Nature Coast

Captain's corner

By CAPT. ROBERT MCCUE, Times Correspondent
Published August 11, 2007

Beat the heat and fish deep

August offers anglers the pinnacle of Florida's sweltering heat and humidity. The pattern now will be to find the comfort zones of your quarry, then fish them at lower light periods of the early morning or evening. Fish use the insulation of water depths to keep their cold-blooded bodies at the optimum temperature for their survival and comfort.

Our unique, deep grass flats

The North Suncoast offers some of the most plush and unique flats in the state. These grass flats can run as far as 9 miles offshore.

Trout, Spanish mackerel and an array of sharks claim these flats as home throughout the summer doldrums. The better spots feature scattered rocks, humps, springs or banks in 8 to 12 feet. While many spots are closely-guarded secrets of longtime fishing guides and hook-and-line commercial fishermen, good starting points include the bird racks off Aripeka, Cutter Rock off Bayport and the area known as the "Bombing Range" off Homosassa.

The rig

Cast netting small- and medium-scaled sardines to use for bait right now is short work. Tie a small, three-way swivel to your line. To each of the two remaining rings, attach a 20-inch section of 20-pound monofilament and a No. 1 hook. Hook each scaled sardine in the belly, one scale behind and one scale up from the pectoral fin, then cast the rig downwind without weight or float.

The ballet of two sardines flashing around each other over these deep flats drives the trout, mackerel and sharks off the bottom when they would otherwise not feed.

New Moon

August's new moon is Sunday. Hit the shallow rock piles in 12 to 20 feet just after dark for a hot mangrove snapper bite. Again, scaled sardines are the ticket, but if you have the snapper chummed up, they will hit just about anything natural and small enough to fit in their mouths.

Capt. Robert McCue can be reached at 1-800-833-0489 or through his Web site www.GiantTarpon.com

[Last modified August 10, 2007, 20:56:56]