by Capt. Bart Marx
August in Charlotte Harbor is hot, so make sure you have coolant for your anglers on board. This time of year, it is great to have a bimini top for shade or a T-top. In the afternoon when the sea breeze kicks in, there is a span of time when there is still humid air that is tough to handle, so shade, water, and a breeze made with your boat under way, can save the day. In the area of the ICW there are large schools of pin fish that will attract the redfish. They are search for food in preparation to spawn in the Gulf. This is a great time to bring your fly rod, to cast a pin fish pattern fly, to hook up and do battle with one of the Pit Bull Redfish, as Mark Sosin has named our Charlotte Harbor strain of reds. There will be snook that have spawned and working their way back to their general living quarters. They will be hungry and trying to regain their strength. There will be tarpon wandering up into the harbor searching for food also, searching for bait like threadfins, or ladyfish schools. You can spot schools of bait watching for terns diving or seagulls picking up scraps or anchovies.
Out close to the Gulf there will be plenty of mangrove snapper to target. Some anglers like to drift the passes with shrimp or white bait to harvest these great table fare fish. The by-catch may be red or gag grouper drifting. There may be lots of fishing line on the bottom, so be alert as to how close you drift your bait to the bottom. Offshore, red grouper in the 70 to 90-foot range and you may even find some gags as well. Typically, red grouper will eat cut bait and gags will eat live, not a hard rule. We like to use sand perch / squirrel fish and you can catch them in the 40 to 50-foot range on your way out, using smaller rigs with squid or shrimp for bait. As you harvest the baits you have some that may not survive in the live well. They go in the cooler for cut bait. The live ones you use for the gag. Hook one of these baits in the tail section and keep them about three feet off the bottom, this is like candy to them. And the ones in the cooler cut in chunks and sit on the bottom for the reds. On some of the closer reefs is where you could find some nice mangrove snapper and yellow tails.
If you would like to go along with Capt. Bart Marx give me a call or e-mail captbart@alphaomegacharters.com Singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{