By Capt. Philip Watson
It’s January now and we are in the thick of our winter-time fishery in the offshore waters of Anna Maria Island. Hogfish, mangrove snapper, and red grouper are on the top of my hit list. By now, all the Pelagic species have moved south and it’s all about bottom fishing. Bigger amberjacks have moved into the close ledges, but remain closed until summertime. None the less, these guys are fun to fight, even if you must release them.
For this month I’d like to write about Ms. Judy and her crew who came to town wanting to catch bigger fish. We started the trip off in 75’ over a local wreck hand-lining goliath grouper. I came armed with a couple Jack crevalle, bonita, and Spanish mackerel. For the hand-line itself I use standard 1/2” anchor rope with one side cleated to the boat and the other end with a loop knot. From there I like to use 1/16th galvanized wire, double crimped, to a 10/0 Mustad circle hook. Make sure to use a solid hook, as cheap hooks will bend and break. Take your time while your handling the fish and make sure to get the hook back so you can use it multiple times.
On this day, we caught 2 out of the 3 goliaths that we hooked. The biggest one of the day was brought in by Leah. She worked hard hand-lining the 200-lb monster all by herself. Ms. Judy got the second goliath with a little help from Leah. She wasn’t far behind with her 150-lb class fish. To add to the action, Leah had just hooked an amberjack and while fighting it, a goliath grouper came up and ate it! Leah was way underpowered and eventually the fish won the battle.
The boys on the trip were out-fished by the women, but they also were able to land some awesome fish, too. All in all, we had a 50-lb kingfish, Spanish mackerel, several amberjacks, and we got to see a huge school Jack crevalle come in and cause chaos in the water. The goal was to catch some solid fish, have a solid bite, and we did just that! The nonstop action made for an awesome trip with this group from Chicago. Give us a call if you are in the Anna Maria Island area and would like to go fishing!
Captain Philip Watson
941-226-1100