Captain's Corner

By LARRY HOFFMAN
Published January 8, 2008

---

What's hot: Just about anything is hot right now. Grouper fishing continues to be excellent in 35 feet and deeper. Amberjack are numerous over shipwrecks and springs in 80 feet out to 150 feet of water. Mangrove snapper have been feeding strong and are on most rock piles and ledges where you find gags. Gray snapper are eating the bottom out of the boats. If you want to travel out to 120 feet and deeper and chum, you can get into some blackfin tuna.

Location: Capt. Garner Koons worked 50 feet of water Sunday and was rewarded with a half dozen nice gags one heavier than 14 pounds and numerous gray and mangrove snapper. They were feeding on cut frozen sardines. The bigger gags fed on live pinfish. The gray snapper fed on pieces of frozen squid. Capt. Ray Hirschman decided to give up flats fishing for a day and trolled around the Sunshine Skyway bridge with deep-diving lures. Each time they trolled near the passes under the bridge, they had great results. Heavy tackle is needed to pull the gags away from the structure in and around the bridge.

Tactics:With the water now in the 50-degree range, you need to adjust your fishing. Start out in 50 feet of water over ledges and hard-bottom areas. Use dead bait to get the bite going and see if you have any takers. Add a few live pinfish. Always keep some dead bait in the water to keep the grunts and small fish feeding. Take along light, medium and heavy tackle to take advantage of the multiple possibilities.