West coast anglers take advantage of another shot

I had my skiff under the power of the trolling motor. In the back of my mind, I made a mental note to start wearing my Levi s as the light Supplex slacks I was wearing were not quite enough to stave off the cool fall temperatures. In the early morning light of this typical fall day, the tide was rushing in the pass as I slowly cruised along. Off the stern of the boat I noticed a mass of nervous water. Suddenly, like a depth charge from below, the water erupted around the school of shiny baitfish.

Hooked Up Again!

The sun was just clearing the tops of the resort condominiums on Siesta Key as I cruised along on plane. Heading south along the beach I couldn’t help but enjoy the beautiful SunCoast morning. Instinctively, my eyes scanned the surface of the serine Gulf searching for signs of life.

10% of the area will hold 90% of the fish, fine tune your efforts and focus on these hotspots.

Two fish, 1 o’clock, 40 yards, on the edge facing north!” Where? “1 o’clock, right there, 35 yards, on the edge of that trough. Do you see the slightly deeper water up there in front of us?” Yeah. “See the two dark logs?” I got ‘em! A good cast soon followed this scenario and a 32” redfish quickly connected. Luckily for us, our main target was redfish.

Tripletail, once a well kept secret, have more frequently become a target for both inshore and offshore anglers. Back in the 70’s, it was routine to personally catch over 300 tripletail a year. With the increased fishing pressure these days, I have reduced my goal — and am extremely satisfied with one-third that number.

Invite a BLUE into your spread! Artificial Lures — Part One of a Two Part Series by Capt. Mike Genoun

To the uneducated, fishing for blue marlin in south Florida seems over simplified, as well as rather hopeless. After all, you simply drag a handful of lures or baits behind the boat, cover as much of the ocean surface as you possibly can in a ten hour day, and hope you stumble across a single fish, right? Wrong! A tremendous amount of effort goes into maximizing the potential for every single blue marlin strike and all for good reason.

Anglers are anxiously awaiting the east coast mullet migration.

The frantic baitfish protested as I implanted the second stinger hook in an upright position just ahead of its tail. “Time to catch your breath”, I said to the slippery mullet as I gently lowered him into the oxygen rich waters for a few quick gulps. I explained that the hooks were doctor’s orders, that it was all a part of his role in life and that nirvana was coming soon.