Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By LARRY HOFFMAN
Published June 14, 2005

Tropical Storm Arlene hampered offshore fishing last week but grouper and snapper soon will be biting aggressively with the storm's passage. Amberjack fishing is good in 120 feet and deeper on shipwrecks and springs. The key to landing a big jack is large live baits. The bigger the baits, the larger the jacks. Large blue runners in the 2-pound range work well. These large baits keep small jacks from feeding, but they also are a favorite of barracudas.

Freshwater springs are great places to fish this time of year. The springs hold many species of fish and can provide nonstop action of mangrove, yellowtail and lane snappers, grouper, amberjack, tuna and barracuda. Mix up your tackle and use 30-pound class to attract snapper and 60-pound class for jacks. Live bait chumming is great to get the amberjacks to the surface. Then you can cast to them and watch as they compete for the bait.

Bluewater fishing for dolphin, wahoo and tuna should be excellent if you can locate weed lines. Several wahoo were landed recently in 150 to 170 feet while trolling. Dark colored lures, especially purple, black and dark red, work best for wahoo and tuna. Use light colored lures such as green, yellow, pink and blue, for dolphin.

--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 June 14, 2005, 01:25:21]