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Weather Hurts Offshore Fishing

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 2, 2008

GO FISHING is a daily look at the area fishing scene through the eyes of local charter boat captains and fishing guides. Today: Randy Rochelle.

Storm after storm has kept most offshore anglers sitting dockside waiting for a break in the weather. As of now there is a small window of hope on Thursday and Friday; however, this depends on the course and strength of another tropical system, Hanna.

The only report I got was from a group of anglers who made the run offshore west of Tarpon Springs. They managed a mixed bag of fish, including cobia, mangos and some quality red and gag grouper. The hot depth was 60 to 90 feet. Live bait was a must, especially for the cobia and bigger grouper.

Gulf water temperatures are still very warm, although they have dropped a bit because of the amount of cloud cover and rain we have been getting. Until Gulf water temperatures drop a bit more, grouper fishing inside of 80 feet will remain on the slow side.

The best times to fish are from just before sunup until about 10 a.m. After that you will have push out a bit deeper to find a decent bite.

Fish to target for the next couple of weeks will be mangrove snapper from 50 feet out and red grouper in 80 to 120 feet.

Those fishing out a bit deeper, expect to run into some dolphin and cobia, so have a couple of rods rigged and ready to toss out a live bait.

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

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