One of the most common questions we get at the shop during red tide, “Is there anything alive to catch out there??” The answer is yes. Is there red tide, yes. Does is completely blanket an area and destroy everything? Not usually. There are plenty of clean water pockets inshore that are perfectly fishable. Being aware of areas that you may run through is the key. Sometimes leaving your livewell off during the time youre running from spot to spot can be helpful. Shrimp will hold up to any red tide exposure much better than baitfish will. Even pinfish can be more hearty than the pilchards. Clearly this is not as much of an issue if your using artificials only. That being said, the fishing has been fantastic! Red tide has been reported from about 2-6 miles offshore. Everything past that has been outstanding. Red grouper in about 100′. Kitty mitchell grouper and African pompano out further around the 100 mile range. moving back in a bit, MASSIVE amberjacks on most of the nearshore wrecks. Kingfish were being consistently reported this week which is early!! A lot of big bait out there. Hogfish on the ledges primarily to the north. Some nice cobia and snook nearshore gulf as well. Miraculously a few tripletail were mentioned this week. They have been extremely scarce this season. Still a few pompano on the flats and sheepshead on most of the oyster beds and structure in the bay. Some nice snook and trout caught this week, just keep your eyes on your bait!
*****This Wednesday, March 1st @ 5:30 pm we are having a FREE SEMINAR with Capt. Geoff Page and Capt. Rick Murphy. They will be discussing the fundamentals of Spring fishing with Berkley hardbaits!! A reservation is not needed but do try to get here a few min ahead of time as seating is limited. Hope to see ya’ll there!*****