gulf, there’s a good chance that it can be caught during October.
Following is a fishing forecast of some of the species that anglers can expect to catch this month.
- King mackerel schools should start showing up anytime. There’s all sorts of fishing techniques used to fish for them. To locate migrating schools try trolling #5 king spoons behind planning boards. Those anglers looking for the bigger kings often fish with live baits. Areas around shipwrecks and the artificial reefs will often hold the larger fish. Blue runners are a hardy bait fish and the big kings love them.
- Spanish mackerel should get thick in numbers this month. A local favorite on the grill, Spanish mackerel can offer some of the fastest non-stop fishing action I know of. Free-lined live pilchards will drive them crazy, making an excellent bait.
- Grouper fishing, especially for gag groupers should improve this month. Between the cooling water temperatures, and all the storms that shook up the gulf last month, I’m expecting the grouper fishing to get red hot in October. Grouper fishing is basically bottom fishing, so put some lead on and send your bait to the bottom. Anchoring the boat over structure such as rock ledges is the key to catching some nice gags.
- Snapper are also a sought after species on the Gulf. The same bottom areas that hold grouper will often harbor snapper. In fact, last week we were fishing in about 90' of water. The grouper bite had slowed so we were in the process of moving to a new spot. I always watch the bottom machine when moving from hole to hole. Anyway I noticed a heck of a show of fish on the bottom. We turned around marked the new spot with the jug, and then anchored directly over it. The next thing you know we were pulling big mangrove snapper over the rails. This particular flume of snapper was so thick that it showed on the fish-finder 40' feet off the bottom.
- Blackfin tuna normally make a pretty good showing in October. Best bet to catch them will be to start looking in at least 100' of water. Look for action near the surface. The two methods that have worked for me in the past are trolling spoons and lures, and casting live baits. If you see jumping tuna, cast out free-lined live baits and drift fish the area. - Cobia are a local favorite, and hopefully in the next few weeks we should start seeing schools of them as they migrate south. Cobia can be rather cautious at times, but will usually fall for a well presented live bait such as a grunt or pinfish.
photos
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - August 11th, 2005
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Good
Plenty of Offshore Fishing Choices in August/September
People are always asking me which are the best months for fishing out on the gulf. This is a tough question to answer as there can be lots of variables with a wide variety of fish to catch with each different season. My answer would have to be that August and September are as good a bet as any. There are plenty of options such as bottom fishing for groupers, or fishing live baits at the surface for mahi or sailfish
Spanish mackerel and little tunny are plentiful right now offshore. Both of these species have been actively feeding on schools of tiny baits pushed up to the surface. Small silver jigs cast toward feeding fish is the quickest way to get hooked up.
Mahi or dolphin usually migrate up into the gulf this time of year. Best bet will to start looking for them at least 20 miles offshore. Mahi will often will hang around large bunches of sargassum grass so keep your eyes peeled. One way to fish for them is to pull up along side the grass and sight cast to fish as they swim just below the surface.
Blackfin tuna, wahoo, and sailfish should all be making some sort of showing inside the 50-mile line. For anglers that consistently use good trolling techniques, luck should be in their favor as this is a great time of the year to catch the “bluewater” species. Obvious areas to troll will be alongside floating weedlines and in areas where bait schools are showing at the surface of the water.
Snapper fishing is a great way to put dinner on the table and this is the time to do it. Some of the best fishing holes will be hard bottom, ledges, springs, and wrecks. Snappers such as mangroves and yellow tail can be somewhat finicky at times so use as light as gear as possible. For leader materials consider using fluorocarbon as it is less visible to the fish. When conditions are right, night fishing over wrecks in the periods around the full moon can be very productive. Natural baits such as crabs, shrimp, shiners, and squid are hard to beat.
Red Grouper fishing usually peaks around mid-summer. Drift fishing over hard bottom is a great way to locate these bruisers. Once located you can re-drift the same area or anchor down. Red grouper are known to eat just about any kind of natural bait. A good fishing method I’ve found to use when drift fishing is to tip a weighted jig with squid or a strip of little tunny.
