Anna Maria Island Fishing Report
Captain Mark Howard–Fishing Report–April-08-2013
SumoTime Fishing Charters
Island Discount Tackle Charter Desk: (941) 779-2838
www.KeyesMarina.com
—–The report on fishing this past week out of Island Discount Tackle at Keyes Marina on beautiful Anna Maria Island has finally seen the Spring time pattern blossom with many signs of spectacular fishing ahead.
—–The number one indicator of Spring is the arrival of shiners on the flats. Chumming with Purina Tropical fish food will entice the pilchards to swarm behind your boat and make easy pickings for your cast net.
—–On my recent charters we have been having exciting rallies fishing for snook and redfish . The Brown family had a Wednesday afternoon charter fishing trip and brought home 4 nice slot sized redfish for the dinner table and also battled many catch and release snook. The key to our success was having enough shiners to chum with and fire up the bite.
—–Tortilla Bay restaurant owner, Perry Pittman, fishing Tuesday with friends also had a exciting day catching on the water. The group landed snook, redfish, speckled trout and mackerel . Fishing moving water was the key to success. Their fillets wound up as fish tacos for the group to enjoy.
—–On the near shore scene, the fish have moved in with ferocious appetites and aggressive feedings. Kingfish, Spanish mackerel , big sharks and cobia are being caught at the 1 mile reef. Have a shark rig ready for some drag screaming action on the many 6 foot sharks swimming with the bait schools. Gag grouper are being caught in water as shallow as 15 ft and 100 yards off the beach Of course after photos the grouper were released. I am looking forward to the opening of gag grouper season as they have not left the bay and inshore waters and will easy pickings if and when the powers to be decide to open the season. Until then we must depend upon the commercial fishing fleet to provide us with these tasty fillets.
—–Looking forward, the Spring time fishing pattern around Tampa Bay will only get better as more and more baits flood our area waters. Work edges and drops at low tide and move into the bushes as the tide rises. Keep the slack out your line and you will feel the thump of the predator inhaling your bait.