The Saltwater Magazine for Gulf Coast Fishing!
SUMMER 2005
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HERNANDO'S HIDEAWAY TRIPLETAIL by Dick Mermon Fishing Hernando's outstanding tripletail habitat   When John Heidleback, an old angling buddy called and invited me and my son in-law Ray Marshall, to work the shallow grassy areas between Hernando Beach and the Hudson Channel marker, there were no second thoughts about going for we had fished this region together several times before with great success, especially for tripletail.   This shoreline territory is part of what is known as "St. Marks Reef", which runs along Florida's Gulf Coast, beginning just slightly south of Hudson, up into the Crystal River area extending from the main beach and marsh to about fifteen miles out where it only then begins descending into deeper expanses. Although water depths throughout this westward span run from total shallowness to slightly over the ten foot level...     SNAPPER TIME! by Robert Sloan Summer tactics for snapper season.   Once again the recreational red snapper fishing season is open through October 31, and there is no indication that it's going to be a slow go. That was quite evident by the catches on the head boats working off the upper Texas Gulf Coast the first week of the opener in late April. Catches by anglers on those boats, out of Galveston and Freeport, Texas, were outstanding. And during the first couple of weeks of fishing the anglers I've talked with, that have been fishing their own boats, have flat loaded up with snapper, and some pretty big ones, as well.   The best, and most obvious red snapper structure along the Gulf Coast are the many oil and gas production rigs that can be found anywhere from a few hundred yards to 130 miles off the beach... Shallow Water Skiff - by Berk Elliott Getting all you need for under $10k.   There was no warning. The plume of salt spray erupted so violently it was as if someone had dropped a bowling ball into the water. Though the bait was a soft plastic jig, the red drum was feeding so shallow that there was no way to contain the strike beneath the surface. The resulting explosion was dramatic!   The ensuing fight included a couple of laps around the boat and required holding the rod as high as possible to keep the super-charged fish away from the sharp edges covering several small reefs. When the strong 23 inch red was finally led to the net, the small boat was sitting on shell. The light hull was easily extracted with no more inconvenience than a pair of wet feet... West Delta's High - Low Snapper - by Pete Cooper, Jr. Red and gray - high and low - and cobia, too!   I don't recall just why that crate of frozen menhaden found its way into the boat's fishbox that fine summer morning. Dave and Debbie Ballay and I intended to target West Delta's cobia along the rips and around a couple of favorite "pipes" with jigs that day. However, upon crossing a nice color change in Block 30, we discovered it had neither current nor sufficient flotsam - and no cobia. So we decided to do something else until the color change formed into a rip, and that's when the box of pogies appeared.   Initially Plan B consisted of tying off to a small platform in Block 32 and trying to chunk up some gray snapper - a tactic that my hosts' son Brandon had enlightened me to the previous summer. Surface action, though, was slow in coming, so it didn't take long for Dave and Debbie to add a bit of weight to their leaders and test the bottom. And there they found a slew of snapper - red snapper - and the chunking efforts abruptly ended! Gulf Coast Closeup - "Live Bait Fishing with Tampa Bay Guide Capt. Chet Jennings" - by Capt. Fred Everson   About five years ago Capt. Chet Jennings approached me at the ramp in Apollo Beach to ask if I had a camera. His was on the fritz and one of his Texas clients had a 40-pound cobia. I took the picture for him, had it processed and got it to him the next day and a friendship was begun. Chet is a Florida native, and he has been guiding on Tampa Bay for nearly 10 years now. We started fishing together on our days off, and it was an eye opener for me. I'm an artificial bait guy, but I was eager to experience the ins and outs of live bait fishing with one of the area's most respected guides.   Capt. Chet is one of the busiest professional fishermen on Tampa Bay, and for good reason. He is a live bait fisherman, and his success is based on his ability to cast net lots of pilchards. Few guides here do it better. He employs three or four different nets ­ different mesh sizes and radius to cover every situation he may encounter. His entire philosophy of guiding revolves around his ability to find bait and put the cast net on it. Most often, his clients accompany him as he nets bait...   OUR DEPARTMENTS...   Rod & Reel'n Offshore - "Build a Custom Spinnerbait Jig" - by Patrick Lemire   The Bay Naturalist - "Sashimi Grade - Taking filleting to the highest level" - by John Hook   Equipment Notebook - "Installing Courtesy Lights" - by David Ayers   Tackle Time - "Three's All You Need" - by Colby Sorrells   Bait Hook - "Watermelon, Baseball and Trout" - by Jim Martin     From the Publisher... Besides all these great articles and departments, Gulf Coast Fisherman is the only source for the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast. Each issue carries three months of the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast - with Monthly Fishing Calendars. This will provide what you need to intelligently plan your fishing trips - hours, weeks, and months in advance!   Top saltwater guides and fishermen use the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast - shouldn't you be using it ,too?...   "The fisherman that knows what the currents are doing has the advantage - over fish and fishermen!" And remember - "Fish feed everyday, somewhere " - Harold Wells   Gary Ralston Publisher   Home