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Kingfish
Posts: 1201
 
Location: Tampa Bay | Snapper Fishing Hits High Gear
By BILLY NOBLES
Posted July 24, 2008 by The Tampa Tribune
Just when I thought the snapper bite was on, it seems like it has hit another gear. On Monday, I went snapper fishing with John Degan of Apollo Beach, his father, and his two younger brothers. I picked them up at Land’s End Marina at around 7 a.m., and by 8:15 we had reached our limit of snapper, which weighed between 1 and 4 pounds. I expect this action to last well past September.
Saturday morning at 4, we are heading to Big Pine Key to spend the month of August putting clients on some of the planet’s best fishing. We typically leave the dock around 6 a.m. and start heading south, stopping to load the bait well with pinfish and sandy keys (a type of pilchard). After securing the bait we run into the Florida Straits, looking for the weed line in 750 to 3,500 feet of water.
We spread out, using Islander lures up top for dolphin, tuna, sailfish and marlin and Boone’s lures on the downriggers for wahoo. I stay up top as the spotter, and once a dolphin moves out of the weed line I assess the size of the fish and the school size. If it’s less than 20 pounds, we keep going. But if it’s larger than that and there are several fish we’ll break out the spinning gear and reel them in until we hit the boat’s limit.
While trolling, we’ll hit schools of blackfin tuna and start pouring out the sandy keys by the bucket full for chum. In the afternoon, we’ll start heading in, stopping at the reef for yellowtail and mutton snapper or heading in farther to grab some lobster to grill while the fish are being cleaned.
Last year, our first trip yielded 1,000 pounds of dolphin, 200 pounds of blackfin tuna and a 7-foot sailfish. Our big marlin was a 450-pounder.
The fishing is so good that our 3-year-old daughter, Courtney, caught a 20-pound dolphin, with a little help from mom.
Catch captains Billy Nobles and Mike Anderson on the “Reel Animals Fishing Show” on Saturdays from 6:30-7 a.m. on WFLA, Channel 8, and on Sundays from 8-10 a.m. on WHBO, 1470 AM. To book a charter, call 1-866-GAMEFISH or visit www.reelanimalsfishingshow.com.
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Snapper Fishing - Billy Nobles | TBO
