By Tim Barefoot
You probably noticed my attempt at a little humor with that title—just what we need after a long closed season. In my personal view, the closure has been unnecessary, much like the situation with Atlantic red snapper. Many of us are simply trying to catch seabass and grunts for dinner, but we keep getting pushed off our favorite spots where red snapper and gags are abundant. Yet, these species are still considered endangered. I think you know where I stand on this topic, so I won’t dwell on it any further.
As warm water moves in closer to the beach, expect to find kingfish and cobia frequenting the same spots where you’re catching gags when the water temperature rises above 68°F. Always have a pitch rod ready as cobia may swim right up to the boat. However, don’t be surprised if you catch cobia while bottom fishing with a decor jig and an appealing bait. In fact, more cobia are often caught on the bottom than on the surface when anchored up and targeting grouper.
I’ve always said, “Find the bait, find the fish.” Go to all your familiar haunts with structure of one kind of another, whether it’s ledges, rock out crops, wrecks, etc. The bonus will be finding schools of cigar minnows and sardines on them. You don’t need to look any further when you find this combination of bait because the fish will be right there. It’s always a good idea to keep one person on the Sabiki jigging up. A live sardine or a live cigar on a decoy has a life expectancy of under ten seconds around any kind of fish. We try to never leave the marina without a couple boxes of frozen cigar minnows and live pinfish. That live pinfish can sometimes be the best selection of all because it’s too large for any of the trash bites.
Any kind of little snapper about the size of your hand makes for the ultimate bait. I’m no longer fishing for barely-legal gag or scamp. Instead, I’m looking for one good bite at a time. I’ll let that bait soak on the bottom and be patient waiting for the old man to show up. Don’t get me wrong, more fish have been caught on frozen cigar minnows and sardines than all the other baits combined, but a live one is simply irresistible to every grouper and/or snapper out there. Period. Nearly everything on the bottom will take a whack at it, but only the fish with the correct sized mouth can eat that small snapper. Because the creel limits are so low, you’ll easily reach your grouper limit. Once you have, it’s wise to take advantage of other species like vermilions, mangroves, grunts and seabass.
In addition to all the other stuff on the bottom, it’s always good to keep a light line out for kings, blackfin, wahoo and dolphin. It’s not a bad idea to keep one under a float (so you can keep an eye on it) and another one without a float, but you have to be mindful of that bait getting back into props or under the boat tangling other lines.
If you’re anchoring and not just using the trolling motor, it’s a great idea to fly the kite. Keep a couple baits suspended with little to no leader in the water. Live greenies, cigs or sardines under the kite is the ultimate presentation. You can even get away with fluorocarbon using circle hooks depending on the current. Don’t hesitate to put a bait out with a small amount of weight in front of it to get it down 30 to 50 feet behind the boat. This will get you that large wahoo bite.
There are so many options available this time of year in the warmer water, so be ready to take advantage of all of them once you fill your cooler with one species or another. This is the ideal time to broaden your approach and become skilled in targeting not only different types of snapper and grouper, but also pelagics.
MAY you find calm seas, tight lines and delicious dinners this month!
Learn more from Tim Barefoot at barefootcatsandtackle.com.
