The offshore fishing is hot like our weather right now. The first day of August brought Amberjack back in season and they ready to fight. I recommend to go tonight for a night time mangrove snapper trip for a hot summer night, but a lot cooler than the day time. We will be coming off the full moon and snappers usually bite the best during this time and August is one of the peak months for mango's. Plus no telling what else you might tie into at night. Always keep a flatline deployed behind the boat for our pelagic species like a wahoo, blackfin tuna, cobia, summer time smoker kings and even …

Offshore of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key our parties are catching a wide variety of species. On our full day trips we are catching limits of fire truck red grouper. With the limit of 4 per person that's a serious meat trip. But there's more than just red grouper, we are catching monster mangrove snappers, yellowtail snappers, blackfin tuna, cobia. kingfish. spanish mackerel, amberjacks, big sharks, barracudas, porgy's and triggerfish. Best bet for the big grouper and amberjacks is go deep starting around 125 feet out to 170 feet for the monsters. Start out with cut bait to get the party…

There's fantastic fishing offshore this month. The weather is beautiful for this time of the year and we have had some great catches on Show Me The Fish Charters operating out of the Bradenton Beach Marina and fishing out of a custom 31-foot Morgan Sport fisherman. My parties are catching bone-bruising amberjack, red grouper, scamp, mangrove snappers, porgys, triggerfish, sea bass, Bonita [little tunnys] blacktip sharks up to 5 feet and an abundance of catch and release of gag grouper. The best action is offshore of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key starting out in depths of about 115 feet. …

Capt. Rick Grassett of the Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service Inc. reported that anglers might find bluefish, Spanish mackerel and pompano on the deep grass flats this month. “The techniques, lures and flies are all the same as when trout fishing, drifting and casting ahead of the drift,” he said. “Blues and Spanish mackerel may be breaking on the surface and pompano may skip on the surface when you get close to them making them easier to find.” Garssett adds 6 inches of 60-pound fluorocarbon leader to help prevent bite offs when toothy fish are around. “Most blues and mackerel don’t bite through…

Capt. Ray Markham said anglers will need to find clean water in areas such as the mouth of the Manatee River and Tampa Bay, backwaters, Joe Bay, Terra Ceia Bay, Miguel Bays and Palma Sola Bay. The past two weeks winds and rain have muddied the water. The water temperature, on average, has dropped from about 92 degrees to 80 around midday. Markham, an artificials specialist, has found success with highly visible colors – bright charteuse, glow in the dark, and silk chartreuse are examples. He also recommends DOA shrimps worked somewhat slowly, Eppinger gold spoons and the new MirrOlure …

SALTWATER SCENE With water temperatures on the flats hitting around 92 degrees, the nighttime bite is a good option, according to Capt. Andy Cappar. Although snook are out of season, targeting them for some catch-and-release action around dock lights can be productive. Snook have spawned off the passes and beaches and slowly have begun to move back into the bays. Some bigger linesiders will come into the bays by November and the snook move into the backcountry for warmer, protection waters during the winter. Capt. Andy Cappar said trout also are biting well in the mornings, and redfish are …

Capt. Tom Chaya of Anna Maria Fishing Charters out of Catchers Marina on Anna Maria Island said Spanish mackerel have begun to show up thick one-to-five miles off the beaches, around piers and on deep grass flats. He said trout are around, but anglers will have to fight through smaller ones to get legal ones. Chaya said to look for the edges of bars on low tides in Terra Ceia Bay, off Emerson Point and in Miguel Bay for the best action on redfish. He is still waiting for the big, breeder redfish to show up. “We’re catching some each day but the massive schools haven’t shown yet,”  he said. …

Capt. Warren Girle reported he has had a great top-water bite on trout recently. The best bite has been from 6 to 11 a.m. over "cotton ball" bottom (with sand holes surrounded by turtle grass) in north Sarasota Bay. He was walking the dog with Sebile 4-inch plugs in a clear greenback color. Girle said he also has had success wading extremely low tides ith Mr. Twister golden bream jigs. "If you're coming off any bar that's dried up basically you go to your first pothole toward deeper water and fish are in there real, real thick -- snook and a lot of reds," he said. Capt. T.J. Stewart of Cast …

Capt. Larry McGuire of Show Me the Fish Charters reported his anglers this week were catching lots of enormous red grouper. In addition he had catches of amberjack, mangrove and yellowtail snappers, porgys, big sharks and even a kingfish. “We are even catching and carefully releasing lots of gag grouper and red snappers without even targeting," them because the season is closed, McGuire said. He added live and cut bait is all working well.  But he said anglers need to head to deep water. “I recommend to go deep in this summer heat and start out in 125 feet to 150 feet for those big red …

Capt. Ray Markham of Backwater Promotions said that for more than 30 years, he has used a pair of jigs tied up in tandem called the Love’s Lures Tandem Jig with good success and has caught a wide assortment of fish with them. “I’ve varied the original rig by tying up my own rigs using an assortment of jig weights with CAL Curly tails,” he said. “The different weights will control the speed of the fall of the rig. This way, I have better control in fishing different depths, but they work the same way.” Case in point -- last week, Timmy Meeks, of Bartow, with his seven-year old son Alex and his…

