John Fairley and Ashley Fairley of Madeira Beach display a couple of redfish they caught off a dock in Boca Ciega Bay on Sept. 19. John's weighed 6 1/4 pounds and was 26 inches in length. Ashley's weighed 5 1/2 pounds and was 24 inches. They used finger mullet to catch the fish.
A string of picture-perfect days should make all the difference in the world for our near-shore fishing.
West winds late last week dirtied up our beaches and in turn pushed bait schools offshore.
By Sunday the water was still a bit dirty in the pass with the incoming tide but once you were out a half mile it looked a lot better.
Taking the opportunity of some finally calm seas we were on the hunt for grouper. Starting in 45 feet of water we were optimistic that the bigger gag grouper had begun their migration into shallower depths.
Fishing small ledges produced plenty of undersized fish and one keeper gag grouper. Not wanting to go through all our bait with the nonstop action from the small grouper. We made a run to deeper water to a wreck in 75 feet.
First bait in the water was a frozen sardine. Once at the bottom it was immediately picked up by what felt like an amberjack. Five minutes into the fight we saw the big brown fish come to the surface. An estimated 40-pound cobia was soon lip gaffed and into the cooler it went.
The following three baits all resulted in cobia 30 to 50 pounds and one was taken on a Shimano Butterfly jig. Simply awesome fishing!
Once the cobia bite slowed down we were finally able to let our baits soak for some gag grouper. Frisky live baits resulted in a good box of gag grouper from 24 to 30 inches, so it looks like the 70 to 80 foot mark might be your best bet for the bigger gags. Cobia are a prime fall target offshore. Any time you’re bottom fishing have a free-lined pinfish tail hooked out the back of the boat.
The redfish bite showed some improvement last week after the front passed through. Schools of mullet are gathering up for their fall/winter spawn. Finding these huge aggregations of mullet should put you on the redfish. Windy weather had us fishing cut-bait exclusively. A fresh cut pinfish free-lined into the mullet school will let you know if there are reds around.
Until next week – get bent!
Capt. Wallerstein can be reached at capt.tyson@hotmail.com. To get a fish photo in the paper, send the photo along with your name, when and where it was caught to editorial@TBNweekly.com or mail it to Tampa Bay Newspapers, 9911 Seminole Blvd., Seminole, FL 33772.
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