Capt. Philip Watson
May is here and this is one of my favorite months to fish. Fishing is wide open right now. Kings are still here, the black fins are thick, and the Permit are chewing on the offshore wrecks. Red grouper bottom is very active with keeper sized grouper, lanes, vermilions, and even some bonus yellowtails!
Snapper of all kinds are fired up this month and will continue a solid bite all summer long. My favorite species of snapper to target are the flag yellowtail snapper we have on our deep wrecks and springs. Tampa Bay area isn’t typically known for yellowtail fishery, but we sure have some big ones out there. Chumming is the key to catching these is fish in numbers. You need to chum them all the way to the top. The tax man will make an easy meal out of these fish if you don’t get them high enough in the water column. I use a heavy action 7’6 rod paired with a 6500 or 7500 reel. You just have to lock the drag down and get the fish to the boat. We get many fish in the 22”-25” range with some even going 27’.
This month, our highlights were with Mark Graves and his crew. The first day was a 4-hour charter for the family where we caught many Key West grunts, scamp grouper, gag grouper, porgies, and even a small cobia. The kids had a great time and the 7-year-old was particularly impressed with the amount of fish brought over the rail.
The second trip highlights an 8-hour guys trip with Mark and two other friends. We started the trip with a nice lane snapper and vermillion bite with nothing consistent happening with red grouper. After making a move a little deeper and little more south we were able to hook some nice fire truck red grouper in the boat. Many memories and many laughs later, we sent Mark and the guys home with 4 separate gallon-sized bags full of fish! Give us a call! We’ll do the same for you!
Just Kickin Back Charters
Captain Philip Watson
941-226-1100
