One of the fishing forums I frequent had a very heated discussion between two well established fishing guides with well over 40 years of guiding experience between the two of them, and two popular up and coming guides.
Apparently, the old timers took offense at the other guides sharing information on the forums with other fishermen about areas where they were catching keeper size grouper inshore. They younger guides said that they were looking to fill a niche by offering their clients the opportunity to not only catch the normal Spotted Seatrout, Redfish and Snook but also to catch grouper, usually only available by going many miles offshore. They are also trying to help out recreational anglers because they feel that that is what guides should do.
The old timers said that by sharing too much information with recreational anglers the young guides would ruin the fishery by causing too much pressure on the area. They also claimed that they have known about the area for decades and that the young guides had not discovered anything new.
Anyway, from there it turned into a free for all, not so much between the guides but from the illustrious members of the peanut gallery, choosing sides and bashing the guides that held a differing opinion from their own. Ultimately the thread was deleted and that was the end of that discussion.
Now for my take.
The old timers are concerned that the area will become a parking lot from all the recreational boaters fishing the area for grouper and eventually they will deplete the resource. They also take offense that the younger guides are, in their opinion, using their fishing reports as a vehicle for marketing their guide operations. And they are also concerned that by providing too much information to recreational anglers that they will possibly lose business due to the fact that if people can find out where to fish for free on the Internet, then they will not require a guide.
The young guides are trying to expand their services by offering a wider selection of fishing opportunities to their clientele. They are also trying to help out recreational anglers. They dont think that they are harming the resource or the business of the other guides, because even if the give out the locations that still doesnt mean that the other anglers will know the proper techniques or when to use them. I know for a fact there is more involved in catching fish than having a boat and a livewell full of bait and tend to agree with them. On multiple occasions I have went fishing with guides and went back to the same locations without catching fish on my own. I have taken other anglers fishing and they have told me that they tried to fish those same areas with no or limited success.
The guiding profession is very competitive, and I can see where both sides have valid points. As more and more people move to Florida, fishing pressure can only increase. I can see opportunities for guides to get more business but I can also see where the competition will increase as more anglers become guides. I think the successful guide will be the one who can stay on top of the fish as they move around due to seasonal changes, weather, and increased fishing pressure. The days of the secret honey hole are coming to an end, if they arent over already.
Showing posts with label gotcha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gotcha. Show all posts
Monday, October 30, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Fall Fishing is Almost Here!
The last few weeks the fishing has been a little spotty. The redfish schools began showing up on the flats and in the mouths of the various passes along the South Shore area of Tampa Bay and the Snook were moving back from the spawning areas along the beaches.
Last week I had pretty decent success finding the snook in some of their cool weather haunts. Fall fishing is almost upon us. In my opinion fall and spring are without question the best time of the year for fishing on the area known as the South Shore. The South Shore runs from the Alafia River all the way down to the skyway and Miguel Bay just outside of the skyway. As the weather and water temps fall, the fish start moving in to the back waters and begin to establish their fall fishing patterns. Bait is still plentiful on the flats and is the weapon of choice when targeting fall snook, redfish and trout as well as big schools of jack crevalle, and ladyfish. Big schools of hungry spanish mackerel are also easy targets out in the bay proper with an occasional kingfish mixed in to keep it interesting.
If you are in the bay and see a flock of birds dive bombing the water, check it out and you might get on a school of hungry fish. Make sure you have either a light wire leader or even 50lb mono if your gonna mess with the macks because they will slice through 20 and 30lb leader like a hot knife through butter. My favorite mack rig is a couple feet of 50lb mono or flourocarbon leader with a 2x long shank 1/0 eagle claw j-hook with a live scaled sardine or threadfin herring. I get cut off occasionally, but I would rather lose a box of 50 j-hooks than a couple gotcha plugs.
For redfish, if the water is high fish the edges of mangroves near passes and up inside the backwaters. I like to troll and prospect with live baits tossed as close as I can get them to the mangroves or with jigs with rubber tails or even jerkbaits rigged weedless with a little weight to get them down to the bottom. You can use weighted flutterhooks, weighted keeper hooks, or a regular worm hook with a small splitshot pinched right above the eye of the hook. A company called DOA also makes a pinchable weight that attaches right to the hook.
