Get out early for the best snapper, trout action
Several guides have reported that the trout bite was wonderful on Friday morning, which is great news for those planning to wet a line this weekend. They say, “Go for it,” but get out there early.
“The trout fishing has been really good during the first two hours of daylight,” said Jesse Bishop of Venice Charters Unlimited. “The bite was especially good around oyster bars. “And the river is really starting to clean up a lot,” said Bishop, who advised using live shrimp under a popping cork. “The water’s coming down.”
Casey Brunning of Hurricane Bay Charters also reported a healthy trout bite.
“We had no trouble catching trout at Chandeleur,” he said, “and they were consistently big.”
If you are fishing for redfish, don’t let them frustrate you. Expect the bite to come and go.
“We’ve seen a first-light bite from the redfish and a falling-tide bite,” Capt. Bishop said. Use live or dead shrimp under a popping cork.
The big story leading into the weekend is all about the red snapper bite. If it’s anything like it was Friday, brace for the whirlwind.
“Red snapper today was just ridiculous!” Bishop said. “We were catching them on vertical jigs and pogeys and shrimp.”
“It was like a 10-minute ordeal,” he said.
Brunning had a similar experience. “We went out for snapper today and caught ‘em quick and fast,” he said, “from 5 to 20 pounds.”
“We caught them in 45 to 115 feet of water, but the best bite was between 45 and 60 feet.”