Remember to keep an eye out for changing weather conditions. When you see the skies starting to fill up with darkening clouds, it may be time to head for the hill.
photos
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - July 4th, 2005
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Great
July offers great gulf fishing
The month of July offers gulf anglers a wide variety of fishing opportunities. As we move into the summer season anglers fishing offshore of Venice, Florida can look foreword to some hot fishing action to go with the warm weather.
Spanish mackerel are usually plentiful this time of year just offshore of area beaches. Mackerels generally hang over hard bottom or close to tiderips that often will hold the baitfish they eat. Watch for birds such as terns feeding at the surface of the water. This is a dead-giveaway to baitfish and feeding mackerels. Trolling or casting small silver spoons in these areas is a quick way to provoke some action.
Little tunnys will offer anglers some great tackle testing action, and summer is the time to get them. As with the mackerels they can often be seen feeding at the surface.
Triggerfish offer excellent table fare and will be found on bottom structures such as ledges and the artificial reefs. Because they have relatively small mouths make sure to rig down and go lighter on your terminal tackle. Small hooks and light lines can be a key factor to putting some triggerfish in the boat. Best baits should be shrimp, shiners, and squid.
Snapper fishing for species such as mangroves, lanes, yellow tails, and muttons is loads of fun and is sure to put some good dinner on the table. Best fishing holes will be hard rocky type bottom, ledges, springs, wrecks, and the county reef sites. Snapper can be somewhat finicky at times so it often pays off to use as light as gear as possible. For leaders consider using clear fluorocarbon as it is less visible to the fish. I prefer using natural baits such as crabs, shrimp, live shiners, squid, and cut sardines.
Grouper fishing has been very good so far this summer. Red and gag groupers are the two species most common to this area. Gag groupers will tend to hang closer to structure such as wrecks, and ledges, whereas red groupers are often easier to locate as they will often hang on just about any type of hard bottom. When fishing for gags try to anchor just up current or directly over the ledge or wreck areas where you think the fish are. Good stiff stand up tackle works best for this type of fishing as a hooked gag grouper will make a hard run for the bottom structure. Red grouper on the other hand are often caught while drift fishing over an area of hard bottom. A good method to use when drift fishing is to tip a 4oz or 6 oz jig with squid or a strip of fish and just bounce it along the bottom as you drift.
Permit is a great summer game fish. Permit love to hang over bottom structure such as ship wrecks and the county artificial reefs. The best permit bait I know of is live crabs.
Shark fishing peaks in the summer months. Be sure to bring some wire leader material so when the sharks do show up you are ready for them.
Dolphin fish (mahi mahi) often make a decent showing in the hotter months of the year. When targeting dolphin start your search at least 20 miles offshore and be on the lookout for large bunches of sargassum grass or any other type of surface flotsam. One way to fish for them is to pull up along side this floating grass and sight cast to fish as they swim just below the surface. Try live free-lined bait when fishing this way. Often the larger dolphin will be feeding down deeper below the smaller fish. You can also try trolling along the edges of the weed lines.
Summer months are also the best time to run across blue water fish such as sailfish, marlin, and wahoo. To locate them with any consistency you’ll need to start your search at least 40 miles out. As when fishing for dolphin, look for weed lines and feeding activity at the surface.
If you're too busy to go fishing you’re just too busy. Get out and go fishin cuz it's good fer ya!
photos
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - Offshore and Coastal - June 9th, 2005
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED: 
80 °
FISHING: Great
Yesterday we had Mr. Chuck Whitfield and his son C.J. Bluewater fishing was the plan. The morning started out slick calm with a little roller and stayed that way all day which made for very easy running. Our first stop was to catch some live bait, we pulled up to the can and two big bull dolphin swam out. All it took was one cast with the gurgler and we got one on. The other one wouldn't touch the second bait we pitched to him. But he spit the hooks five minutes into the fight. After catching some live bait we headed 60 miles out to one of the floaters. 1st bait out we hooked into another bull dolphin that thru the hook on his second jump. That was two fish gone. Started to think it was going to be one of those days. Well, in the end we caught another bull dolphin and got him in the boat, Next two fish were yellowfin tuna about 65-70lbs. which we got in the boat as well. After that it went cold. We headed back north to find the rip which had been building up good in the afternoon, but when we got there it was scattered all over the place. Sometimes you can pull thru the scattered stuff and still pull out some decent fish. Yesterday it didn't happen, so we called it a day. Looks like the weather is shutting us down for a few days. Back out on the next calm day. By the way the new boat is an incredible fishing machine and very fast for a cat boat. So far the new Evinrude E Tecs are everything Bombardier said they would be.
