Inshore – Sheepshead bite is hot around the docks, pilings, and bridge fenders of Johns Pass and surrounding areas. They love cut oyster, barnacles, fiddle crabs or small pieces of shelled shrimps on a 2ot hook with 20lb floro for leader. You can add a small split shot if the current requires it, but if you can get away with a free lined bait that is best, because it looks more natural.
The black drum bite is still steady but the heavy Sheepshead activity is typically stopping your baits before they hit bottom. The trout, snook & redfish can be found up in the shallows this time of year. As the water cools and the tides get lower, these fish, normally found in deeper water grass beds in the summer, come into the shallower waters where the dark bay mud holds the heat and where the sun can penetrate the shallow waters more easily to stay warmer.
Especially behind these occasional fronts you can find these guys tucked up in the back waters and bayous. Don’t forget the mullet run, as these large schools of fish flush out of the back waters the big snook and reds will follow the fish to ambush the stragglers and smaller fish. If you spot a school, work your baits from the middle of the school to the back edges and hold on tight.
Near shore – The ten-hour all day came in from the last all day Thursday trip for the year with 40 keeper hogfish, a new record. The approaching front had the hogfish foaming and ready to chew, we also caught some red grouper and tons of grey snapper, porgies, and sea bass too!
The half-day trips are also doing well on the snapper and a few hogs here and there but the big news are the private charters. This past week’s private charter trips have done exceptionally well on the hogfish, gags and red grouper plus plenty of lane snapper too. The red grouper bite seems to be out in the deeper near shore waters while the gags are spread throughout the near shore waters in spread out areas, meaning only a few at each ledge. We haven’t seen them group up really thick in the near shore waters this year like they have been offshore.
Offshore – The grouper bite this past week was some of the best we have seen in months! The latest 12 hour extreme aboardthe Flying HUB 2 caught over 40 keeper grouper with big gags, plentiful fat red grouper, and also nice scamp grouper too with some big mangroves, yellowtail and lane snapper too! The tuna bite out there is heating up ironically as the water cools. The kingfish are still hanging in the pockets of warmer water.
Check out our latest videos on Facebook as we have been doing video updates as each long range trip returns: www.facebook.com/hubbardsmarina/videos
By Captain Mark & Dylan Hubbard
170 John’s Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach • 727.393.1947
www.HubbardsMarina.com