Dockside Store Fishing Report (posted 3/17/08)
Inshore:
Spring is in the air and the fishing is fine. Near-shore and Intracoastal anglers have been encountering fantastic sheephead and redfish action. Jack Creavelle, pompano and bluefish have also been plentiful around area bridges and deeper channels. A sure way to hook up on a hard-fighting jack or bluefish is to drift a free-lined, live pinfish underneath a bridge. Just cast out toward the fender system and drift with the tide, and you’ll soon be battling one of these hard fighters. Sheephead, redfish, pompano and flounder can all be caught on a live shrimp or a shrimp-tipped jig. Nicole and Brendan (from the Dockside Store) took a morning off and caught blues, jacks, ladyfish and trout on the deeper drop offs in the Intracoastal in Little Blackburn Bay. Nicole even snagged a flounder and exclaimed, “I can’t believe I caught it. . .that was a real fluke!”
Offshore:
Grouper season is open again (starting March 15) and in-between fronts packed with too much wind, anglers are finding that big red and gag grouper and snapper are plentiful on offshore reefs and ledges. If you can find some cleaner water, trolling for king mackerel, Spanish mackerel and cobia is an option. Spoons behind planers and big-lipped plugs will take their share. Cobia have been showing up anywhere from 3-30 miles out – the action has been hit or miss. Farther offshore, amberjack are thick on the artificial reefs and an occasional wahoo or blackfin tuna might even surprise anglers. Water temperature is warming, days are longer and it’s a great time to get out on the water and spend some time fishing!
Hope to see you soon at Dockside Store!
--Brendan & Nicole Coudal
Nicole with her keeper-size flounder just before release.