By The Captain

 Spring and Summer Fishing

The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and the sugary white sands of Clearwaters beaches are not the only attraction to this great city. With the warm water and sunshine comes plenty of great fishing. In Clearwater fishing is good year around. Different times of the year produce many different types of fish. During the summer months anglers can find schools of Tarpon cruising up and down the beaches in search of food. These gentle giants are easily caught with live bait, or by artificial lures. Right behind the Tarpon, anglers are sure to find plenty of healthy Sharks. These sharks follow the tarpon schools to find that stray Tarpon that makes an easy meal. Shark fisherman need to use heavy tackle and sharp hooks in order to secure a shark stays on the hook. Offshore, Bonito and Barracuda are the mainstay on the reefs, destroying anything that gets in their way. Look out for hooked fish when bringing them to the boat because a Barracuda would love an easy meal. Grouper fishing can be good this time of year if you find the ledge or rocky bottom where they are hiding. Spring fishing is full throttle with the Kingfish migrating up and down our coast from march until June. These fish are a joy to catch for any angler .Kingfish tournaments are a great way to test your skills against some of the best anglers around.
 

 Florida's Mini Lobster season this year is July 26 and July 27.
The bag limits are 12 per person, per day.  Most people made their hotel reservations as they
 checked-out last year, but there are still a few rooms left. They are
 however, going fast. Full Lobster season runs August 6 - March 31. Visit the
 state sponsored Web Site for more information ,
 http://www.floridaconservation.org/marine/lobster.htm
 

Fall Fishing

Weather is cooling a bit and water temperature is dropping slowly. We are catching nice size mackerel just offshore. It's like fishing in a bucket. The fish are very aggressive and will hit anything moving. (Just look for diving birds.) In the same area about 20 foot water depths, we are trolling the Mann's stretch 25+, catching Grouper again... (about time)...

Inshore the fish of the month is still redfish. On a recent fishing trip  the redfish were everywhere, along with the ever-present sea trout. We quickly ran out of live shrimp so we had to switch to fresh-cut pin fish. To my surprise the red fish bite picked up even faster. Look for jumping mullet along the rocky spoil islands-redfish will be close by.
Also worth noting, the Blue Crabs are very plentiful at this time of year. With the water so clear you can drift in 2 to 3-foot of water on the grass flats and dip-net yourself a tasty dinner.

Winter Fishing

The 'cold' days of winter are a great time of year to catch Grouper. If you have an opportunity to get out on a boat between cold fronts, you will be pleasantly surprised with the amount of fish waiting for you. The other good thing about winter fishing is that you can fish relatively close to shore. When the water cools the fish migrate closer to shore and take refuge in rock piles and small ledges looking for bait to eat. The cooler water causes the fish to move slower than in the warm waters of the summer. Start your fishing with dead bait, and then switch to live bait once the action has begun. On a safety note, make sure that you dress warmly when you are fishing during the winter months. It can be deceiving during the day when the weather warms, but the temperature drops quickly in the late afternoon.

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Clearwater Beach, Florida 33767
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Tel: 727-447-7600
Fax: 727-443-7812
Email:  info@beachchamber.com

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