Capt. Rick Davidson (grassflats2@yahoo.com), Editor
To quote the Association-everyone knows it's windy. March has been one of the more challenging in recent history with regard to weather. It seems like much of the spring has been under small craft advisories, especially the weekends. Even with the opening seasons for trout and grouper, the weather kept many of us looking for other activities. Capt. Tommy Thompson and I honed our skeet skills on several weekends, but we also felt frustrated enough to take things into our own hands on one occasion, as Tommy writes in his report. I did have one inshore trip, taking Gary Lastition from Leesburg out early in the month when the water temperature was just transitioning. It took us a while to figure out the pattern, but we finally ended up with a good trophy trout and several nice redfish. The river continued to hold smallish trout and provided the only safe haven on at least two weekends this month. In spite of the challenge, a 6-pound trout was weighed in by Rich Hall from Suwannee, Georgia and is in the current lead in the March Madness Trout Contest. When boats could get offshore, most stayed in the shallower areas and scored with bottom fishing. Even the sheepshead bite, which usually has hit full stride by now, is late in arriving, but as you can see below there have been some very good catches. Luckily, we should have a great month ahead of us.
APRIL 2009 FISHING FORECAST
Tournament time is here! There's a reason that most of the tournaments in our area are held in April and May. The water temperatures are moderate, the pelagic (Spanish mackerel, kingfish and cobia) are arriving following schools of baitfish, and after lying around much of the winter, inshore and offshore fish are hungry and aggressive. Some of our captains have already seen schools of baitfish arriving and Spanish have already been caught. Trolling with jigs or small spoons around schools of baitfish, or chumming on some of the offshore bars (like 9-Mile Bank) will provide you with some excellent action. Just don't forget a 12-inch section of wire leader, or you'll be looking at a lot of cut-offs. Keep a live bait or large jig rod available for quick casts if a cobia shows up in your chum line. Just a little farther offshore, kingfish will be available along with an excellent grouper bite. Hopefully the floating grass will be minimal, which will allow trolling with lipped plugs, a very efficient way to cover large areas of live bottom. And there's a good chance that sheepshead will be hanging around, at least until 'tax day'.
Trout and redfish will definitly be on the flats as the grass begins to grow again and pinfish move back into their summer accommodations. For trout, remember to find areas of spotty bottom (mixed sand and grass) and fish any sandy potholes in shallower water with topwater plugs, or jigs, artificial or live shrimp under the popping cork of your choice. Redfish will be schooling around structure outside of creek mouths, on grassy points, and in deeper rockpiles. Tater Island to Pepperfish has been the best recent area with many schools of redfish already being seen. Gold spoons, topwater plugs, small crankbaits or spinner baits will all provide you with some good action.
To help you plan ahead, here's a list of Steinhatchee tournaments over the next two months.
It's a busy spring tournament season ahead, so make sure to put these on your calendar. All support great causes, so be generous with your time and let's catch some fish!
April 4: Steinhatchee Community Tournament (weigh-in at Steinhatchee Community Center)
April 18: Mel Tillis Fishing Tournament http://www.fishingwithmel.com/
April 25: Relay for Life Tournament (benefits the American Cancer Society; weigh-in at Sea Hag Marina and Keaton Beach Marina)
May 2: Perry Optimist Club Saltwater Tournament (weigh-in at Sea Hag Marina and Keaton Beach Marina)
May 15 & 16th: Doug Johnson and Donnie Young Reeling for Kids Celebrity Fishing Tournament (benefits Boys and Girls Club of Alachua County) http://www.reelingforkids.com/
May 23: Big Bend Redfish Club (weigh-in at Sea Hag Marina)
The Sea Hag Marina is also hosting several Xtreme Redfish Series events, on May 23, June 6, July 11 and August 1.
The next two months are the best all-around fishing of the year, so make your plans early. And remember, for everything you need on the water, make sure you come to the Ship's Store at the Sea Hag Marina. We've got everything you need-including the best guides in the area. Here are some of their reports.
Captain Tommy Thompson, www.saltwateranglersguide.com (352) 284-1763
Those numbers on my Kestrel wind meter are KNOTS, meaning that Rick and I were wade-fishing in LOTS of wind. In fact, when the waves started breaking over the backs of our waders, we packed up and went home! I missed a couple of weekends of fishing in March due to speaking at the Sarasota Florida Sportsman Show and at the Miller's Boating Center Show in Ocala, but both weekends were windy, as was most of the month. I did wade fish the day before this adventure, and did catch some nice trout, to 4-1/2-pounds, on topwaters.
I did have a good day with Dr. Doug Barrett and we caught some nice 'gator' trout and big reds on topwater plugs. Seems that the lower tides are the best this time of year, so get your boat as close to shore as you can.
My new fishing book, The Saltwater Angler's Guide To Florida's Big Bend and Emerald Coast, is finally out and on sale. It's got LOTS of secrets, tips and trick, so don't forget to pick up a copy at the Sea Hag Ship's Store the next time you're at the marina.
If you're interested in a 'catch-and-release hunting for big fish' trip, please give me a call. And if you're interested in some more in-depth information about fishing our beautiful Big Bend, take a look at my weekly Fishing4Cast on the Florida Sportsman Magazine website at http://www.floridasportsman.com/4cast/bb/index.html or at the Florida Sportsman Big Bend Action Spotter column in each month's issue.
Captain Steve Rassell, www.lastcastrass.com , (352) 359-5902
Windy but good fishing. Big trout are appearing on the flats in shallow water and large schools of smaller trout are showing up on the deeper flats. Redfish action continues to be good with a few bulls being found on the deeper flats.
Captain Steve Hart, www.legallimitscharters.com (352) 498-0299
March as seemed like a long month, waiting for April and Grouper season to open fully. While we could not really fish for Grouper, As you can see in the pictures March did provide some great days of Florida Sapper, Sea Bass, Sheephead and the excitement of some great Amberjack fights. April should be a great month, Grouper season will be open Sheephead should still be around and as the water warms you will start to see Cobia and Kings. If you are looking for a fun day and some great eating you always have the option of Florida Snapper and Sea Bass. Remember that this year we have two great boats to offer you along with the ability to customize the trip to your needs and budget with everything from Scallop trips, near shore and offshore, so give us a call.
Captain Brian Smith, www.bigbendcharters.com
While waiting for the grouper season to open up, we've been dabbling with sheepshead, Florida snapper and black sea bass. The sheepshead have yet to turn on strong. We've caught some very nice fish with each attempt, which was great fun on trout tackle, but there hasn't been the super bite like last year. Perhaps, in the next couple of weeks the bite will improve. The weather has been odd this spring.
We've caught big 'hump-head' sea bass in 25-30' using anything for bait. The crazy fish will hit a cotton ball tangled on a hook. There is quite a bit of sorting to get a good mess of keepers but the constant action, mixing in some Florida snapper, makes for a fun day on the water and ends with one fine fish fry. Sea bass and Florida snapper are good eats.
When the conditions are calm enough, bait pods are beginning to show offshore within sight of the tree line. That translates to Spanish and kingfish action coming up from the south. Bait pods are the smell of bacon and fresh coffee in the morning.
