CRYSTAL RIVER
Summer heat
August is one of the hottest months of the year, but it can still be a great time to get out on the water and enjoy some family fun. Scalloping and fishing are the two most popular activities and they go hand in hand. The hot weather has the redfish, pushed out to the very outside islands, where they can easily be found on the afternoon high tides. My favorite rig for summer time redfish has been 3 feet of 30lb leader with a 3/0 circle hook and a 1/8 ounce egg sinker, with a chunk of cut bait or a half of a large pinfish, pitched to the up current side, of a point that shows good mullet activity.
The scalloping has been awesome so far this year in 3 to 7 feet of water on the grass flats, west of Ozello and south of Gomez rocks. Reports have been that the further south you go towards the St Martins keys area, the more scallops there are to be found. Do remember that the limit on scallops is two gallons per person, or no more then ten gallons per boat. per day.
On the offshore front, many guys are enjoying the hot mangrove snapper bite, as the mangrove snapper are gathering up to spawn on the August full moon. Chumming around rock piles and wrecks in 40 to 90 feet of water, will get the snapper fired up, and ready to feed, with the average size being 15 to 22 inches long. I typically opt to free-line small live pinfish into the chum slick, to fool the biggest of the snappers. Always have a stinger rig at the ready for a kingfish while chumming.
So, whether it is scalloping, inshore, or offshore fishing, there is plenty to do on the water in the middle of summer’s heat.