May 4 Weekend Fishing Forecast
Captain Chad Starling
904.502.7408
TeamBuckRogers.com
We’ve had such a tough winter, it just doesn’t seem like Mother Nature will leave us alone. We are noticing changes to our waters though… as bait fish, like pogies, are starting to show up very sporadically.
In addition to this migration beginning, we’re also seeing other signs that our waters are changing. Fish like cobia, amberjack, barracuda, sharks, tripletail, and dolphin (Mahi Mahi) are appearing. All these things happened much earlier last year but this winter has been a very strange weather pattern.
For example, we just had another cold front in the last week of April!
Bottom fishing inside 25 miles continues to be a challenge but you can make a great day if you grind it out. There are plenty of red snapper as there have been for many years but the other fish that we like to catch like black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, etc. have been a little harder to come by.
Outside of 25 miles, bottom fishing is very good for vermilion, triggers, red porgy, amberjack and don’t forget, grouper season opens May 1st. We’re looking forward to that.
The government has announced that they plan to open red snapper season hopefully in July. It’s only tentative now, but if approved by NOAA, it could run consecutive weekends, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for three consecutive weeks beginning Friday July 13th.
I am accepting reservations for those days, so give us a call if you’d like to book firm for the 2018 Red Snapper Season. We will be running 4 hour and 6 hour trips on those days.
Red snapper fishing will be spectacular!