With this past weeks weather at home not being exactly Fisherman friendly. Billy and I were fortunate to be spending 3 great days in Key West filming episodes of our TV show. The fishing and weather down south were both awesome to say the least. Tuesday and Wednesday we fished with Capt. Alex Canalejo out of Murray’s Marina. Tuesday we targeted Yellow Tail Snapper on the near shore reef. We caught 20 or 30 of them from 2 to 5 pounds. A good chum slick and freelined 3 inch pilchards were the key to our success. Wednesday the wind layed down a little and Alex decided to make a run for the blue water. We ran into a crazy Dolphin bite about 20 miles west of Key west. Lots of schoolie sized fish in the 8 to 12 pound range. We caught 15 or 20 fish and also got some great underwater footage for the show. Again a live well full of pilchards were used to catch and keep the school near the boat.

Thursday morning brought higher winds and bigger seas but that did not deter our captain from being optimistic. Captain Zach Bentley took us out to some rock piles just 8 miles off of Key West in 200 feet of water. Drifting with free lined pilchards produced several nice Bonita and a surprise visit by a nice summer Sailfish. Capt. Billy landed the sail in about 15 minutes with some great jumps and under water footage for all to enjoy.  This great fishery is only a 7 to 8 hour drive from Tampa, so keep it mind when you need a great summer fishing fix!

Catch Capt. Michael Anderson and Capt. Billy Nobles every Saturday morning on News CH8 at 6:30am and for the Reel Animals Fishing Show and Saturdays for Reel Animals Saturday on 970WFLA from 6:00am to 9:00am and Sunday mornings on AM620 for the TA Mahoney Co. Reel Animals Radio Show from 7am to 9am or to book a trip call 1-866-Gamefish.

The dog days of summer are in full swing! Water temps are high and this weeks tides were very slow making things even tougher. There are plenty of fish around and with next weeks full moon tides approaching things will change up in a hurry. Redfish remain the best game fish target on the skinny flats. Big schools of oversized Reds are roaming all over the bay. Weedon Island and the 4^th street area are both holding a couple of nice pods along with Piney Point and Simmons Park flats. A 4 inch Berkley Gulp Shrimp on a ¼ ounce jig head left sitting on the bottom in front of the school is tough to beat. The stinky bait will almost always get a bite.

The inshore Snapper bite has finally picked up as well. Capt. Billy and I both had great luck this week working the rock piles along the shipping channel edge. Small Pilchards fished on a knocker rig was our best bet. Chumming with a chum bag and extra baits also added to our frenzy. It was good to see the Snapper as I was starting to think they wouldn’t be coming in this year.

The offshore bite was very steady this week with Red Grouper and big Mangrove Snapper taking the spot light. Most of the bigger fish were caught in at least 60 feet of water. The bigger fish are taking live pinfish on the bottom.

Catch Capt. Michael Anderson and Capt. Billy Nobles every Saturday morning on News CH8 at 6:30am and Sundays at 11:00am for the Reel Animals Fishing Show and Saturdays for Reel Animals Saturday on 970WFLA from 6:00am to 9:00am and Sunday mornings on AM620 for the TA Mahoney Co. Reel Animals Radio Show from 7am to 9am or to book a trip call 1-866-Gamefish.

This week the fishing has been pretty darn great. The deeper grass flats are still holding plenty of mackerel, trout, and loads of sharks, mainly black tips. In a little closer and shallower, the redfish are still being taken on both live bait and artificial. For these just head to your local oyster bar on higher water and wait. One artificial technique that works is with the 4 inch Berkley Gulp Shrimp. Put it on a jig head cast it out, stick your rod in a holder and wait for it to bend over. There are plenty of reds in the bay in all size ranges from lower slot to well over the 27 inch max length. Also don’t forget the silver king, that’s right tarpon. There are still plenty of tarpon in the bay. You can sight cast these big boys or dead bait them or chum them up. There are still plenty to be had. As a matter of fact earlier in the week we were fishing with Bud’s Terry Collins for mocks and trout on the deeper grass flats and had tarpon busting our chum baits right behind the boat. Let me tell ya that’s pretty cool stuff. Off shore the snapper bite remains hot. There are still plenty of grouper, and AJ’s being taken as well. Remember that red snapper are out of season so let’em go. Live pinfish are the ticket for the larger grouper as always. The mangos can be chummed up right behind the boat with small greenies or cut chunks as usual. When you get these fish chummed up you can literally load the boat so remember to limit your catch don’t catch you limit. Be sure to tune in on Saturday mornings at 6:30 on News Channel 8 WFLA for The Reel Animals Fishing Show and listen to Captain Mike on 970 AM WFLA from 6-9 am on Reel Animals Saturday. Call in on Sunday’s to WDAE 620 AM The Sports Animal for the T.A. Mahoney Reel Animals Fishing Show to win some cool fish gear from 7-9 am. Also visit our website @ www.reelanimalsfishingteam.com or call 1-866-GAMEFISH to book your fishing trip of a lifetime and until next week, “Do yourself a favor and take a kid fishin’."

