Since the windy weather of the last week has left the water quite turbid, we have been bottom fishing for the humble grey snapper. Often overlooked and under rated as table fare, these hearty little fighters are a delight for everyone holding a fishing rod. We have been fishing in 40-50 ft. depths on limestone bottom.

The weather was absolutely perfect this morning for a nice trip out on the Gulf. We fished in 40-60 ft. of water with visability of 25 ft. and brought home a good amount of grey snapper and a black sea bass. Clients had a great time and a good adventure on the water.

This winter, the weather has not been our friend. We have been forced to cancel too many of our fishing trips because of cold temperatures, windy conditions or rough seas. But, some clients have opted to enjoy an afternoon or sunset cruise. Sure, we would all like to be offshore fishing, but when it isn’t safe, getting out in the water is still better than going to the movies. As you can see from the photos, these folks are enjoying a leisurely trip down the ICW and a short run out into the Gulf to watch the sun dip into the sea. An afternoon cruise works well, too. If you have friends or relatives coming to town, a couple-hour cruise is a nice way to spend the afternoon together. Give us a call and we can get you out on the water.

A 1/2 day family outing on Monday, May 20 found us fishing some inshore hard bottom where we found some bait and hooked into a nice 24” Spanish. We kept at it, but all we caught was a small bonita. So, off to South County where we worked hard for a few more spanish and a couple of good-sized blue runners which we kept for bait. We got a couple more spanish at Treasure Island reef but with the water warming past 80, the Spanish are on their way north for the summer months. Everyone had a good time and headed to the Broke N Bored for a great “cook my catch” lunch.

Dennis and Alex joined Jose and I for a 6-hour trip today. We started out trolling the John’s Pass channel which almost always produces a few fish. We got three Spanish, but only one was box-worthy. We trolled a few spots hoping for some more Spanish action but the fish had other ideas. We bottom fished a nice ledge and pulled in few grey snapper and then went over to the Egmont ship channel. We trolled the lower numbers and hit a nice pocket of bait which produced two nice kings and several bonita. One bonita got eaten by the first barracuda we have seen this year. The cuda was huge and took the lower half of the bonita in one spectacular bite. A good day was had by all-except that bonita!

Steve and his family braved the chilly weather and did a 3/4 day trip with Jose and I last week. They are from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, so a little cold doesn't bother them too much. With a 3/4 day trip, we are able to go a bit farther offshore and fish some deeper waters which gives us a better chance at a variety of bottom fish. We came in with a nice fish box of good-sized gray snapper and sent them off to dinner with some really good-eating fish. We fished in 70 ft. of water about 20 miles offshore on good limestone bottom which produced many too-small red grouper, a gag and a scamp. we also caught several good-sized triggerfish, but they are out of season, so back they went. The triggerfish are great fighters and even out of season, they are fun to catch. The wind and seas were light on the day we were out, so we were in shirtsleeves after lunch. All considered, a good day on the water!