In West Central Florida the hot days of summer have arrived. While the temperature has heated up so has the fishing. I have always liked the summer because of the variety of opportunities, but the downside has always been the unannounced arrival of a summer thunderstorms. Well last summer we fixed that and installed satellite weather onboard. Beating the thunderstorms and heat are a lot easier to do if you choose to fish early morning or later into the night. But if that's not an option, getting into the water during the heat of the day is another way to beat the heat and get some relief. With the added visibility of weather at your fingertips, you can go about fishing and have some indication as to the status of any approaching thunderstorms and the ability to get out of the way before they are on top of you.
Fishing early, the air temperatures are a little cooler, and the opportunity for catching tarpon moving up and down the beaches is a little greater. Crab, threadfins, scaled sardines and pinfish are the baits of choice with large sardines leading the way and crab coming in a close second. Catching those big baits has been tougher this season but a sabiki rig works great when fewer baits', are required. Cast netting is still an option but the small bait seems to have invaded the flats of my choice lately.
Snook have been both running the troughs of the beaches and many big fish can be found hiding in the shade of the mangrove shorelines. While fishing the open beaches, lighter tackle is not only acceptable, but preferred, and on the other hand, the mangroves demand a braided line and heavier fluorocarbon leader. Most of the fish on the beach have been of the smaller variety, and the ones held up in the bushes have been the larger yet more cautious variety. Fishing dead threadfins have yielded some big fish, however be alert because the big ones have been slurping up the baits so gently that if you're not paying particular attention, you may miss the opportunity. Sight fishing these fish in both areas is a good approach if a tower is available at least to locate the fish, but don't give up on traditional tactics since these fish seem to blend right into the light sand and mangrove shadowed backgrounds.
Redfish have been caught on the high tides in the bushes with pilchards and pinfish, and low tide potholes have produced on the flats when the water has moved out. Shrimp, when the larger ones are available will produce as well. When the water is off of the flat, try approaching the pot hole areas on foot and wade fish. Dragging a bait bucket or a few soft baits worked off the edges and the bottom, can be a sure way to hook up and cool off at the same time. But overall, the high sun overhead and the heat of the day has been the slowest, with mornings and evenings producing better overall.
Some of you looking for mackerel action and snapper action can find the deeper and structured bottom areas of the bay holding fish. This month, while fishing the bottom somewhere in the vicinity of the Skyway Bridge, we hooked up with a few grouper, when searching for the snapper. But mostly the snapper have been taking advantage of our shrimp dinners and feeding at a rate of more that 5:1(five shrimp to 1 hookup). So take plenty of shrimp dinners or try cutting pilchards in half and placing them on a small number 1 hook.
If your looking for some hot action or just looking for some heat, now is the time to go fishing………..give us a call at 813-477-7657 or 941-238-7597.
Captain Jim Savaglio www.inshoreslam.com