The start of our tropical season has already been a wet one. August’s heat and humidity is usually a great time for me to take a pause in offshore fishing. We usually try to catch up on maintenance and get ready for my favorite months to fish deep: September and October.
If you do venture out deep, the floaters are producing tuna, mahi and marlin. The white marlin fishing to our east, around the Desoto Canyon areas, should start in earnest with multiple shots of the smallest most acrobatic of the marlin family. The whites will make you think you have rubber hooks more often than not with their tendency to come unbuttoned after a hookup. Pulling smaller lures with ballyhoo on the grass lines and bottom contours is the norm.
The tuna bite at the oil rigs has become more predictable with live bait and chunking taking their fair share. Being out there at daybreak or dusk this time of year is usually best. To help keep cool, I will be trolling mostly trying to keep a breeze flowing through the cockpit.
Tight lines,
Captain Mark Smith. Subdude Charters