If the water is low, look for dropoffs along the edges of channels etc, and also keep your eyes peeled for disturbances in the water. If you are really lucky you might even see a school of redfish tailing. I usually find tailing redfish in the morning when there is an incoming tide flooding a flat. They like to get on the flat and look for little shrimp, crabs and small baitfish and will root around in the sand and seagrass trying to flush out a meal. Sometimes when they are tailing they are so busy concentrating on feeding that you can sneak right up on them and present your lure or bait to the fish of your choice. When your on a school of tailing redfish stealth is paramount. When I see tailers I will cut off my trolling motor 50 - 60 yards away or more and hopefully drift closer to them or put my anchor down and slowly and quietly wade to within casting distance.
For Snook, look for moving water. Try to find areas where bait will be swept from a shallow area to a deeper area, or past a mangrove point or even a cut where the water flows by and swirls into the cut. Present your bait so it gets carried by the current into the areas where the snook are waiting for an easy meal. Another favorite type of area that I like to target are creeks with low overhanging mangrove branches. I like to toss my bait so it will get carried underneath the overhanging branches to the snook waiting in the shadows.
I have been having lots of success using these tactics on these type of areas and they will only get better in the comming days and weeks.
Last week I had pretty decent success finding the snook in some of their cool weather haunts. Fall fishing is almost upon us. In my opinion fall and spring are without question the best time of the year for fishing on the area known as the South Shore. The South Shore runs from the Alafia River all the way down to the skyway and Miguel Bay just outside of the skyway. As the weather and water temps fall, the fish start moving in to the back waters and begin to establish their fall fishing patterns. Bait is still plentiful on the flats and is the weapon of choice when targeting fall snook, redfish and trout as well as big schools of jack crevalle, and ladyfish. Big schools of hungry spanish mackerel are also easy targets out in the bay proper with an occasional kingfish mixed in to keep it interesting.
If you are in the bay and see a flock of birds dive bombing the water, check it out and you might get on a school of hungry fish. Make sure you have either a light wire leader or even 50lb mono if your gonna mess with the macks because they will slice through 20 and 30lb leader like a hot knife through butter. My favorite mack rig is a couple feet of 50lb mono or flourocarbon leader with a 2x long shank 1/0 eagle claw j-hook with a live scaled sardine or threadfin herring. I get cut off occasionally, but I would rather lose a box of 50 j-hooks than a couple gotcha plugs.
For redfish, if the water is high fish the edges of mangroves near passes and up inside the backwaters. I like to troll and prospect with live baits tossed as close as I can get them to the mangroves or with jigs with rubber tails or even jerkbaits rigged weedless with a little weight to get them down to the bottom. You can use weighted flutterhooks, weighted keeper hooks, or a regular worm hook with a small splitshot pinched right above the eye of the hook. A company called DOA also makes a pinchable weight that attaches right to the hook.
If the water is low, look for dropoffs along the edges of channels etc, and also keep your eyes peeled for disturbances in the water. If you are really lucky you might even see a school of redfish tailing. I usually find tailing redfish in the morning when there is an incoming tide flooding a flat. They like to get on the flat and look for little shrimp, crabs and small baitfish and will root around in the sand and seagrass trying to flush out a meal. Sometimes when they are tailing they are so busy concentrating on feeding that you can sneak right up on them and present your lure or bait to the fish of your choice. When your on a school of tailing redfish stealth is paramount. When I see tailers I will cut off my trolling motor 50 - 60 yards away or more and hopefully drift closer to them or put my anchor down and slowly and quietly wade to within casting distance.
For Snook, look for moving water. Try to find areas where bait will be swept from a shallow area to a deeper area, or past a mangrove point or even a cut where the water flows by and swirls into the cut. Present your bait so it gets carried by the current into the areas where the snook are waiting for an easy meal. Another favorite type of area that I like to target are creeks with low overhanging mangrove branches. I like to toss my bait so it will get carried underneath the overhanging branches to the snook waiting in the shadows.
I have been having lots of success using these tactics on these type of areas and they will only get better in the comming days and weeks.
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