Capt. Larry McGuire reported that offshore action has been exceptional the past six weeks with American red snapper season open. On Show Me The Fish Charters running out in a custom 31-foot Morgan Sportfish anglers are catching red, mangrove and yellowtail snappers along with firetruck red grouper up to 25 pounds, mahi mahi, porgys, big sharks, barracudas, catch-and-release gag grouper and amberjack. Working depths from 125-to-160 feet offshore of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key, live and cut bait are producing, he said. "On one trip, the catch of the day went to 12-year-old Rocky Finerty …

Many anglers have heard the term “match the hatch,” and that’s exactly what Capt. Rick Gross of the charter boat Fishy Business out of Catchers Marina on Anna Maria Island has been using with success. Many captains are reporting they’re having a hard time netting bait, but Gross said he just makes due with what is available — the small stuff. And he said it’s paid off for a mixed bag from Terra Ceia Bay to three-mile reefs for redfish, mangrove snapper, flounder, Spanish mackerel, silver and speckled trout, sharks and snook. “It takes me 10 minutes to catch bait,” Gross said. “You can go to …

Snook fishing reportedly is picking up in the passes, and free-lining white bait has been one of the best options. Trout also are in the passes and off the beaches, along with the snook. Slot-sized redfish tended to have been sluggish before rains last week cooled water temperatures. Anna Maria Island Capt. Warren Girle said redfish have been biting well in north Sarasota Bay.  “There’s been four grouper of 50-75 fish there right now,” he said. “A lot of oversized fish. Some nice tournament fish the other day.” Girle on Friday caught a ton of trout, mixed in with bluefish, ladyfish and …

Capt. T.J. Stewart of Cast Away Charters said redfish action continues to be slow, and he’s hoping for summertime rainfall to cool the waters and spark a hot redfish bite. Redfish typically get sluggish in hot water temperatures. Surface water temperatures on the flats have eclipsed 90 degrees in some places. A bit of rain, coupled with next week’s new moon and fast tides, could drop water temperatures a few degrees and get the reds feeding once again. Look for these two conditions to lines up to really target the reds. Try sinking an artificial such as a Berkley Gulp bait or a quarter-…

With exceedingly hot water temperatures, any tips to help catch fish can be the difference between a skunked day or an ice box full of fillets. Here one for freshwater fishing: Capt. Doc Lee, a freshwater fly-fishing guide on Lake Evers by Jiggs Landing, said when fishing a freshwater lake or river, and the water is still, look for bubbles coming off the bottom. “That spot means there’s the bottom has debris or some sort of structure giving off gas,” Lee said. “Normally fish are holding on that structure like bluegill, shellcracker, speckled perch or catfish.” He recommends fishing early …

Capt. Warren Girle on Anna Maria Island said there are acres of tarpon daisy-chaining 30 miles offshore as they spawn during the full moon. Expect the silver kings to return hungry by Monday and Tuesday. There are still scattered tarpon on the beaches as well. Inshore, Girle said redfish are scattered.  “There are no real big schools to speak of,” Girle said, “but if you’re fishing mullet schools on high water or underneath mangroves on a real high tide and around oyster beds, you should do well.” Girle said there are tons of trout in 3-5 feet of water, along with ladyfish, Spanish mackerel …

Jim Eliason from Discount Tackle Outlet said anglers have reported seeing quite a few cobia passing over reefs and rock piles 5-7 miles offshore. He said the mangrove snapper have been cooperating for anglers from the rock piles and pilings at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to the 7-mile reefs. Mangrove snapper typically invade these area during the summers. He added that the tarpon bite seemed to have cooled off prior to the new moon. “We had a little less tidal activity,” Eliason said. Also, many captains are reporting the area's trout bite has been exceptional over typical deep grass flats. …

Capt. Mike Senecal of Paradise Pontoon Charters, LLC said tarpon fishing continues to be hot off the beaches, although the big pods have been tough to pin down. “On Tuesday I was out off the beaches and there were these big pods, and all of a sudden they'd disappear and go into the passes,” Senecal said. “The big thing has been trying to get away from this wind where it's calm enough so you can fish.” Senecal said bait has been scattered and not as thick as it should be this time of he year. He also fishes on Lake Manatee — usually for speckled trout. But he said neither the specks nor the …

Mangrove snapper are starting to show up in the local bays, said Capt. Ray Markham of Backwater Promotions, and that's a good sign after last summer. “It was horrible last year,” Markham said. “Normally I could go out and target mangrove snapper in the summertime and get at least half of my limit, or my limit, without too much problem.” Markham hopes the early showing of mangrove snapper over the rock piles and bridges in the bays is a sign of another such summer. He said the rocks in the center span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge has recently been good for mangrove snapper. “You can get them …

Mark Stukey from Rays Canoe Hideaway said anglers who are coming out for Memorial Day weekend should enjoy some great fishing action on a variety of species on the Upper Manatee River. “I've got reservations coming in left and right,” Stukey said. "There's a youth hockey team of 10 coming down here too.” Campers who start feeling the summer-like heat tend to simply jump in the river and swim the heat away. And the fishing? Stukey said anglers have brought back some big bass, for starters. “One group came back here with seven last week,” he said, “and there wasn't one under 2 pounds.” He said …