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Captain's corner

By LARRY HOFFMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 19, 2001

Grouper fishing has been slow. Our best bites have been in 45 to 55 feet of water over cheese rock bottom, southwest of Egmont Channel. Frozen sardines have produced our biggest catch. With the higher daytime temperatures and longer daylight hours, the Gulf of Mexico will start to warm. You can expect grouper fishing to continue to improve.

The hot topic is amberjack. They are "chewing the bottom out of the boat." Twenty- to 70-pound amberjack are feeding over shipwrecks and springs in 80 to 120 feet of water. Capt. Darrell Parchman on the Enterprise caught more than 30 amberjack on a spring in 100 feet of water Thursday using grunts, squirrelfish and diamond jigs. The biggest jack weighed 70 pounds. If you're looking for a big tug on the line, your best bet is to go amberjack fishing.

- Larry "Huffy" Hoffman charters the Enterprise out of Kingfish Wharf, Treasure Island. Call (727) 709-9396.

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