Without a doubt, from the inshore to the offshore species, June offers it all for the nature coast angler. Migrating schools of tarpon, bruiser sized cobia, red fish on rocky points, and gag grouper season opens…
Red fish are going to kick off this forecast and there’s no better place to find them then on the various backcountry and outer rocky points. If you’ve never given the gold spoon a try, I suggest doing so for several reasons. With a spoon, you can cover a lot of water, they cast a mile, they’re relatively snagless around the rocks and they’re perfect for exploring new areas. The spoon is a great searching tool and when a red fish is hooked, you can bet that location will produce for future trips.
Grab the heavier tackle, some live pin fish and anchor up tide from your favorite cobia structure. The cobias are here in large numbers and channel markers, high profile rocks and wrecks, will be excellent locations for our early summer cobia. Also with gag grouper season opening, they are a welcomed bonus when your sending down that pinfish.
The much anticipated gag grouper season is now open until December 31st and also a very short recreational red snapper season. I suggest starting in the 40ft range and heading west from there. Live baits are always more productive during the summer months and spending the time to catch quality baits will prove to be very valuable while going offshore.
If you’re into variety shows, the bombing range or “foul area” between Crystal River and Homosassa will be to your liking. Using DOA cal shad tail and MirrOlure Lil’ John jigs on 1/8th oz jig heads will produce a multitude of species. Spanish mackerel, trout, grouper, sea bass, flounder, pompano, lady fish, blue fish, etc…are just some of the species that will keep you busy. The average depth is 5ft to 8ft of water and look for the “spotty bottom” of sand, rock and grass to put you in the right area.
The mighty tarpon is on location off Homosassa for these couple months and once again, many world class fly fishing anglers come to battle the silver king. The tarpon fishery to the south of Homosassa is noted fly fishing grounds, but there are several schools that can be targeted migrating north towards Crystal River.
As always, feel free to contact me with any other questions about the area. Good Fishing!