With record temps pushing the water temps even higher, beat the heat by fishing early or at night. Our best inshore action on Redfish was early in the morning with good incoming water. Cut threadfin herring fished on ¼ ounce jig heads worked best. The fish were very skittish to our boat pressure so long casts were needed. As the sun got up we changed gears and worked the deeper flats for Spanish Mackerel and Speckled Trout. Small Pilchards under a cork worked well as did Gulp Shrimp in Natural color. Again a ¼ ounce jig worked well to get the baits down in the 6 to 8 foot water depths we were working.

Capt. Woody Gore reports having similar luck with the Redfish up around Weedon Island, also on the incoming tides. One of Capt. Woody's clients also hooked and landed a nice 35 inch Snook this week which is great to hear. The inshore Mangrove Snapper bite has been slower this year than last but we are starting to get some reports of some action.

The offshore scene has been steady as well. From 60 feet of water on out all reports have been good. The Mangrove Snapper bite has been the most impressive. Great reports coming in of nice limits of big Mangrove’s mixed in with Red and Gag Grouper. Frozen Sardines, Squid and live Pilchards and Pinfish all are working well. Last winters super cold temps have kept the deeper waters of the gulf cooler this summer and made for some great late summer offshore action.

Catch Capt. Michael Anderson and Capt. Billy Nobles every Saturday morning on News CH8 at 6:30am for the Reel Animals Fishing Show and Saturdays for Reel Animals Saturday on 970WFLA from 6:00am to 9:00am and Sunday mornings on AM620 for the TA Mahoney Co. Reel Animals Radio Show from 7am to 9am or to book a trip call 1-866-Gamefish.

Looks like the weekend will be a great one to be on the water.  One suggestion is to start early to beat the afternoon heat and thunderstorms.  I for one find that I don’t mind the rain but am highly allergic to lightning and we are in the lightning capital and I don’t want to be a statistic.  So keep your eye on the sky and stay clear of the storms.
 
Earlier this week Mike and I went up to Homosassa to shoot an episode of our show with Captain William Toney.  There are plenty of trout, redfish and sharks up there.  But the main attraction this time of year is the scallops.  They are having one of the best years on record with everyone having no problem filling their limit.
 
Fishing this week has been as hot as the weather.   Captain Mike guided Team Shoot Straight’s, young Josh Patrick to a 36” redfish.  Way to go Josh.  There are still plenty of trout, mackerel, and sharks on the deeper grass flats.  Live bait and chumming is the key to catching these.
 
Red Snapper season is closed but the mangrove snapper bite is on fire offshore anywhere from 30’ on out one the wrecks and rocks due west of Tampa bay.  You can chum these fish up to the back of the boat or use a traditional grouper rig or a knocker rig will produce as well.  With the thermal cline at around 45’ be sure to run a flat line as there are still many pelagic fish around such as cobia, mahi, tuna, and mackerel.  This is a good thing to do any time of year as you never know what may be lurking in your chum slick.
 
Be sure to tune in on Saturday mornings at 6:30 on News Channel 8 WFLA for The Reel Animals Fishing Show and listen to Captain Mike on 970 AM WFLA from 6-9 am on Reel Animals Saturday.  Call in on Sunday’s to WDAE 620 AM The Sports Animal for the T.A. Mahoney Reel Animals Fishing Show to win some cool fish gear from 7-9 am.  Also visit our website @ www.reelanimalsfishingteam.com or call 1-866-GAMEFISH to book your fishing trip of a lifetime and until next week, “Do yourself a favor and take a kid fishin’."