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - Offshore and Coastal - June 8th, 2005
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED: 
90 °
FISHING: Excellent
Short on reports lately but definately fishing. This past Saturday we had the Lee Withers gang down for some rig fishing. We managed to pull out 20 red snappers most of them about 10lbs. with the exception of 4 or 5 around the 18lb. mark. But that was it. No other rig fish were caught. Red Snappes only. Sunday we opted to go west because of the strong southeast wind with the Howard Mabry group. They also wanted to fish the rigs but it was one of the slowest days I have seen in a while. We only caught a handful of fish in somewhat nasty conditions. Yesterday we took out Todd Oliver and crew from Jackson Miss. After some radar watching and weather figuring we left the dock hoping that the weather off of our coast yesterday morning wouldn't mess up the condition to bad. Well, right out the pass it was a steep 4ft. but nothing we couldn't handle. Once we hit blue water it laid down nicely and the rest of the day turned out to be beautiful. First stop of the day was for tuna, but none were to be had. We had the perfect live bait, which was very easy to catch, perfect water conditions, a few small ones busting around us, but we couldn't get one in the boat. Left there and headed south to find a neverending perfect rip. We trolled the rip for most of the day which resulted in 6 Dolphin. 1 big bull, a couple of near bulls, and some cows. Plenty of dolphin on the rip but most were on the smaller size. We din't really see much activity on the surface other than dolphin. Headed back out tomorrow to the rip. Looks like the weather is turning very bad this weekend, first time in a while. Will report tomorrow. Check out the pics.
Capt. Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - Offshore and Coastal - May 15th, 2005
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED: 
80 °
FISHING: Great
Sorry for the lack of reports lately but I have been busy trying to get our new boat ready for the season.
This past Friday we took out Dana Coleman and friends. Although the weather wasn't exactly what it was supposed to be the fishing was still very good. We pulled up to our spot and right off the bat we picked up two yellowfin tuna and 1 blackfin tuna. After that it slowed down quick. We stayed around for about another hour and headed in to some closer rigs to fish for snapper and cobia. They did manage to get a few red snapper and mangrove snapper, 1 undersize cobia, and that was it for the day. The offshore fishing is really picking up since the last couple of weeks. The big yellowfin tuna are moving back in and yesterday a private boat caught a 525lb. bluefin. The Marlin and Dolphin are starting to move in on the rip lines and floaters. Around the rigs the cobia, snapper, and grouper are all over the place. It is that time of year again. You never know what your going to catch next. The weather has been nice, sunny almost every day, with a little more wind than expected, but still not bad. We have openings if anyone wants to see what real fishing is all about.
Capt. Damon Mcknight/Super Strike Charters
www.superstrikecharters.com or 1 800 318 1720
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - May 2nd, 2005
supplied by: Florida Deep Sea Fishing Charters
FISHING: Excellent
May offers some of the best gulf fishing of the year
Are you geared up and ready for some of the best fishing of the year? If you are not, I would strongly recommend that you get ready.
The reasons for my upbeat outlook are straightforward enough. First off, in the course of the next few weeks it appears as if we are in for plenty of good old Florida sunshine. More sunny days equates to warm weather. Warmer air temperatures mean rising gulf water temperatures.
Actually, just about any species that swims in the gulf is a good target during the month of May. Other encouraging factors for anglers would be that it’s not sweltering hot yet, and an added benefit is that you don’t have to worry about dodging the afternoon thunderstorms yet.
