Inshore Fishing Report
We are seeing a great trout bite around the area lately with some good average size to them too. They are active on those shallow flats around 2-3ft of water. The trout love slow moving soft plastics all the time, or live shrimp. The early morning low light conditions make top waters a great option too.
Redfish action has been best on the more schoolie sized fish working the residential dock lines around those canal points near areas where bait congregates and water is moving. Redfish of larger size are being found moving together around the passes, beaches and near shore in spawning groups. If you find the big bull reds moving together keep in mind they are super tired out and focused on spawning so likely they will over tire and their mortality is super high if you aren’t super intentional and careful when you encounter them.
Sheepshead action remains spectacular around the area on the hard structures like docks, piers, bridges and jetties. Plus, intermixed when using shrimp or crabs you have a chance for some of the black drum too! The black drum numbers have really spiked around the area the last few weeks and we are seeing them more and more commonly in good concentrations too.
Flounder are starting to show up more around the passes and flats as they move back inshore from their near shore spawning trips. They are really flowing back into the bays and flats and starting to be more active around the area.
Triple tail are still around in the bay around the markers, buoys, and some floating debris. Keep an eye peeled while cruising around the area for your shot at one of these great eating fish!
Nearshore Fishing Report
Hogfish action continues to be the top of mind when fishing near shore. We are seeing quite a few on our ten hour all day trips and we have a special ten hour all day tomorrow because we have a nice little weather window here with that new moon. Plus, we have been crushing the hogfish well on the ten hour all days. Yesterday was our first ten hour all day back on the friendly fisherman and capt Frank and the boys got after it in a big way to kick back off our typical ten hour all day trips on the big boat with a big pile of hogfish, lanes, and a few mangrove snapper. They had about 15 keeper hogfish with only a few anglers really targeting them and a lighter load of folks too! We are expecting a ton more tomorrow with the great weather and the pre frontal bite.
Lane snapper are biting really well near shore too we are seeing a ton of them on the live shrimp and lighter tackle while targeting the hogfish. However, they will bite on squid, threadfin and a variety of other baits too!
Red grouper are an option near shore too, but we don’t see them super often until we get into the deepest near shore waters. While we are targeting the hogfish this time of year that are biting better, we are fishing more mid range in the near shore waters around 40-70ft of water. The red grouper are more likely as we get closer to that 100ft mark and this time of year, the deeper we get the bigger the chances for fat red grouper.
Offshore Fishing Report
We haven’t had many days to get offshore lately due to weather. However, we are able here and there to get out there. Its all about trying to capitalize on those narrow weather windows when possible. There has been some great charter trips that made it out deep and crushed the fat red grouper around that 120ft mark so far this February. We are looking forward to the return of the 39 and 44 hour trips soon that will definitely allow us to dial in on the red grouper! We will typically dip out a bit deeper and target the mangroves at night and then come in a bit to target the red grouper during the day.
