Large female Spotted Sea Trout were schooling up in the shallows a few weeks ago in March. We were using scaled sardines tossed into two feet of water with great results. I think the larger Sea Trout have learned to stay near the shallows and residential docks at night, giving them a little protection from Flipper. We were actually looking for Redfish on a recent trip when we found a large school of female Trout measuring up to 27 inches. I would like to see a maximum limit of 26 inches on Trout as these fish are all fat with roe.

Ahoy there, anglers,
I know I'm running late with this report, but have been working so much with the fish action in NE Florida doing so good this time of the year I really just haven't had time to write a new fishing report.

Check out Ryan Nadeau from Albany New York with his first kingfish while on Spring break at the Tortuga Inn Anna Maria Island. Ryan was fishing in about 45 ft offshore catching and releasing big gag grouper around 20 lbs, plus snapper. Then a king hit a flat-line using sardine.

Jason Fisher from Minnesota with his largest catch ever, showing off a fire truck red grouper caught using a sardine in about 93 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island.

Fishing with Capt Larry McGuire Show Me The Fish Charters; Operating out of the Beautiful Bradenton Beach Marina. Cell 941-720-6475

April beats to several Drums, such as Redfish and Black Drum, which are both related and are a lot of fun to catch in the spring and summer months. When and where to find them is a story in itself.

In April the Black Drum have already moved into Tampa Bay after the spawning ritual along the sand bars from the Skyway bridge to Pinellas Point. Redfish, on the other hand, are year-long residents of Tampa Bay and will hang around the mangrove islands, docks, oyster bars, and bridges.

Stan Brown and Kim Brown from Standish, Maine brought in Kim’s first Amberjack using a live pinfish at about 150 ft. offshore of Anna Maria Island. Kim and her party also caught more AJs, Grouper, and Snapper.

Judging by the temperature you may never know it’s still winter, and I believe even some fish are befuddled by the ups and downs of the temperature, but for most fish, they have been hungry and chewing, with some brief slowdowns when the mercury dropped on a cold front.

Here we were under the south Skyway pier watching the sunrise and chumming the greenies and threadfins for what we hoped to be a King’s day on the water. The bait was easy to catch and in just a short period of time we had a baitwell full of different size baits. Our goal was to hit the hard bottom off the Don Cesar resort and work our way towards the Rube Allyn reef, a hot spot for Kingfish and Spanish Mackerel.

Kim Brown, from Standish, Maine, caught her first Amberjack using a live pinfish in about 150 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Kim and her party also caught more AJs, Grouper and Snapper fishing.

Jim Mallo, from the Lakewood Ranch Fishing Club, caught and released a nice Gag Grouper using a sardine in about 125 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. The party caught and released more Gags and Goliath Grouper plus Red Grouper and Mangrove Snapper for the fish fry.

Roger Alviolette, from Pontiac, Michigan, caught a real nice Red Grouper using a sardine in about 125 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Roger and party caught more big Grouper and some Snappers on their trip.

8-year-old Makennah Tennimon, from Parrish Florida, landed a nice Bonnet Head Shark caught using a sardine in about 55 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Makenna held the Bonnet like a Barbie doll for a photo shoot before we safely released it. The party also caught and released many giant Gag Grouper, large Red Grouper and a few Snapper. The Grouper are so big and plentiful they are scaring off the Snapper and other reef fish from feeding.

Susie Weaver, from Atlanta, Georgia, assisted by first mate Capt Anthony Leverret caught and released a Gargantua Gag Grouper using a sardine in about 60 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Susie and party caught many more nice Gag and Red Grouper, plus Shark and a few Snapper
 

Fishing in Pine Island Sound has been as varied as the weather. When it gets warm the fish are on fire; when it cools they get lockjaw. Last month held three significant weather systems that kept the water stirred up and running up and down the thermometer. The fish haven’t established a “normal” pattern of feeding. Bear in mind this was last month and we should be on track for a phenomenal spring and summer season of fishing.

Just when you were starting to think that this abnormally warm weather was settling in and the new year was going to be a mild one, we’re hit with some colder than normal weather to balance it out. What’s ‘normal’ is a daytime high temperature about 70 degrees, and a low temperature of 54 degrees. However, these past couple of weeks have seen highs in the 70s and lows in the 70s, hardly normal for a January on the Suncoast. But nobody’s complaining.