Code Red

by Capt. James Vadas

Fishing around Anna Maria Island has been great! We have been catching a ton of mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel and grouper. I have been fishing the artificial reefs, mostly on the south side of Tampa Bay and Egmont Key. The weather can be volatile this time of year so, if the weather is questionably safe to allow going offshore in the Gulf, we can stay inside of Tampa Bay with a bunch of great fishing spots and the ability to see a storm moving in from a distance to prevent being cut off with no safe route around the storm. Except there was this one time. Well, I’ve been caught in a storm quite a few times, but I fish almost every day in a tropical climate so that’s a part of life. Paying attention to the storm clouds moving in every direction is important. I was fishing with a family of 4 a few miles east of the skyway bridge on a recent trip. We noticed storm clouds building to the north of us. However, we got a little distracted by the awesome fishing. The dad reeled in a nice cobia and as he held the fish up for a picture, I noticed the whole Skyway Bridge was gone, completely covered with storm clouds. I said, “Wow great fish! We gotta go now!” Almost immediately pouring rain, fierce winds, thunder, and lightning. I had zero visibility, using only GPS to navigate towards a small bridge on the causeway to take shelter. My guests are huddled right next to me under the T-top. The mom overheard me praying while I was driving the boat. She said, “Should I be worried that you’re praying?” I said, “No, not at all. I prayed for you all to catch a bunch of fish before your charter and you did, so I’m sure we will be ok.” I parked the boat under the bridge and called my partner Captain Scott check in with him we were safe. Scott was just a few miles away. He got caught in the same storm and didn’t see it coming because he was fishing right next to the mangroves in Miguel Bay, without a vantage point to see the storm. So please make it a point to keep your eye on the weather moving in every direction and have all the marine safety equipment aboard, especially an EPIRB, GPS, or some kind of emergency satellite location device. I have an ACR ResQlink; it retails for $349 and does not require any subscription.

October is a great time for fishing redfish. It’s a beautiful copper and gold-colored fish with a spot or spots on its tail, also known as a red drum. They can be found nose down, tailing in the murky ankle-deep backwater or near the passes, wherever there’s food, water clarity and salinity don’t bother these fish. Huge schools of spawning redfish have been spotted from the air near Anna Maria Island. They will spawn a few times out in the Gulf between September and November. Redfish do not migrate, they remain here all year. I always look for schools of mullet when targeting redfish, as they seem to hang out together. Redfish seem to bite better on a falling tide. We use cut bait ladyfish, mullet, crabs, or live pinfish. Some of the artificial baits include pumpkin seed color soft plastic or a gold spoon. They are an absolute blast to catch! They pull hard and will test your tackle. The bigger redfish are nicknamed “Bulls”. When you hook one, you’ll know why. Tight lines and God bless.