Offshore fishing report

No rhyme or reason to cold-water grouper bite

By MIKE WHITMAN
Published December 16, 2005

Fishing is as tough as I have ever seen it. The weather this year has been horrendous, and we have dealt with Red Tide, wind, high seas, hurricanes churning up the depths of the Gulf of Mexico and the pollution that poured out of New Orleans after Katrina.

And still we catch fish on a regular basis.

This past week we ran a two-boat trip, with one boat fishing about 35 miles offshore and the other about 18 miles out. Typically the boat farther offshore would catch more and better fish. But by the time we reached the docks it would have been hard to tell one boat's catch from the next. There simply has been no rhyme or reason to fish patterns and movements in the past six months.

The areas between 30 and 70 feet this time of year should be full of gag grouper, both legal size and juvenile fish. One day we fish a spot and leave them chewing, then go back the next day and there is not so much as one mark on the fish finder. I can't remember a time over the past 15 years that the fish have moved so often.

We are catching our pinfish inshore, as the bait offshore is scarce. The bait situation might improve, as we are seeing schools of small baits at various depths as we run offshore. There are very few hook-size baits mixed in with the schools, but in time they will grow.

The Red Tide appears to be receding, although the boat that ran 35 miles offshore ran through a bad batch of water and lost all the bait in the well.

Grouper fishing in the bay has been steady. You have to make plenty of stops along the edges of the channels but you can find fish, one or two keepers per spot. The bay water is also clean, and you will find bait in the grass and in the old bomb holes off both piers at Fort De Soto and both the Skyway piers.

This year is almost behind us, and looking toward 2006, hopefully the good things about the gulf will continue to get better. Even as dismal as the grouper and kingfish runs have been this fall, the weather and water quality to the north of us has forced large populations of American red Snapper into our area. This has been the best year for red snapper I can remember.

Water temperatures are starting to cool with numerous cold fronts passing by regularly, and bottom fishing should start to stabilize. With fuel prices slowly coming down, maybe we can all spend more time on the water in 2006.

Mike Whitman charters the Mega-Bite out of Gulfport. Call 727 455-2483 or view the Web site at www.megabitecharters.com

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:55:10]