Summer Time

The fish are full in their summertime patterns now. Hot days and warm nights can make the bite a bit iffy from time to time.

If Trout is your thing, get out at dawn, fish the deeper grass flats, I like water in the 3 to 5 foot range. Work a mission fishin jig head with a 4 inch gulp swimming mullet slowly. DOA shrimp also works very well in this situation. Again work the bait slowly, give the fish time to key on it. If you work it too fast these warm and lazy fish will not chase it down.

Snook are all over the beaches now. This is an early morning or late evening bite. I like Yozuri Crystal Minnows. Fish them in tight to the shore line and work them parallel with the shore line. Sometimes the most effective way to fish these fish is by getting out of the boat and wading the beach. Casting out in front of you. This is also a great fishery for those who are land bound. Again fish up tight to the beach, very rarely are these fish more than 10 feet from the beach.

Red fish are in their lazying under the mangroves mode. Find a spot with a bit of water under the mangroves and fish the bait right on the bottom. Preferably in a sandy spot under the bushes. Wait them out and you will be rewarded with a tasty dinner. On the incoming tides I am still finding a few schools working the oyster bars. Usually though when the sun gets up and the day gets hot these fish disappear.

Tarpon, it's been a strange year for them for me. I am running across a pod or two now and again along the beach early in the morning, but the pressure on these fish is incredible. Invariably when I find a pod, and set up on them I get run up on by another boat and it drives the fish off. The jig bite in Boca Grande has been on and off, the other day I fished a group from Washington State on the incoming jig bite. We fished hard all morning and missed a couple of bites, saw two fish get hooked and one get eaten by a shark. A little before noon we pulled out of the fleet to get rid of the rest of the mornings coffee and have a sandwich. When we came back into the fleet just about every boat was hooked up to a fish. The fish turned on and ate everything for about 15 minutes and the bite went cold again. The evening and night bite seem to be the best out there, pitching crabs on heavy spinning gear out on the hill.

Good fishing and good company it doesn't get anybetter.

Capt. Tim Mills
http://www.dhatldoit.com
941-270-6172