Capt. Rick Davidson (grassflats2@yahoo.com), Editor
June Fishing Report
It's been an eventful June at the Sea Hag Marina. The important news, of course, was that Governor Crist opened the scallop season 12 days early. It didn't take long for the annual harvest to begin, with limits being easily taken in shallow water of 3 to 5 feet in depth. Scallops were found both north and south of the river, with some of the hot spots being in front of Big Grass Island and just northwest of Rock Point to the north, and just north of Rocky Creek to the south of the river. The scallops were plentiful and we are looking forward to a great season. The oil spill has not come close, the water is crystal clear, and don't miss out on a chance to make some family memories. The marina has boats for rent, dive flags, fishing licenses, masks, snorkels, even boat ladders--everything you will need for a great time on the water.
As far as fishing, the early part of the month was excellent inshore, but as the water heated up, the trout moved to deeper water. The redfish were still around but the schools were moving around quite a bit making them difficult to pinpoint. Offshore, the fishing was fantastic. With red snapper season open, some tremendous mixed bags were taken. All the offshore fish were available--red and gag grouper, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, excellent and hungry amberjacks, and the cobia made a late appearance. On the opening day of snapper season, Fearless Leader Charlie Norwood took Chaeli and Chase Norwood, Miriam Alexander and Captain Bill Shearin offshore fishing for the ruby red fish. Charlie made 3 stops in 55, 65, and 70 feet of water, approximately 35 miles from Steinhatchee. They fished with Spanish sardines, cigar minnows, and live pinfish. Chase used a double hook rig with Gamakatsu® Circle Octopus Hooks 6/0 to 8/0 in size. They also did well using 3oz and 4 oz. Spro bucktails tipped with chunks of bait. As you can see from the pictures, they had their limits and were back at the dock by 2pm.
Fishing Forecast for JULY
This is looking like an excellent scallop season. The early counts were very high, and this was borne out by the early harvest. For additional information about scalloping, please look on our website for this wonderful article written by good friend Charlie Courtney: http://www.seahag.com/scalloping.htm
Inshore, the fishing will be challenging because of the high water temperature and the floating grass that is a regular feature of our area in the summer. The trout have been holding in deeper water around the offshore bars (9 Mile Bank and Little Bank to the north of the river) but may move into shallower water in good numbers as the salinity of the water increases. Start by fishing cut bait or jigs with Gulp shrimp in 5 to 6 feet of water, and then try moving into three feet, using the same jigs, live or artificial shrimp under Cajun Thunder corks. Use about 18 inches of fluorocarbon leader. In any depth, look for areas of patchy grass and sand. For redfish, get up early! Fish at daybreak or sundown with gold spoons, or soft jerkbaits rigged Texas-style (weedless). Look for schools of mullet and fish slowly and very quietly, as shallow as your boat will allow. Look for rocky areas along the shorelines and some of the offshore areas of rocks north and south of Rocky Creek. Offshore, there are excellent numbers of grouper and snapper in deep water. Begin fishing in 50 feet of water and work outwards looking for live bottom. Fish with dead bait on the bottom but make sure to throw a few livies out on corks for the occasional kingfish or cobia that will happen by. We will all be keeping our eyes on the spill, and getting ready if we need to act in our area, but I expect an excellent summer of offshore fishing this year.
You can contact our excellent guides by looking at our guide information page. Here are some of their reports:
Capt. Steve Rassell http://www.lastcastrass.com/ (352)359-5902
Trout fishing is still good to very good. The fish are less active with the hot weather but if you stick with it you'll have a limit. There are still a few big fish in the shallows early with plenty of smaller fish in the deeper water. Redfish are plentiful along the edges and creek mouths. They are hitting just about any bait presented to them. Scallop season is in full swing now and I am finding limits for my charters without trouble. Still have openings if you are interested in scalloping or flats fishing or why not try a combo trip, with fishing early and scalloping later in the day?
