Captain Danny Stasny – Fishing Report – 04-01-2013
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—–Neil and Susie Mandsager of Iowa were able to join me this week for some sheepshead action on the artificial reefs around Anna Maria island. Using live shrimp combined with a 1/2 oz. knocker rig resulted in multiple fish ranging from 1 to 4 lbs.
—–After banging away on sheepies for awhile we switched locations in search of spotted sea trout. Fishing deep grassflats with Berkely Gulp shrimp and a 1/4 oz jig head got us connected with some nice sized fish. Along with speckled sea trout, Neil and Susie also managed to catch some respectably sized silver trout which we promptly filleted and put on ice once back at the dock.
—–Flounder are inhabiting near-shore structure as you can see in the picture of Vivck and Ravi Kiluk of Tampa. Their father, John, was very proud of his sons after watching them reel up so many different species in one day. Along with that 21 inch flounder, the boys caught sheepshead, kw’s, and spanish mackerel.
—–After taking a little break from the action Vivck informed me that he wanted to catch “JAWS”. I told him that sounded like a great idea to finish out the trip, so off we went in search of some man eaters. I knew of a spot where some bonnet head sharks had been hanging out and upon arriving I saw multiple fish from up in the tower. Ten minutes after setting the anchor we had a bonnet head shark on the line which was exciting for the kids.
—–On the next bait we were lucky enough to hook up with a 4 1/2 ft sand shark. Needless to say, dad had to reel this one in. Both sharks were released unharmed.
—–On a recent trip with Eric Harvey and his family we had good action on multiple species while fishing artificial reefs. We started the day with sheepshead, mangrove snapper and Key West grunts. Eric’s sons, Ryan and James, quickly got the hang of reef fishing after their first couple fish. Now, this is when the story starts getting good. Jen, Eric’s wife, was busy reeling up a mangrove snapper and as I peered into the green water to spot the fish in the depths below I got quite a surprise. Not only did I see the undersized snapper at the end of Jen’s line but I also saw a big, brown bomber directly under the fish curiously trying to get a taste. Immediately I reached for another rod and frantically baited-up with a nice fat shiner. The cobia was more than willing to accommodate us and instantly whacked the unsuspecting bait. Well, six cobia later we had two keepers in the coffin along with plenty of sheepies and grunts. Great job guys.
—–I also sent in the picture of Ryan’s file fish. What a beautiful golden little fish. It almost didn’t look real. It may not be the biggest fish in the world but it made a really cool pic.
