Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By LARRY HOFFMAN
Published January 25, 2005

The next few days should be just right for offshore fishing. The full moon is waning, and the seas should be fishable after the weekend cold front shut down all offshore fishing.

Grouper fishing was excellent in 80-130 feet just before the front and should be hot through the weekend. Dead bait, frozen sardines cut in half, work best at this time of year. Live pinfish can be hit and miss, however.

Grouper at this time of year move a little slower. Fish each location longer, 30-40 minutes, to get the fish to feed.

Snapper fishing will be strong. Use small pieces of frozen sardines on 30-pound class tackle for mangrove and grunts. Trigger fish are plentiful at this time of year and good to eat. Use small hooks and squid for bait. When cleaning trigger, save them until last. Their skin is like armor and will dull knives.

Big-fish action at this time of year means amberjacks. The bigger the live bait, the bigger the jacks caught. Big blue runners work best, and large, live pinfish can get the job done. Shipwrecks and springs in 100 feet and deeper are holding many jacks. Sixty-pound class tackle with at least 6-foot leaders works for us. Fighting belts and good drags are a must to tackle jacks of up to 100 pounds.

--Larry "Huffy" Hoffman charters out of John's Pass, Treasure Island. Call 727 709-9396 or e-mail him at huffyl@tampabay.rr.com

[Last modified January 25, 2005, 01:20:40]