All this considered, the month of May is high on my “monthly get out and go fishing” must do list. Following is a list of target species to go after while you’re fishing out the gulf this month.
- Kingfish and Spanish mackerel should still make a decent showing in the next few weeks. Look for both species in the areas where you see white baits such as pilchards, Spanish sardines, and cigar minnows. Live baits will usually out fish artificial baits so make sure when you have the opportunity to load up the live well with them. Keeping your lines and wire leaders as light as possible will help to account for more hits. Single-strand piano wire for leader material is mandatory to prevent cutoffs from the big ones.
- Permit should make a showing on area wrecks and reefs later in the month. These beautiful fish game fish prefer crustaceans so bring some jumbo shrimp or crabs along. If you see permit finning at the surface, cast your bait out in front of them allowing it to fall naturally. You more than likely won’t need any lead weight on this rig.
- Grouper and snapper fishing is always a dependable standby on the gulf coast. When targeting these bottom species consider fishing around a wreck or some good broken hard bottom. There are plenty of 2-foot ledges scattered all over the gulf floor so keep your bottom machine running. When you notice a change on you bottom graph indicating a rock crevice below, toss a marker jug and try it. Normally if you hook into gag grouper or mangrove snapper then you’ve located good structure. When bottom fishing be sure to put out the extra effort and keep a couple of livies free-lined out on top. You never know when a school of kingfish, some mahi mahi, or blackfin tuna may swim through. As the water continues to warm up this month, red grouper should make a good showing. For the keepers concentrate your efforts 20 to 50 miles offshore. Bouncing baits along the bottom while drifting is a great way to locate these bottom feeders
- Black fin tuna should make a good showing this month in the 80 to 140-foot range. A good place to start looking would be in the area of an anchored shrimp boat. These commercial shrimpers normally pull their trawls during the night. Often, come first daylight the shrimpers will anchor down their boats and go to work picking through their catch, and then throw the by-catch overboard. This in turn can draw fish such as blackfin tuna.
-Tarpon should make a showing later in the month. Sight fishing for them just west of area beaches is one favorite way to fish for them. Once a pod of tarpon is located, try casting live or artificial baits at them. Some of their favorite natural foods are crabs, shrimp, threadfin sardines, and pinfish. Large numbers of tarpon should also begin showing up in Boca Grande Pass this month. On the falling tide the Tarpon will be feeding on the small crabs that are washed out of the bay. Bring along a long handle net and try scooping up your own crabs.
-Shark fishing for some anglers is about as good as it gets. For the rest of us, they can sure mess up a good grouper bite. Regardless of your personal feelings, this is the time of year to tag into a shark. Lately on just about every trip, whether we want to or not, we’ve been hooking into one or another species of shark. To target shark, bring along some chum and fish a couple of lines up off the bottom while anchored.
-Cobia is another fish to target in the month of May. Clearer gulf water will make them easy to see. Casting live baitfish in front of sighted cobia is about as exciting as it gets. Cobia tend to hang around any sort of structure, so when fishing around these areas keep looking into the water.
-Greater amberjack and giant jack crevelle will be hanging around the deeper wrecks and big ledges. Healthy live baits will often provoke fish into hitting that otherwise wouldn’t feed. Be sure to keep your rigs simple as clear water makes it harder to get them to hit.
May is one of the best months of the year for fishing on the gulf. Remember if you’re too busy to go fishing you’re just too busy! Get out and go fishin cuz’ it’s good fer ya!