Capt. Tommy Thompson
(352) 284-1763
www.flanaturecoast.com/capttommy
The Gulf waters have been hot this month, but that's nothing if you're a redfish. They're much more heat-tolerant than slot-sized 'daytime trout' . Reds have been caught very close to shore from Hagens Cove all the way to Pepperfish, and as the summer heats up, the bite should get stronger. Topwater plugs or poppers seem to do the best on these spooky fish, and it's a good idea to operate your boat as silently as possible--no slamming of hatches and certainly no running of outboard motors. Electric motors work well, but run them slowly and don't change speeds too much. This is when the hard work of poling your boat (That's what that big stick is for!) pays off. Trout have been deep and mackerel are showing up on the outside of the big bars off Bowlegs and to the northwest of marker #1. Consider anchoring up, putting a chum bag overboard and waiting for the trout and Spanish Mackerel to come to you. There are big trout, but most of them travel (and feed) solo at dawn, close to shore. Silent running, long casts, and noisy plugs will work well on these fish. But don't expect to catch a limit--big trout are few and far between!
If you're interested in a 'catch-and-release hunting for big fish' trip, please give me a call or check out my Web site, www.flanaturecoast.com/capttommy And if you're interested in some more in-depth information about fishing Florida's Big Bend, take a look at my weekly Fishing4Cast on the Florida Sportsman Magazine Web site at http://www.floridasportsman.com/4cast/bb, the Florida Sportsman Big Bend Action Spotter column in each month's issue. July, and scallop season, is right around the corner. I don't do 'scallop trips' but there's some great half-day opportunities if we leave the Sea Hag at dawn and fish until the scallopers wake up and the craziness begins.
My award-winning fishing guidebook, The Saltwater Angler's Guide To Florida's Big Bend and Emerald Coast, might be a help to you if you spend lots of time at Steinhatchee (or anywhere from Chassahowitzka to Pensacola). It's got LOTS of secrets, tips and tricks, so don't forget to pick up a copy at the Sea Hag Ship's Store the next time you're at the marina. You can learn more about the book at www.saltwateranglersguide.com
Also, my book, The Inshore Advantage, Aerial Photos of the Shallow Waters near Steinhatchee, Florida is again available ONLY at the Sea Hag's Ships' Store. Although pricey ($75), the hardbound book with its 26 high-resolution color photos, taken at very low tide will give you a decided advantage in that you'll get a close-up look at the details of the shoreline from Pepperfish Keys to Sponge Point. The photos are also overlaid with GPS numbers and place names to help you better understand the shoreline. Also included are two articles, Steinhatchee Inshore Waters and Navigating Steinhatchee's Rocky Shoreline.
Capt. Scott Peters, Jr. http://www.captscottjr.com/ ( 352)356-7502
Bad To The Bone Charters
Although June had several hot days, it still provided some good fishing action. I had several limits of trout and redfish, and I also took first place in the HT3 Redfish series June 26Th in Steinhatchee. While the fishing will slow down this month, with the abundance of people setting out with scallops on their minds, there will be some good morning fishing this month. The cleaning tables have been filled up with scallops; the reports are relatively close to 2009, which was about as good as it gets! Fishing this month will still be great, with a lot of variety around to catch: trout, redfish, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, and bluefish. Target the deeper grass flats (6 to10 ft) in the area, areas north of the river from the Little Banks to Nine Mile Bank will produce just about every inshore species in the area. South of the river the "one way" sand bar and deeper flats south of Pepperfish to the corner rack will also hold trout. Try slow jigging the bottom with a 1/4 or 1/8oz Bass Assassin jig head, with Berkley gulp 3'' shrimp or 5'' inch Bass Assassin shad in Electric Chicken, which is one of my favorites. The redfishing will be better when you can catch the higher tide in the morning which will be around the middle of the month. As the wind is usually slack around the tide change and the water is very clean, it's important to be as stealthy as possible. If you're using a trolling motor, try to keep it at one slow consistent speed. I prefer poling and sight fishing this time of year. There are still some great schools around and scattered fish on most of the rock piles south of the river. As for the scallops, the boats are spread out all along the flats, in areas south of the river out from Rocky Creek and north of the river out from Dallus Creek to Grassy Island. I do have several days open for scalloping, and I've been going south from Hardy Point to Rocky Creek. I have a 25 ft Everglades with a big Bimini top and an Armstrong ladder that makes for a comfortable day on the water. If you're interested in a half-day fish and half scallop charter, or just scalloping, give me a call. And don't forget your dive flag has to be taller than your top on your boat; I'm seeing a lot of boats with dive flags that you can't see until you get right up close to them!!! Don't be that boat! Stay safe over the holidays.
