Florida Fishing Report: Florida Fishing Charters

Liz tries to top Michael's 40 inch red with a 32 inch snook. Though she could not topple the red, she adds some inches to a Friday afternoon "slam".

The highlight of the week came on Saturday when team Bounty Hunter compiled of myself, Chris Bandl and Scott Myers took a shot in the “Big Mack Attack” Spanish mackerel tournament out of St. Petersburg. We faced some stiff wind and seas running 3 to 4 feet. After securing 1000 scaled sardines in the morning, I pointed the bow to some numbers in 10 feet of water just offshore of Port Richey to a favorite deep water grass flat that had produced macks for me in world class sizes over the years. We chummed the area for near an hour with little results as the water was churned due to the winds of all week. Best bet now was to get over some hard bottom rocks in a little deeper water. Again I dialed in the numbers. You could hear a pin drop in the boat when the GPS read 4.5 miles further southwest to go in some bad conditions. A half hour later we dropped anchor on some rocks west of New Port Richey in 22 feet of water and started to sweeten the soup.

Within an hour, the bite light was on. Scott made the first contribution with a 5 pounder and over the next 4 hours Chris and Scott had caught about 30 mackerel, 17 of which ranged 5 to 6 lbs. We then decided on a quitting time to allow enough time to make weigh in. About 15 minutes prior to that time expiring, Chris hooked a fish that made an incredible run. Now on the gaff, we liked our chances and headed in. At the scales, Chris’s fish tipped the scales at 6.25 and took top honors and a check for $1,200. Billy Moore took 2^nd with 5.35; Bud Henly fishing with Mark Miklos on Prime Time took 3rd with 5.05. Rules allowed only 1 fish weighed per boat entry thus the other jumbo macks in our box did not qualify for a potential sweep.

 A few kings are in the area the past week and will only build in numbers as the water cools and the fish continue their southbound migration. Fall is, in my opinion, the better kingfish migration as traditionally the big boys tend to head south much closer to shore in clean water conditions.

Chris Bandl (left) and Capt. Robert McCue display the 6.25 lb. Spanish mackerel to take first place in the 2001 Big Mack Attack Tournament.

A scouting trip on the nearshore grouper fishing proved slow. A good friend dawned the mask and fins to survey some spots last week and found some fish are home, but they are resident fish. The bruised and scared migratory fish of the depths have not migrated in yet due to the warm water we are still experiencing. I will check our unique and productive bottom again in between the following fronts. The grass seems to have cleared somewhat, and the water is clear outside the 20ft contour, this making excellent bottom trolling conditions for grouper. For those set on them, 40 to 50 feet is the mark and trolling is an excellent way to build your cache of numbers.

A mild front is passing the state during the next day and a perfect fall cooling scenario is in place. If it continues in a moderate fashion, expect some excellent and prolonged fall fishing.

Screaming Drags and Tired Arms!

Robert McCue