Longtime Anna Maria Charters client Rich Maser of Pittsburgh shows off the slot-sized snook he caught using a live shiner for bait March 8 on a fishing trip with Capt. Johnny Mattay.
Chef Jacques and Carol Haeringer of Great Falls, Virginia, show off the slot snook they caught on a March 6 guided fishing trip with Capt. David White of Anna Maria Charters. The couple owns L’Auberge Chez Francois, started 70 years ago by Jacques’ father and voted the most romantic and best French restaurant in the DC metro area by Washingtonian magazine and Open Table.
With spring just around the corner, Anna Maria Island anglers are feeling hopeful for a backcountry fishing season.
Meanwhile, the snook are crawling out of their winter haunts to feast on live shiners.
A large number of linesiders, especially in the size slot for keepers, have yet to show, but there are some available to target.
After a couple of warm days, snook are biting during the morning high tide, although targeting them after a cold front takes a little patience — at least for a while during the day when the schools is more eager to take the bait. Other schools are a bit nervous — until dawn.
Targeting spotted seatrout is starting to heat up as more fish stay on the grass flats when the springtime bait schools arrive. You can target these fish in a variety of ways using live bait and artificials.
Live shiners or shrimp cast into sandy pits is a good way to start. If you’re using artificials, soft plastics on a jighead or topwater plug can be effective.
And, while you’re targeting trout, there are opportunities to hook other species as well, depending on your bait. Ladyfish, jack crevalle and Spanish mackerel are present on some of the deeper grass flats, so casting live shiners can be productive.
And whether you’re throwing jigs or live shrimp, or a combination of the two, there’s potential to hook pompano.
Redfish are also a target species in the spring, when they frequent mangrove shorelines in search of food.
Casting live shiners to these areas triggers the reds to bite. You can find reds around rocks and docks, when casting a live shrimp as bait can be the key to success. And don’t forget that there are sheep and black drum that stay in these areas and they just want a live shrimp offering.
On my Just Reel charters, I bring live shiners and live shrimp to be prepared for any situation.
Targeting trout with live shiners results in consistent bites and casting baits into sandy holes or deeper grass flats results in plenty of hookups. The trout bite includes ladyfish, jacks and macks.
Targeting snook with live shiners can produce good action and, as a bonus, I’m seeing some reds mixed in.
The shrimp transition is working well on structure in the Gulf of Mexico. Sheepshead, mangrove snapper and juvenile grouper make up the bite.
I also see cobia interested in shrimp.
Finally, some flounder are available while fishing the artificial reefs in the Gulf.
Capt. David White of Anna Maria Charters is fishing the backwater now that the water temperature is rising. Using live shiners as bait leads White and his clients to a variety of backcountry species, including snook, redfish and trout.
For snook, White works in shallow water along sandy shores, where anglers are sight-casting, which can be enjoyable. There is nothing better for a day of fishing than watching a linesider eat your bait.
In some instances, redfish are caught in a similar manner.
As for spotted seatrout, deeper grass flats with sandy potholes work best. In these areas, White hooks his clients with Spanish mackerel.
And White has a shrimp with him for bait, working to catch a sheep’s head.
Jim Malfese at Rod & Reel Pier says things are starting to come alive at the pier. Sheepshead are making a strong showing, with some anglers catching their limit of eight sheepies in one morning.
Black drum and redfish are caught while targeting sheepshead, and red and black drum are caught in the slot.
Anglers using live shiners are hooking up with undersized snook, as well as Spanish mackerel. Macks are also being caught on small spec rigs or silver spoons.
Capt. Johnny Mattay, of Anna Maria Charters, is looking for good action for his anglers by working the shorelines for snook. Clients also sight-cast with live shiners as bait. And the good news is that they are finding redfish with a mixed snook bite.
Mattay says spotted seatrout are being caught along the deeper grass flats, where casting live shiners into the right sandy hollows results in good rallies among the popular fish on the flats.
Switching to shrimp as bait adds to the variety, providing sheepshead and pompano fairly regularly.
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