Capt. Philip Watson
July is here and we are either in dead hot days or in the middle of a hurricane, so choose your day wisely and get back to the dock before the afternoon thunderstorms come in. For offshore fishing, July usually requires longer runs. The hotter it gets the deeper you want to go, but there should be plenty of fish for the taking. Red grouper, gag grouper, and red snapper are all open at the same time!
Red Snapper Season for the Federal Gulf coast is June 1- August 2 for For-Hire Vessels and June 11-August 2 for Recreational Vessels. Most of these trips you want to start in at least 120’ of water. Typically, the deeper you go the bigger the fish. These snapper typically eat with the moon phases. During the full moon and new moon, it may be a tougher bite than in the middle of a cycle; fishing the right stack of fish should produce a healthy box to take home.
Our opening day trip this year was great. We had an 8 hour with Matt and his crew of 3. Bait was a little tough in the morning, but our pinfish traps caught just enough for the day. The first drop was in 130’ and before our baits even hit the bottom it was Game On! First three fish in the boat were 22” of red grouper followed by a couple healthy red snapper. Soon after, the sharks showed up and the bite slowed down so we started to move a little deeper. Next stop was 145’ where we picked up a Beast of a Red Grouper measuring at 35” and about 28lbs along with a few more red snapper. Being 2 fish short of each limit I moved us 3 miles east and we quickly put 2 red grouper in the boat with another 4 keepers released, while we worked on our final 2 snappers. All in all, it was an awesome day with a crew who could really put some meat in the box!
As of right now we still have many days to fill in July, so if your interested in a charter either half day or full day please do not hesitate to reach out. We would love to take you fishing.
Just Kickin Back Charters · Anna Maria Island
941-226-1100 · www.justfishfl.com