Captain Brian Smith, www.bigbendcharters.com (877) 852-FISH
We understand your concern about oil and beach closings. If you check our website, you will see a weekly update of the fishery closure. This is the closed area, not necessarily the oil itself. The closest southern boundary is more than 130 miles southwest of us and 200 miles west. If you are thinking about fishing, get your reservation in early. If you have a trip scheduled and want to move it up, please call for new dates. All deposits are refundable, and we will call you the day we are notified if the boundaries change against our/your favor. Please do not avoid fishing or scalloping right now, this may be our last year if this slick moves into our area and estuaries. We will fish 7 days a week and work with you to make these trips memorable. Fishing has been FANTASTIC, red snapper are abundant and LARGE, and the larger grouper are showing up after a spring of short grouper. We have be catching some 15+ pound reds and gags on our Thrills trips. AJs are wild, busting topwater plugs like a lunker bass. Cobia are my favorite; if you have ever wanted to catch a cobia let me know; I've been hunting cobia for 20 years, and by now I can smell them! Kingfish are tearing up the bait pods and are giving anglers a fight; it takes tact and finesse to bring these smokers to the boat!! Reef fish such as Florida snapper and seabass are being caught in 25-30' water. Use Gulp baits found in Sea Hag Ship's Store; you will feed an army with all the reef fish you can catch. Grouper and snapper are being caught in 60'+. Be watchful of afternoon showers; don't go further than your boat is safe for, storms cause seas to get rough in a minute!
Don't forget that we are doing offshore, nearshore and scalloping trips, and the scallops are here for the snatching. Talk to the Captain on Facebook, see daily catches and hear some stories! We hope to fish with you soon!
Captain Steve Hart, www.legallimitscharters.com (352) 498-0299
Fishing in June has been great, catching lots of grouper, snapper, some amberjacks, plenty of kings and the occasional cobia. I have been strictly bottom fishing in depths from 65' to 85' using live and frozen bait; both are working well. Remember that red snapper will be closing July 23rd so if you want to catch some now is the time. I also run scallop charters and so far it has been great. I use my 25' Parker with a covered deck for shade when you want to take a break from the sun, so please give us a call for either your offshore or scalloping adventure. Be safe out there.
Capt. Wiley Horton http://www.tunersportfishing.com/
The new Way Offshore trip is proving to be popular with anglers wishing to target the larger fish that are available along the northern fringes of the Florida Middle Grounds. It is not uncommon to find red snapper over 10 lbs.; the photo is a 16.5 lb. snapper this gentleman caught on his first offshore trip. There are plenty of large grouper as well, as shown in this father and son double of fine red grouper. Live bait and cut bait are equally effective. Kingfish are plentiful, cobia are out there and we find packs of mahi occasionally. We've been experimenting with some of the high speed trolling techniques we use on the east coast to catch wahoo--nothing to report yet but I'm betting they are out there.
THERE IS NO OIL AT STEINHATCHEE OR ANYWHERE ALONG FLORIDA'S BIG BEND. WE EXPECT OUR WATERS TO STAY CLEAN AND CLEAR. OUR SHALLOW CONTINENTAL SHELF WILL LIKELY PROTECT US FROM ANY ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THE OIL.
