By: Capt. Greg Poland
It may still be the dog days of summer but fall is right around the corner and it should start to cool off soon. The Bimini top I had installed on the new Contender has been worth its weight in gold, and honestly, I can’t believe I had not done it sooner. I fish around and under so many bridges that a hard T-Top would never work, but this removable Bimini is something I will always have on my boats in the future. This summer I have been spending a lot of time fishing for snapper on the reefs and around the local area backwaters and have been having a lot of success. My go to outfit is a 7ft 15-20lb spin rod with a long fluorocarbon leader and a sinker about 10ft away from the hook. I use a swivel to keep the sinker from sliding and find this gives the live bait a chance to swim around while being anchored to the bottom. My hook of choice is a 4/0 or 5/0 circle hook. If catching a snapper for supper is not your game head over to the Florida Everglades area where the snook fishing has been steady and there have been some big black drum around as well. I like to use the same tackle as the snapper fishing if using a live pinfish or pilchard. If you are casting a shrimp use a jighead and bounce it along the bottom near a mangrove shoreline and I bet you will get a strike. If you do head to the Glades at sunrise you might even find some tarpon rolling around and they are always happy to eat a live bait under a cork or a fly which is one of my favorite ways to fish for them this time of year. See you out on the water… Capt. Greg
