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Rough Seas Continue To Hamper Offshore Fishing

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2008

Offshore reports have been hard to come over the past week or so. With winds blowing a steady 15 to 20 knots, it has been a bit too rough for most of us offshore to venture far away from the dock.

Kingfish continue to be the hot topic and taking into consideration the past couple of fronts to blow through, you can almost bet the bite will be even better when the weather settles down. Live bait has been hard to find over the past few days but things should get back to normal by mid-week.

Those heading out during the next few days in search of kingfish need to key in on a few things: clean water, structure and schools of bait. Find an area with all three and the kings won't be far off.

Start off trolling hardware as this will let you cover a lot of ground which will help locate the fish faster. Trolling hardware is a good way to find fish, but if it's big fish you're looking for, then slow trolling live bait is the ticket. The bigger the bait, the better.

Gulf waters continue to cool. This will push more and more gag grouper in closer to shore during the next few weeks. Keep in mind as waters cool, cut bait will become your go-to bait as grouper will become a little less aggressive and won't need to feed as often.

Captain Randy Rochelle runs the "Gotta Go" out of St. Petersburg, Florida and can be reached at (727) 365-3218 or go to www.islandercharters.net.

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