HOMOSASSA – August Fishing Report
It’s still toasty out there from the summer heat. Keep cool by spending some time in the water with the family, scalloping or leaving the dock early and taking advantage of the morning bite, especially for the inshore species.
The grouper action in August is typically good, but the majority of the fish are still offshore a bit – 40 to 60 feet. However, next month the grouper will be migrating to shallower water. The 20 to 40-foot range will start holding more keeper-sized gags, and they will be more aggressive in the coming weeks. Spend the time catching some quality live baits; pinfish, sand perch, porgies and grunts are grouper candy. It is usually said with grouper, “The bigger the bait, the bigger the fish.” Over the last couple of weeks, the biggest gags have definitely preferred big live baits, or soaking a freshly cut grunt head.
The full moon of August is the time to target mangrove snapper. Any structure from the shallow rocks to offshore ledges will be holding large concentration of mangros. Once anchored up on your location, spend a little time chumming, and getting the snapper in a feeding mood. Use the lightest weight leader possible, and free-line a live shrimp with a minimal amount of weight. This is really fun fishing, and you can catch everything from snapper, grunts, grouper, mackerel, flounder, etc.
The major moon periods of August bring large schools of red fish, and they will be holding on the outer limestone bottom keys from Chassahowitzka, to the spoil islands North of Crystal River. This is the time when it’s very possible to catch the largest red fish of the year, and many fish encountered will be in excess of 30 inches. Cut baits such as fresh mullet are always a favorite, as well as lady fish. Artificial lures such as soft plastic jerk baits and “walk the dog” type plugs can be very rewarding at sun-up
“depending on the floating grass” and always watch for mullet activity and an incoming tide is best.
The best bet for the trout bite right now, is to head west. The spotty bottom in the 10-foot depth range west of marker #2, will hold of a variety of species. Trout, sea bass, flounder, lady fish, sharks, etc., will keep the rods bent. Lately, the trout have preferred the dragging technique which consists of casting your jig into the wind, or the opposite side the boat is drifting, and letting the boat-drift do the work. This is a summertime technique that is extremely effective. Slow twitches and letting the jig fall slowly, is all that’s needed for a proper presentation. DOA shrimp or cal shad tail jigs on a 1/8oz jig head in the holographic root beer and glow colors are my got to baits.
Good Fishing!