Inshore-
With the snook season now open, it’s the perfect time to target keeper sized fish (28″-32″) 1 per person, early mornings and late evenings with great success. Live bait fish will be your best bet but artificial subsurface baits will work great with proper presentation. The mullet run has not started yet, but we can expect large masses of these bait fish any day now!! Dawn and dusk can be some of the most chaotic action packed aerial fish shows this time of year when mullet reach ambush points where predators are lurking. Tarpon fishing remains steady on channel edges using large live mullet or crabs. Big jacks are blasting topwaters daily!
Offshore–
Trolling offshore has been hit or miss as of lately. Few sailfish, mahi, tuna, & wahoo are to be expected in depths of 70-330′. Look for ideal conditions & start trolling. Baitfish are still around in smaller bait schools nearshore. Sabiki bait fish early as the pressure from local anglers can be tough with the limited amount of baitfish around as we approach fall months when baitfish are not as easy to acquire offshore. Or, load the livewell up with mullet from the river as a back up plan if you plan on using live bait fish for offshore fishing. Bottom fishing on the 6 & 8 mile reef system has been steady for snapper, amberjack, cobia, & kingfish this week. Long leaders with 6-10oz egg sinkers on fish finder rigs will catch the larger snapper you desire. Wire rigs un-weighted with live or dead sardines on the surface while bottom fishing will produce kingfish, cobia, wahoo, & mahi.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Jonathan
