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Outdoors

Inshore is best bet for now

By ED WALKER
Published September 24, 2005

Heavy swells from distant Hurricane Rita pounded the coast this week, stirring the water and slightly setting back things for offshore anglers.

As recently as Friday afternoon, buoys off the Nature Coast were reporting swells of more than 10 feet. When there's such a huge ground swell, even the deep water becomes turbid.

Divers say the visibility will fall to just a few feet even 80 miles out after such an event. Most bottom fish are not fond of dirty water, and the bite usually shuts down when it's the dirtiest. As the visibility begins to return, the action increases.

Inevitably, the question of how long it will take to clean up arises. For near-shore anglers, it may require a week or more, depending on weather conditions and tides. Farther out, it can come back to a fishable clarity in three or four days.

The upside is that no one will have been working any of the spots out there for an extended time, so the fish likely are to have gathered on the larger structures and ledges.

Most veteran charter captains will target the bigger, well-known offshore structures immediately after periods of foul weather. If you're lucky enough to be the first on one of the big wrecks, the fishing can be incredible.

Last winter, the crew of the Lady Green Eyes visited a wreck at 75 feet after a long series of back-to-back cold fronts. Since the area is well known, there seldom are many keeper-sized grouper. Amberjack were the intended target, but gags were considered a possibility.

As the baits went down, the rods started bending. The first fish was a 12-pound gag. The next was an even bigger gag, and so it went. Every bait that made it to the bottom was inhaled by a big grouper. No undersized fish were caught.

A week later, the same spot had three boats on it. No keeper gags were landed, although the amberjack were in full force.

Flats fishing was less impacted by the recent weather and should remain strong. The water in the shallows was clear, and since the winds were primarily from the east, that shouldn't have changed much.

Improving visibility on the flats is a good sign that the fall season is approaching.

Some guides running a multi-boat group charter out of New Port Richey found great snook and redfish action earlier this week. One vessel landed 15 snook and several redfish. Live scaled sardines were the bait of choice and have been abundant off the grass flats at 3-4 feet. Watch for newly arriving "herds" of big redfish to the inshore waters.

Every year at this time, packs of oversized reds appear within a few miles of the coast and some work their way onto the flats. When the fish first show up, they have a distinct orange-bronze color and big schools can be seen from some distance if you know what you're looking at.

The best part is that these huge fish usually will eat anything you throw to them. They can be difficult to track from day to day. But if you stumble into them, you likely are to catch jumbo reds until your arms are tired.

Flats fishing gets the nod for the weekend. Yet when the seas settle offshore, the bite could be hot.

Ed Walker charters out of Tarpon Springs. Call 727 944-3474 or e-mail info@lighttacklecharters.com

[Last modified September 24, 2005, 01:00:22]