Near Shore Fishing Report
Lane snapper picked up a bit this past week on the deeper near shore side of things around that 80-100ft area we are seeing solid lane snapper fun. They will bite squid, threadfin, and a bunch of different baits but the live shrimp is always a great go to option.
Mangrove snapper action has been consistent near shore but mostly out deeper, and you have to fish patient and consistent too. Mainly the double snell rig with small chunks of cut threadfin on smaller hooks like a 3-4ot hook. Using around 30lb floro is a great option to target these fun to catch quick biting fish.
Red grouper action is going well for us offshore, and were picking a few up near shore too. However, near shore you have to hunt and peck at spots till you get lucky and find one holding keeper sized fish. A lot of inshore are is going to be holding the smaller undersized red grouper that aren’t quite keeper sized, but they are super aggressive and ready to eat even a very large bait. If your consistent and patiently working different areas and depths you can find some keeper red grouper inside 100ft of water on the deeper near shore side.
Hogfish action still very slow due to water temps and time of year. We typically see them best around October through about April or may. They bite better in those cooler months because the cold fronts will barrage the area bringing with them some momentarily rougher weather that concentrates the hogfish on the smaller ledges and rock piles. This makes targeting them and catching them with hook and line much easier. This time of year, when waters are hot and weather is good, the hogfish spread out and typically make it really tricky to catch them with any consistency.
Offshore Fishing Report
Red snapper remains the top spot and focus offshore for us as season continues through October 25th. We are hunting them down around depths of about 140-160ft of water or more. They are remaining active and cooperative for us out deep. You can catch them on virtually any bait as they are super aggressive and not leadershy in the slightest. We are seeing dead bait, live bait, jigs, and all ssorts of options working well on finding keeper sized red snapper. For truly large ones, we are seeing the bigger dead baits or biggest live baits being the best options.
Red grouper remain steady for us too, we aren’t seeing them as aggressive as the red snapper but they are consistent offshore. Fishing them around 120-140ft of water or more has been working best. We hunt them like we do the big red snapper with big dead baits or big live baits.
Mangrove snapper fishing is starting to pick up finally for us. Normally around may or June we see a big push of mangrove snapper and they stay super consistent for us all summer. However, this year we never really saw that push early summer and we have been struggling a bit offshore in that deeper water to consistently product numbers of quality mangrove snapper. That seems to be changing for the positive as of late and were hoping that trend continues!
Besides the mangroves, we are seeing the yellowtail snapper in decent supply, a few lanes and plenty of vermillion too. We also get porgies and almaco jacks from time to time offshore during our long range trips too.
Triggerfish are back open and we have been seeing them best on cut squid strips or other small strips of anything chewy like bonita strips too!
Pelagic wise a ton of blackfin tuna have been around and cooperative lately with the misleading bonita in the mix too. Also, we have caught a few nice bull mahi lately too so make sure a pitch rod and flat line are ready for your next offshore adventure. The occasional wahoo is being spotted offshore too, so make sure your ready if one was to swim up while your bottom fishing.