I had a fun trip taking out a member of management of the Tampa Bay Rays.A good time was had by all.The plan was to hit the bay reefs and rock piles while we waited for the afternoon bite on the flats.With a livewell full of pinfish,scaled sardines and shrimp we were ready for action.First stop I checked on a couple of areas and the bottom machine lit up like a Christmas tree,so down went the anchor.His first drop to the bottom produced a keeper mangrove snapper so he was pleased with the good start.There were quite a few boats on the reef that were not catching that ended up leaving.The key is to make sure you have structure under the boat ( or up tide of it) and that your bait is getting near it.15 feet can make a big difference.The lady of the boat had the hot hand for hooking into a couple of large fish that got the best of her and made it into the structure. After giving her some more tips she pulls up some nice mangroves herself.Before we left they had caught the variety of grouper,mangrove snapper, sheapshead and 3 lane snapper.Last three trips we have caught lane snapper on the bay reefs.Then it was time for the main attraction, what they had been waiting for, Snook!!So off we went to go find some hungry fish. First stop was for a short 15- 20 min with no hits so it was time to move the next stop was golden. I threw out a few chummers for the kids and nothing happened but wait they were just in delay mode and the water starts blowing up and their jaws drop and they can’t get a bait in the water quick enough. The anticipation and excitement on their face was why I do this. A minute later and he is hooked up and saying this is great. After they catch the first few he tells her it doesn’t get any better than this. Meanwhile the fish are still blowing up on baits and their backs are even coming out of the water, game is on and we are loving it. After 11 snook it was time to move to a different area and the repeat began all over again with trout being added in as a bonus. At the end of the trip they had caught 20 snook and seven trout and the mix of reef fish.

On the reef fishing anchoring is the key to success. If other boats are in the area see how they are anchored and line your boat up the same way to get a compass reading for an anchor course. Then go over your rock pile on that course to get up tide of it and drop your anchor and that should get you close as long as there is no cross breeze. With your motor straight and the boat at rest, take a compass reading for the next anchoring.(When doing this make sure the bow is pointing the same direction as your anchor line and that the wind is not pushing the back end out of line). When your boat comes to rest if you are off a little you can turn your motor to move the back end of the boat, for slight corrections

Here are some pictures from the day and good luck out there. If you have questions on techniques feel free to email me.