Gag grouper season opened Sept. 1 and will run through the end of the month. Expect a lot of competition on the best-known spots, and those who have not stocked up on frozen bait may find it in short supply.
While many will take to the Gulf for them, Bill at Gandy Bait and Tackle says there are plenty of gags in the bay and fishing them there at a time of year when storms are more of a threat offshore has the advantage of being able to bolt back to the ramp if the weather gets nasty.
His advice is to hit the bay reefs and the rocky edges of shipping channels. Use live pinfish or dead bait and keep bouncing around to sample other spots if only short fish are being caught.
Trolling large diving plugs along the channel edges is another popular bay option. It covers more water in less time, and when anglers locate a concentration of big fish, some anchor up and switch to dropping baits.
Guide bites
Capt. Chuck Rogers (813) 918-8356: Capt. Chuck reports that pompano remain a good option in the bay. He’s been taking them off pilings under the Gandy Bridge with regularity. It can take some time hopping between pilings, and Doc’s Goofy Jigs are taking them. The mangrove snappers are under the bridge, as well, though Capt. Chuck suspects heavy fishing pressure has taken a lot of the bigger fish, as the number of shorts his anglers are landing is high. He’s also picked up a few quality trout while fishing under the bridge, but they also are on grass flats in 6 to 8 feet of water in the Gandy area. Oyster bars in that part of the bay have been producing flounder, with at least one a day coming to the boat. Targeting them can produce more.
Reds are hanging around the mangroves, with the last hour of the incoming and outgoing tides seeing the best action. The Pinellas side of the bay from the Howard Frankland bridge to the Courtney Campbell Causeway has been good, including along the Fourth Street flats. Dead bait has been productive. Small snook are on the mangroves, as well, and he suspects with the next full moon, the majority of the fish that have been on the Gulf beaches and in the passes will migrate inside the bay, where they will feed heavily to begin fattening up for winter. He noted that September is a month when he’s logged some of his biggest snook of the year.
Capt. George Hastick (727) 525-1005: Capt. George says he’s been finding plenty of snook around mangroves on the Pinellas side of the bay. He’s mostly been working between the Gandy Bridge to just north of Pinellas Point. Docks are holding them, as well. Sizes have ranged between 22 and 31 inches over the past week. On some of the snook spots his anglers have been connecting with redfish, with some trips producing six or eight fish. Trout are hanging on grass and sand bottom in 5 to 6 feet of water, taking live sardines or Sea Shad soft-plastic tails on jigs. On grass beds that drop into 8 to 10 feet of water, he’s found mackerel by working the drops. Their numbers are not great. Mangrove snapper fishing has been solid, with fish on docks and rock piles in 6 to 8 feet of water. Live shrimp or small sardines have been working and he’s been finding a good ratio of keepers to shorts, with about two-thirds of those landed being keepers.
Tackle shop roundup
Gandy Bait & Tackle (813) 839-5551: Bill reports customers continue to talk about mangrove snapper, with those putting in the time working bridge pilings, docks and reefs putting together limits. Small, live sardines or small- to medium-sized live shrimp work well. There also have been a fair number of pompano reports coming in, with anglers scoring fish on the bridges from the Skyway all the way to the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Redfish action has been pretty good around the Gandy Bridge, with anglers taking fish around flooded mangroves on cut bait or shrimp. Trout have moved to deeper water to stay cool, with the shade of bridges producing some keepers. On the flats, they are up on the shallow grass early and late in the day but when the sun is high, they fall into deeper adjoining water in 6 to 8 feet. More and more snook are moving into the bay as the summer spawn on the beaches nears the end. A few reports of Spanish mackerel have come in, though the schools have thinned out. Traditionally, October is when they are here in big numbers. Gag grouper season is open and there are good chances to take keeper fish inside the bay by working artificial reefs and the rocky edges of some of the shipping channels.
Riviera Bait & Tackle (727) 954-6365: Jacob says more tripletail are being taken in the bay, with fish around tripods and markers along shipping channels. Live shrimp free lined takes them. Redfish action remains strong, with cut pinfish dropped along mangroves on outgoing tides producing. The big fish are starting to show up in numbers. Snook are pushing into the bay from the Gulf beaches and passes, with some reports of big ones hooked around Riviera Bay and at Coquina Key. Expect lots of smaller males before connecting with the large fish. Jacob spotted schooling mackerel in the bay on his way out to the Gulf recently, and he suspects their numbers may be greater in a couple of weeks. Bonito have been on the wrecks and reefs just offshore. The area just north of the Betty Rose shipwreck has been a good place to find them.