More wind limits access to gulf, back country fishing heats up

  I’m sure you are as tired of reading about the wind as I am of writing about it, but for another week Anna Maria Island anglers are finding themselves with only a handful of days with calm seas. 

The inshore waters in the backcountry are calm, but the bite is following suit. In late February and early March, many anglers are enjoy venturing into the Gulf of Mexico to target bottomed-dwelling species, such as sheepshead, mangrove snapper, grunts, porgies, and hogfish. With so many windy days access to areas where we target these species has been extremely limited. 

This being said, you may need to put aside the “grocery list” and focus on back-country fishing. This time of year can produce excellent trout fishing. Drifting and jigging with soft plastics over deep grass flats can be productive, as well as entertaining. Especially if you stumble across schools of large trout in measuring 18-24 inches. On light spinning tackle many anglers find pleasure in battling a feisty wintertime gator trout. And while jigging for trout it’s not unheard of to encounter other species such as ladyfish jack crevalle, bluefish and even pompano. Yes, those Pompano will strike a soft plastic if it passes in front of their nose, which is an added bonus to every fishing excursion.

If trout aren’t quite your thing, or you’ve already caught a bunch, there’s always a redfish or two lurking around an oyster bar or dock or even around a mangrove island. Pitching a select-size shrimp in these areas can be advantageous as typically a redfish will quickly sniff it out and inhale it. And if it doesn’t, there’s always a possibility of catching black drum or sheepshead or the negative outcome of just having a shrimp get eaten alive by a school of tiny pinfish in which case you’ll know it’s time to move on.

Ultimately, the point being made is, although the wind makes it difficult to fish, sometimes being able to adapt and do other types of fishing can turn a bad day into a good one.

Finally, snook season reopens March 1 for recreational harvest for Florida’s West Coast and will remains open through April 30.

The recreational harvest of snook will open March 1, and remain open through April 30. This opening includes all Florida state and inland waters as well as adjacent federal waters in the Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Southwest management regions.

On my Just Reel charters, I am bouncing all over the water, depending on what the weather presents that day. 

On the calmer days, I’m finding myself in the Gulf of Mexico fishing over ledges, reefs and wrecks. Using live shrimp as bait results in a variety of catches, including mangrove snapper, hogfish, porgies, Key West grunts and juvenile grouper. Flounder and sheepshead are being found around artificial reefs in good numbers, as well as many lane snapper and a few grunts. 

On the windier days, I am cruising around the backcountry and search of redfish. Casting shrimp under docks yields the best results. Mixed in with the reds are black drum and sheepshead which adds some variety to the bite. 

Drifting the flats for spotted seatrout is also working to create action. Soft plastics on a jig head or a pompano jigs are luring these fish to bite. Mixed in with this bite are jack crevalle as well as pompano here and there.