The last week of July brought us a lot of tropical moisture which resulted in a lot of rain. Before this system pushed through the fishing was phenomenal! We were getting limits of kings on a daily basis and fishing was easy. Bait has been consistently challenging this year; one day it’s easy to find, and other days we really have to search for it, sometimes not finding it. Since the tropical system, the kingfishing took a nose dive, and until this week it has been really difficult to find good numbers of fish. Over the course of the last few weeks, the money trips have been the 10hr and 12hr days where we can get out to 40-65 miles bottom fishing. We have produced good number of vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, jacks, some mango snapper, some mutton snapper, and even some yellowtail snapper. We are also catching kingfish by flatlining baits out behind the boat while anchored. This week some kings have started to show on our closer areas inside 15 miles, along with good number of cobia; but there seem to be a lot of small fish that have to be thrown back. Some good advice when trying to release short cobia; either use a net, or just cut the leader as close to the hook as possible. Never gaff a fish you intend to release, or if you’re not sure the fish is of legal size. It looks like this week may be the end of the record heat so hopefully we will begin to experience some more milder temps. As the temps begin to fall, the bottom fishing will pick up closer and closer to shore as the water temperature falls. Tight lines!
