Tome Opincar from Nashville, Tennessee, caught his first Cobia and a very nice one at that, using a pinfish in about 130 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Tome's party also caught Red Grouper to 25 lbs, lots of Amberjacks, Blacktip and Spinner Sharks up to 6 ft.

Bob Barnett landed a nice Kingfish using a sardine on a flatline while his party was catching lots of Grouper.

Richard Winston of Bradenton snagged the largest Red Grouper of his lifetime. Richard was using a sardine in about 130 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island when he hooked onto the monster. Richard's party also caught more Grouper, Snapper, Amberjacks, Blacktip and Spinner Sharks up to 6 ft.

Karen Decker from Orlando was showing her sons how to fish when she caught a nice Amberjack in about 115 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island using a butterfly jig. Jason Decker caught and released his first amberjack, and 10-year-old Sean Decker was proud of a nice Amberjack he caught using a butterfly jig.

Bob Wilson from Ft. Myers used a sardine to attract a very nice red grouper in 145 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. 
 

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.

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.

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
 

Chuck Bismark from Bradenton, with Capt Anthony Leverett assisting, caught and carefully released (to fight another day) a Goliath Grouper. We were using sardines on 80 lb test in about 125 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island when the monster hit. This guy weighed approximately 130 lbs, which is still considered small as this grouper grows up to 800 lbs locally. The Lakewood Ranch Fshing Club also caught red grouper up to 20 lbs and and released some big gags plus tasty mangrove snapper.

Chuck Walker from Bradenton with a trophy red grouper he caught using a sardine in about 125 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Chuck also caught more grouper and some nice mangrove snappers. Fishing with the Lakewood Ranch Fshing Club.

Fred Comley from Dayton, Ohio, with a beautiful red firetruck red grouper he caught using a sardine in about 120 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Fred and family also caught many more red and gag grouper plus mangrove snapper while on vacation fishing with Capt Larry McGuire.

Capt Larry McGuire and Anthony Leverett from Bradenton Beach with two nice cobia we caught using live pinfish in about 120 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. We also caught lots of large gag and red grouper, scamp, and some huge mangrove snapper On Show Me The Fish Charters, operating out of the beautiful Bradenton Beach Marina.

Fred Comley from Dayton Ohio with a beautiful firetruck red grouper he caught using a sardine in about 120 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island. Fred and family also caught many more red and gag grouper plus mangrove snapper while on vacation fishing with Capt Larry McGuire Show Me The Fish Charters, operating out of the Bradenton Beach Marina

Megan Danes (left) and Megan Kasper with a summer smoker kingfish. The big king hit a sardine on a flatline while we were catching grouper and snapper. The ladies took turns fighting the the big mack along with Nathan Danes finishing the fight.

Pictured below: Nanci Grimes with a really nice gag grouper she caught using a pinfish in about 60 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island.  Her party caught more gag and red grouper plus snappers.

11-year-old Zachary Ashby from Brandon, FL landed his first Grouper ever. What a catch! We were fishing in about 140 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island using a live pinfish. I put a rod in the rod holder for Zach. I knew the Grouper here on this honey hole were too large for most big men to handle, so I had his bait about 6 ft above the bottom to give him a better chance with a bad boy. When the gangster gag hit he was so strong I had to pull line through the guides so Zach could reel him in, fighting all the way up in the rod holder.

And there it is. I love helping the youth and the ladies catch the largest and the most fish and they usually do. The party, including Zach's dad, Bob Ashby, also caught more Grouper, Snapper, and sharks.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve fished both coasts of Central Florida. Last week you would have found me in Jensen Beach fishing the CCA Inter-Chapter Challenge out of River Palm Cottages and Fish Camp, hosted by owner, Capt. Rufus Wakeman and his wife, Melinda, followed by the DOA Outdoor Writer‘s Festival, held by Capt. Mark Nichols, owner of DOA Lures, hosted at the same location. Over 100 anglers from around the state competed for bragging rights for the top CCA chapter who bested the rest by catching the largest over-all Grand Slam, (snook, trout, and redfish), with the Martin County Chapter repeating their victory of last year.