BACKCOUNTRY / BAY / INSHORE:
If you’re an inshore angler, this is your time of the year. The bays are full of bait and the bite is going off! Speckled trout are all over the grass flats in the bay. Target them in the early mornings near the banks in shallow water. After the sun gets higher in the sky, move to the grass in the 3- to 5-ft range using live bait, soft plastics, or suspending lures that target fish below the surface. Evenings are a great time to throw your favorite top water lure. Don’t forget that there are good numbers of redfish this year and they are going to be in the same places the trout are, but don’t neglect the docks for both as well. The bigger redfish are being caught in the pass and around the bridges on an out-going tide. Most live baits will do fine, but if you can come up with some small blue crabs, they may jump in the boat! Some really nice flounder are being caught around the sandy potholes and edges throughout the bay. Soft plastic grubs bounced along the bottom will do great, but live shrimp or bull minnows are the best live bait. Just about any dock, rock, or structure will hold sheepshead and mangrove snapper. Use a light weight bottom rig with a shrimp, crab, sand flea, or cut bait to get the bite. Tarpon are here and cruising the beach but are also showing up in the bay. If you are targeting them on the beach, try sight-fishing on and between the sandbars, that’s where they will be. A big live bait works great, but also large white soft plastic grubs work well, too. In the bay, look for them in the milky water on the tide lines.
OFFSHORE: The red snapper and grouper bite is on fire on the offshore wrecks and structure. Bottom rigs with live pinfish or cigar minnows will fill the box; frozen cut bait will work as well. Don’t forget that red snapper season closes on the 12th, so get it done soon! There are lots of trigger fish and amberjack being caught, but can’t be kept. There are plenty of king mackerel being caught trolling down the beach or flat lining live bait over the wrecks and buoys. Don’t forget to stop and check those weed lines for mahi and triple tail.
Get on the water and get those snapper while you still can and don’t forget the sunscreen! See you out there.
CAPT. DARYL SHUMATE
Liquid Native Charters
850-624-6968
Liquidnativecharters.com