By: Capt. Philip Watson
The thought of fall is coming into frame. August is right in the peak of the shallower red grouper fishing. The bulk of these fish will hold in 85’-115’ of water getting fat for their spawn when the water cools down. Big dead baits usually do the trick but don’t shy away from live baits like your pinfish, pigfish, and white baits. Most of these fish will be under bait stacks, with some stacks holding many fish. Don’t be surprised to catch 5-10 fish on a spot but be sure to move if you’re not seeing grouper, they will eat your bait quick if they are there.
This month’s trip high light was with Shayne and his boys. I’ve fished this family for a number of years now and each trip gets better and better. We set out on our 6-hour charter with a stiff east wind which made the ride out a little bumpier than we would like, but lets face it this summer has been just plain windy out there. After the bumpy battle we finally settled in 90’ of water, where we met with some hungry Mangrove and Lane snapper. Shayne mentioned how some keeper grouper would really make his wife happy, so we pulled anchor and cruised about a mile to some hard bottom and picked up 6 health fish with 2 scratching 30 inches! Withing the grouper madness Charlie hooks and lands a 6-7’ nurse shark, by him self mainly. What an awesome catch for a 12-year-old.
Fishing has been great and season is starting to wind down and we do have some openings, for the last half of august and all of September we will only be running 4- and 6-hour fishing trips.
Just Kickin Back Charters
Anna Maria Island, FL
Captain Philip Watson