![[Image of Shark]](hamshark.gif)
Fishing forecasts prepared by one or more GOFC members are published in each month's GOFC Newsletter. In addition, a forecast for the entire Big Bend of Florida, by award-winning outdoor writer Richard Bowles, is published each month in the "Action Spotter" section of Florida Sportsman magazine. The Tackle Box in Gainesville provides a pre-recorded fishing report by telephone at 352-375-FISH. The Tackle Box report covers both fresh and saltwater (Atlantic and Gulf) and is updated weekly by fishing pro Gary Simpson, usually on Thursdays. Gary also writes a weekly fishing column that appears in the Friday sports section of the Gainesville Sun. Like the Tackle Box report, it covers both fresh and salt water fishing, including the Big Bend from Steinhatchee to Homossassa and the Atlantic from St. Augustine to Matanzas Inlet. A fishing report for Steinhatchee is made available on the Web courtesy of our friends at Sea Hag Marina.
The Fishing Around the Big Bend web site has an extensive collection of fishing forums including a fishing report/discussion board for the Big Bend that is updated almost daily.
Now is the time for our local waters to have the best clarity (top to bottom visibility) we'll see until mid summer. That means this is the time to start prospecting for new areas. My next few trips out will be spent not fishing, but trolling over areas that look promising. I'll most likely pick up a few grouper but more importantly I'll find new areas to augment the areas I already fish. I then spend the rest of the summer investigating the locations I've found. It's not as easy to find new areas during the summer as the water clarity will not be as nice, baitfish are abundant and give false readings on your bottom unit, and the brown and green algae are growing like weeds and will show up as high, albeit false, artifacts on your bottom unit. This time of the year the bottom growth is at a minimum and what you see is what you get. There will be no time of the year like in the next few weeks (lasting just shy of two month-storms dependent) to find new areas! Another plus is that the trolling lures do the work for you. This time of the year the grouper are really hungry and go to great limits to intercept what you offer. Their strike is the indicator of a potential honeyhole.
While I'm no expert this is what I do. I look for 1) dark patches indicating hard bottom, 2) turtles at the surface, and 3) surface pods of bait. While I'm driving I get as high as I can and drive towards those types of areas. Looking far ahead is the name of the game. Driving over pods of bait is a good idea, as they like to school over areas of either hard bottom or something structural on the bottom. I imagine this gives them an energetic advantage staying near an area that offers a break from the currents (i.e. eddies). Look at an artificial reef or wreck and you'll understand what I'm referring too. Don't pass small patches of hardbottom; my best spots are small patches. Keep a float handy for tossing at an area that you want to go over again. Hitting the SAVE button on the LORAN or GPS serves the same purpose. As ALWAYS keep a logbook of saved numbers and a short description of the area. You'll appreciate it when you return to that area.
I like to do this in the morning so the sun is behind me allowing me to look ahead for dark patches and I can drive the boat towards those areas (assuming you are trolling north, south, or west). Usually the morning is when the seas are the calmest too allowing your bottom unit to work it's best rather than bouncing up and down from sea slop. I like to do this beginning around 9 a.m. so the sun will be at a high enough angle allowing me to see promising areas from a distance. Not to mention seeing the bottom clearly. Any area you pass by you'll be wise to save the location for further developing. Any bottom that stands out on my bottom unit will also be saved (as in high relief or dropoff) for further investigating.
- Brian Kiel
The Big Bend Bash was an impromptu get together held in Cedar Key the weekend of April 7th. A grouper of anglers, including several GOFC members, got together on the www.whopperstopper.com web site and organized the event. It was not a tournament, just simply an attempt to meet one another in person, tell some lies, catch some fish, and spend some quality time time with Captain Morgan. Oh, and there was something mentioned about everyone eating Tato's iguana chowder . . . .
by Andy Cheadle
Saturday 4/7/01
Sunny, full moon
Seas 1-2 feet
Low tide 8 am high 2:17 pm
We had some live pins caught the night before, so we ended up heading out around 6:45. But let me back up a little.
When I was getting ready to leave on Friday for the fling, my boat being at the mechanics to get the stator changed, I was planning on being down in Cedar Key by 4 pm. Well at 4 pm we were just pulling out of Gainesville. Shame on me for planning anything around a mechanic's schedule.
We ended up not getting on the water to catch bait on Friday until around 6:30 and fished for pins right up until dark. I was planning on meeting everyone at the pavilion to set up the run out but by the time that we got back after washing the boat it was 9 and we had to eat dinner.
In the morning, the typical traffic jam occurred at the Cedar Key ramp, so when I got everything ready, the boat in the water, and everyone ready to go, there was no one around. We had the itch and the radio on, so we decided to RUN out to the and area called Farm. After trying to catch a little more bait at Seahorse Reef, we started looking over some spots at the Farm. We bottom fished some areas that are usually productive and caught nothing. We trolled the area and, again, nothing.
We decided to run to another spot where our recorder had painted fish the week before. On the run over we found some good bottom and decided to fish it. Freakin' sea bass! We picked up and ran to the spot (in 40 feet) only to find 3 boats already on it. I guess some of my private spots aren't so private. After an hour of trolling around the area looking for new spots and only one sublegal gag to show for it we gave up and left.
We then went to an area of hard bottom in 50 feet and began to troll. Within 5 minutes we had a keeper (3 pm). We trolled up 3 more keepers in the next two hours and many shorts in the area. Even better we found more potential spots to visit later. The keepers were caught on red white and chartruse blue stretch 30s. All in all a frustrating day but the weather was nice and the girls had a good time so I was pleased.
Sunday, 4/8/01
Sunny, Just after full moon
8:30 Low tide
2:45 high tide
Seas 1 foot
Tato and I were drinking Captain Morgans on Saturday night and decided to go to a spot 20 miles out. The wifers were staying in Cedar Key, so it was me, Bill, and Charlie. We ran out to the spot 51 feet and were stunned when we saw the fish finder. You know those pictures in the books that show you what fish look like on the finder. Well we had a bunch of those above an area of large relief. Big fish arches. Lots and lots of BIG FISH ARCHES!
We anchored up, with Tato and his crew anchored beside us. Then it was let down a pinfish and immediately WHAM, a keeper. The action was hot from then on. Bill was catching keeper after keeper on a SPINNING ROD! I did ok and so did Charlie. We ended up with 12 keepers within a period of 3 hours (10-1pm). We decided to troll for a while after Tato and his crew picked up and ran back with their 14 keepers. We ended up tolling up 3 more keepers to complete the limit.
We also found some more hard bottom around the spot for future hits. All in all the best day grouper fishing I have had, 15 keeper gags and about 30-40 short gags and reds. The water was so clear you could see the bottom in 50 feet.