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Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
We are getting into late february and the weather has warmed up again from the last cold front we had about a week or so ago. The past few days the winds have kicked up out of the south east which is a warmer wind but makes getting offshore especially rough, and can mud up a lot of areas in the backcountry. Luckily a lot of the good fishing we do this time of year it doesn't affect much, esepcially for the big creatures like tarpon, sharks, mud marlin, and goliath groupers. This past week several guides have been hooking into gigantic 'mud marlin' up to 500 lbs. Capt. Dave Sisung, Capt. Jim Willcox, Capt. Rick Stanczyk, Capt. Jeff Beeler, and others have reported these sea monsters in many of the backcountry channels as they prepare to enter their spawning ritual. Mixed in have been lots of sharks including blacktips, lemons, bulls, and the occasional hammerhead. This time of year it is not uncommon to hook into hammerhead sharks back there which are very neat to see. Capt. Jim Willcox and Capt. Vinnie Biondoletti both had some hammers this past week. The tarpon in the backcountry had kind of disappeard after the last cold front, though we had been catching some around town here close by where the water had been a few degrees warmer. Capt. Ben Ekblom and Capt. Rick Stanczyk have reported tarpon action close to home the last few days. Capt. Ben fished a night trip and caught 2 out of 3 the last evening, and a nice one this morning as well. He also reported several other bites this morning and good fishing! Capt. Rick has hooked into tarpon the last 4 trips just fishing the last hour or so of the day in the nearby channels. Long time Bud n Marys anglers Bill Levor caught his largest fish to date with Capt. Rick, a very nice 120# tarpon! Capt. John Johansen did report catching a nice tarpon in the backcountry today though and several big sharks, so fishing back there for tarpon should be getting better and better as it continues to warm. As for everything else, there have been lots of muds around with a mix of ladyfish, jacks, trout, and the like. These fish are starting to move more out into the open bays where we fish in the spring and summer. Mangrove snappers have been plentiful around the islands and nearby gulf. Capt. Bill Bassett has had some nice catches of snappers in the near gulf. The redfish and snook bite has been a little slow many of the winter time spots are drying up as fish move back out onto the flats and into the skinny water, though with the wind the sight fishing is not optimal. Pilchards are getting tougher to come by as well for the snook fishing, though if your willing to dedicate time to finding bait and fish it's definitely still possible.
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
This Fishing Report was submitted on 2/21/2014 7:35:20 AM by Seamus and last updated on 2/24/2014 7:35:20 AM.
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