Gathering bait is how most trips start. What most clients never see is the charter Captains running in the darkness to gather bait for that days charter. I'm typically on the water by 4:30 as gathering bait as it can be a 30 minute chore or a 90 minute nightmare.
Today's clients Jeff and Son Jameson were looking for fish to take home. I told Jeff I am on a hot snook bite that is incredibly fun but not legal to harvest. So we choose to target snook first and it paid off once again.
We immediately were into fish but they were trout and not the snook we had been hammering. The trout were very aggressive even in 86 degree water! Most were right at 15" just fractions from being keepers. Finally Jameson got the snook party started but quickly lost a spunky 25". Moments later he had a huge explosion and as massive snook with her mouth gaping wide inhaled the bait. Somehow we did not connect.
Moments later Jameson did connect with a big fish and it had him running all over the boat. The beast made run after run with Jameson doing a great job keeping this trophy out of trouble. It seemed for ever but Jameson prevailed and was proudly posing with his 38" 20 pound snook.
Next up we targeted trout, mackerel, flounder and snapper for the dinner table. Luckily my spots paid off as the guys were set to eat fresh fish for days. Target the trout in deep, clear water with good tidal movement in this warm water.
Captain Steven Markovich