photos
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - Offshore and Coastal - April 17th, 2005
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED:
80 °
FISHING: Good
Boy O Boy, has the weather man been wrong the past few days. Calling for 4-6 most of the week but it has turned out to be fairly calm. Luckily for us we only cancelled one of those days. Capt. Bob K. has been rig fishing on the bad weather (beautiful and no wind) days because of the chance it may have picked up. Which it did do a little yesterday but at about 10:00 p.m. last night the winds have layed down to the single digits. This April has been tough. Capt. Bob had Dr. Whitaker and friends from Chicago on Thurs. They went to the rigs to see what they could get and of course they caught all the red snapper they wanted which were released unharmed, but the big surprise was they had plenty of lane and mangrove snapper to fill the ice chest with. The red Snappers aren't the only ones out there guys. A few other misc. fish and they headed in. Yesterday, he took out Mr. Neil Manson and gang from Miss. Same go around again. Calling for 5-7ft. seas before bed, woke up to flat calm. How you like it! Back to the rigs in case the forecast did hold and blasted you once you made it out 40 miles or so. They caught grouper and of course snappers(released). I think a few Kings but no Cobes like last week. The tuna fishing has been average at best. But just wait it is coming. Blue Marlin, Dolphin, Big Tuna, more wahoo than you know what to do with. I am still getting the new boat ready and will do that most of the week. We have some openings in May but not many. May and June are two awesome months for tuna, marlin, and dolphin. The weather is usually just right and the runs are short and easy.
Capt. Damon MckNight/Super Strike Charters
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - Offshore and Coastal - April 6th, 2005
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED: 
70 °
FISHING: Good
The fishing has been up and down the past week and a half. Lots of wind to slick calm and then Lots of wind again. Capt. Bob K. has been running f the boat for me while I prepare our new boat which should be ready in about a week. I forgot what that was like. On Monday we had Mr. Kris Thomas and family back out after the tuna. They caught a couple of Blackfin, some mackerel, sharks, and a bunch of creole fish. The tuna fishing was slow but everything else kept them busy. Yesterday, Mr. Jeff and friend drove down from Chicago to get in on all the tuna action we've had going on but the weather would not permit that. They decided on rig fishing instead and it turned out to be a good idea although it was very rough. They caught plenty of snapper (released) and other miscellaneous rig fish but the day ended with a bang. Jeff caught an 83lb. cobia and about a 20lber. in the last hour of fishing then they called it a day. He was caught on 20lb. test and took over an hour to get in; of course he was finessed, since it was the fish of the day. The weather has kept us from getting out today and tomorrow, but we will be back out on Friday. Will post then.
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Venice - Offshore and Coastal - March 28th, 2005
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Great
This past week was another good one. The weather was nice, I was able to leave in the morning just wearing a long sleeve shirt and not get cold. It was a little foggy on Friday morn. but not the worse I have ever seen. The fish bit all last week. except Fri. We sat out Wed. because of the forecasted weather and 22 knots of wind in the morning but on Thurs. we were back at with Mr. Steve Ackley and friends. The bite was immediate. First fish hooked up was a black fin tuna. After that it was every time. The guys finished the day at 11:30 a.m. keeping 2 yellowfin (90lbs. and 150.3lbs), 12 blackfin, and 2 amberjack. More meat than you know what to do with right here. Friday was a completely different day. All that was to be had was 2 black fin tuna. The group had to be back in early so we called it a day at 11:30. The boats that did stay out late said the bite never got going. That's Fishing. The wind has got us at the dock today. It is blowing hard down here right now. Most likely be back out on Wed. The tuna fishing will remain good, start looking for some huge catches of wahoo and grouper. People call all the time and say now that the tuna bite is just about done what else can we fish for. Well, the tuna bite is not just about over. April and May are just as good as the rest of the months for tuna, but we can also catch a variety of other fish besides tuna, not only that the weather is usually as good as it gets. Our new boat will be ready in about a week.
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters
Weather and Lunar Phases
|
|
Your search returned 76 items (most recent reports for all waters in )
Now showing items: 41 - 50. Select page: 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
|
|
|
|
|
 |
C&F Design Fly Boxes
Fishwest Outfitters
Free shipping on all C&F Design fly boxes...
Special: FREE SHIPPING
More
info >>
|
See the entire line of Fishpond Products
Fishwest Outfitters
Fishpond & Free Shipping!
Special: FREE SHIPPING!!!
More
info >>
|
Patagonia SST Wading Jacket
Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop, Inc.
40% off a great jacket plus FREE SHIPPING!
Special: 195
More
info >>
|
| view all specials >>
|
|
|
|