Offshore fishing was hampered due to the weather, strong winds and cold water temperatures. Larry McGuire shows off a nice Amberjack caught the other week in calmer weather.
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Capt. Tom Chaya on the Dolphin Dreams out of Ann Maria Island Florida said he’s catching some nice-sized reds near sandbars on the lower tides. He’s also putting his charters onto trout and bluefish from the deeper pockets over seagrass flats in Sarasota Bay, and “there’s still plenty of snapper around area bridges.”
Capt. Zach Zacharias on the Dee-Jay II out of Parrot Cove Marina said “the roller coaster ride for water temperatures is back. Temps went from low 70s with a rash of Spanish mackerel and kingfish hitting offshore to water in the upper 50s and a whole different set of fish caught.” He said he went from hardly any bites on some rainy, cloudy days to colder and more blustery outings on extremely low tides producing trout, sheepshead, black drum and redfish. “Most of the latter action came while plying local canals and deep-water docks with live shrimp,” Capt. Zach said, adding he’s finding live shrimp, cut bait — especially ladyfish — and lead-head jigs worked very slow producing the best results. He also predicts that when water and winds die, beaches from Egmont Key to Longboat Key should start giving up big winter trout, plus pompano, bluefish, sheepies, flounder and some redfish.