Will be fishing around Anna Maria Island, Florida (Gull of Mexico side of FL, an hour from Tampa and Fort Meyers).
Any tips? I’ll be fishing from piers and shore, trying to catch anything I can – I believe snappers, grouper and trout are accessible in the area.
If I do any casting, any suggestion on 1 or 2 good versatile lures for those and any other species in the area?
Appreciate any advice.
Thanks!
Fishing when? Which pier Rod and Reel, Cortez Beach or the Oyster bat pier?
You can’t get much more versatile than swim bait style jigs.
Different time of the year, so it may be different, but I was advised by a bait shop guy that the best way to catch a snook from shore was casting a crank pretty close to parallel from shore into the gulf right at sun up. That was off Madeira beach, just a hair north of where youll be, in the early spring. I had a little bit of luck the one morning I tried it. Good luck!
Last time I was down in Clearwater a local that was fishing next to me was pulling sheepshead after sheepshead off of pilings of the pier we were fishing. He was using live shrimp and basically sight fishing them as they eat barnacles right off of the pilings. He let me use some of his shrimp and I caught a bunch too. Really fun to catch and beautiful fish.
So keep your eyes peeled for them on each piling.
A couple other tidbits about gulf sheepshead…
1. You can “chum” for them by scraping the barnacles on the pilings, the dislodged pieces are a free meal and really draw them in. That’s often how the sight-fishing comes into play.
2. They are one of the best eating fish in the gulf – they have a shellfish-like flavor.
Good luck!
They are delicious and very accessible around pilings and other shallow structure in the winter Dec-April. Current should be present, like most fish they prefer feeding in moving water when feeding, even if most of they food is plucked from the structure. Fish for them on the top or bottom of the tide and you’ll get frustrated watching them swim around uninterested in your offering
A couple other tidbits about gulf sheepshead…
1. You can “chum” for them by scraping the barnacles on the pilings, the dislodged pieces are a free meal and really draw them in. That’s often how the sight-fishing comes into play.
2. They are one of the best eating fish in the gulf – they have a shellfish-like flavor.
Good luck!
Good info Watersmack. It was really fun fishing for them and you can find some pretty good sized fish there as well.
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