Nearshore Fishing: Anna Maria Island Fishing Charters
In my last blog, I talked a lot about how awesome our inshore fishing charters on Anna Maria can be. I mentioned what the snook, redfish, and trout tend to do when the water temperature increases, and oh my goodness, can I say that it is happening! This past week, during my fishing excursions, I’ve been focusing on inshore, and we have been slaying the snook, redfish, and trout. It is so awesome to see how great our fishery is thriving, and all I can say is it’s going to be one amazing year for fishing. I wanted to switch gears in this blog and tell you guys about a different kind of fishing we do on our Anna Maria Island Fishing Charters, known as “nearshore fishing.” Nearshore fishing refers to any type of fishing that we do off our beautiful beaches and up to 9 miles offshore, where we are allowed to take paying passengers fishing without a federal reef permit. I offer nearshore fishing excursions year-round, but there is something truly special about the springtime, from the end of February to the middle of May.
Springtime Bottom Fishing
First off, I would love to talk about bottom fishing, which means we target fish that like to be on structures like rocks, ledges, shipwrecks, and any type of structure where the fish can group up. At the end of February and early March, we have an incredible sheepshead and mangrove snapper fishery. The sheepshead like to stage on artificial reefs and shallow ledges a couple of miles off the beach, and their hard-fighting attributes make them a super fun fish to target! The big mangrove snapper are one of my favorite fish to eat, and they are always a blast to catch! On certain ledges around 8 and 9 miles, the mangrove snapper come in and get very tight, making them a very easy target. We also catch a wide variety of other species while we are bottom fishing, like hogfish, Key West grunts, porgies, and gag grouper.
Springtime Nearshore Pelagic Fishing
In the springtime, there’s a lot of bait around offshore, and you can find big schools of kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonita, and cobia around these schools of bait. Sometimes, you will see a full-on feeding frenzy! The spring migration brings all these wonderful fish and more, such as the permit, to our local reefs, wrecks, and hard bottom areas. We catch Spanish mackerel and bonita on the shallow ledges and wrecks inshore, and they are some of the hardest-fighting fish we target in the spring!
There’s nothing better than a fun morning of listening to the drag screaming and the rods bending out of control. In the deeper hard bottom areas, we catch massive kingfish, sometimes reaching the 30-pound range, and these fish are among my favorites to target in the spring. We had some epic fishing charters off Anna Maria Island last spring, catching some huge kingfish! When I’m looking for kingfish, the key is to have a ton of bait, and you have to chum super heavy to find the school of fish. I go to two big hard bottom areas, drive super slowly, throw baits behind the boat, and see if any fish pop up. If I see a fish pop up, I circle back around, start chumming heavily, and start to fish. Cobia and permit are the other game fish we target in the springtime. Both of these fish migrate from the south and start to show up in big groups around early to mid-March. We look for these fish on the local wrecks and reefs.
Book Your Anna Maria Island Fishing Charter
There are certain tactics you’ll have to book a charter with me to learn about when it comes to getting these fish to eat and getting them on the end of your fishing rod! Both of these fish are highly sought after and are worthy of displaying in your man cave or living room if the wife lets you, haha! Some of my favorite fishing memories and trips have come from fishing for permit. They fight hard and provide a real adrenaline rush. I’m looking forward to fishing with you all this upcoming spring, and remember, if you are on Anna Maria and looking to go fishing, then I’m your guy!
