The Great Bait Chase Forgotten Coast Fishing Forecast St George Island / Apalachicola / Carrabelle by Captain Tim “SGT” Peterson
 The great fish migration is all about the chase, of baitfish that is. As the water warms up, the Menhaden, Blue Runners, etc., move into the area to feed. The pinfish, and croakers move into the shallows. Migratory fish start to move to our area in higher numbers this time of year. By the end of the month, the summer fishing season could be mostly here. With our 21st century technology, like water temperature readings we have a good chance of finding the water temperature breaks offshore look for water in the upper 60’s. Also, if you have a savvy captain, they will have a water temperature gauge that will read the temperature going down in 10 ft increments. Once we find the right temperature for the fish, we just need to make them strike! An anglers best bet inshore in April is to catch Spanish mackerel and Pompano. Spanish Mackerel can be caught closer to shore. Look for schools of bait fish. They may even be jumping out of the water. You can catch them on Gotcha Plugs and Spoons. The pompano will be along the beach with the new moon. Later in the month, larger fish will be caught, some with eggs. Crab, Shrimp, and Sand fleas are popular baits. Black drum can be caught near bridges and docks with fresh shrimp or Berkley Gulp. From time to time, you will catch a Gar in the bay this time of year after good amounts of rain. Always keep a pitch rod ready for cobia with a larger eel with multiple hooks in its tail or they will bite them off every time, and 2-3oz bucktail with a baitfish or a large plastic eel. An anglers best bet offshore in April is to catch Gag Grouper about 8 to 15 miles out. They can still be caught in state waters. Gag Grouper season in Franklin county starts on April 1st so the boat launch will start to get pretty busy, especially on the sunny calm days. Get to your spots early. Grouper can be caught bottom fishing, or in the lower 25% of the water column. With that said, on a few occasions, I have had grouper chase a jig all the way to the top in 100ft of water. Gag and some Red Grouper are nearby on wrecks, ledges, or reefs. Large live bait works best, quality frozen Menhaden, Northern Mackerel, and Squid will put fish in the boat. Jigs of various types work. If you get to a spot on a reef, wreck or ledge and the fish aren’t hammering your bait / tackle within a minute, it’s time to move to a new spot. Always have a casting spoon or jig ready for king and Spanish mackerel and possibly a school of Mahi Mahi that come by. If your catching white grunts you are not on the spot to catch grouper. Stop being lazy and move the boat. The best bet to catch the readily available baitfish is with a cast net, pinfish traps, sabiki rigs, or a small hook tipped with squid or gulp bait. The pinfish and croakers will be in water less than 8 ft deep, over grass flats. Offshore, in over 30ft of water just off of reefs, you can catch squirrel fish. The shrimpers have been in town since the begining of last month so many are using new penny shrimp gulp to fish inshore, and smaller shrimp fresh off the boat. Many old time captains say the Spanish mackerel will be in town after the third heavy fog of the year. Most inshore fishing rods around are 4000 series rods rigged with 10-30lb test and 10-30lbs leaders. If you ask around, you will hear a wide range of what people like to use. When you get offshore on reefs, if you are using spinning set ups, I would bump it up to a 6000 series rod at least so you have enough drag to pull a fish off a reef or wreck. Offshore, we use 50-80lbs braid on the spinning tackle on reefs or towers. Bump up your leaders to match at 50-80lbs each. Until next month, practice your Fish Jitsu.

With the end of the winter season, comes amazing fishing. While the migratory fish may not be in high numbers this time of year, an anglers best bet is to catch Red Snapper and Gag Grouper close to shore. Three to four miles off shore, you can catch as many Red Snapper as you want this time of year (2019 Season TBD). Gag and some Red Grouper are right beneath them if you are on hard bottom. Mangrove Snapper, Cuberera Snapper, White Grunts, Black Sea Bass can all be caught closer to the Islands this time of year. All make excellent table fair. Amberjack can be found on large structures in 50FT+ depths. Bull Red Fish (Red Drum) can be caught drift fishing the tideline 0-5 miles from the cuts between the Islands. Larger fish use every advantage they can to ambush smaller prey. They will use every trick in the book for ambush points. These tricks are fog, night, shadows, color change in water, wind, weeds, current changes, rain, thermoclines (water temperature changes), drop offs, ledges, humps, and wrecks to conceal their presence. It’s where big boys hide. Bull Reds travel together while feeding. The water temperature (>65 Degrees) has to be right. Drift fishing is about covering ground. Fish the cuts between the islands as they have a bunch of good drop offs and channels. They also can have a bunch of current ripping through them. These currents are natural funnels for Bull Reds following the tides, and baitfish. Most people think of fishing the cut as anchoring somewhere. This is not what I am talking about. You need to find the fish around the cut. This could mean being 3 miles out past the cut, or inside of it based on the conditions for that time of day. Use as many of the fish’s tricks listed above to find them. The more ground you cover, the more fish you will catch drift fishing. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand how to hit a marker button on your GPS if you get strike. You can often go back and get more hits. Play around with your boat speed. The fish can be lazy and want prey at current speed, or just outside of it. A Carolina rig with a 1/4 to 3/4 oz lead, 20-40lbs braided line, a 40lb swivel, and a 2-3 ft 15-30lbs fluorocarbon leader, with a 1/0 hook is my set up. Many use mono leaders but I won’t hear of it. You can use a 4000 Series sized Penn rod and Reel combo fishing inshore, but I use the 6000 series as these are Bull Redfish. These will almost all be over 26”. Catching a 40 inch redfish drift fishing is not uncommon. Drift with 3 or 4 lines. Popular baits are large fresh off the boat shrimp, and whole fresh flash frozen squid. They give off the most sent, which is key in low visibility conditions. In the winter you can chum a little while you drift fish with the same bait. Scent, without blood (Sharks) will get the Bull Reds to you. It’s my favorite way to catch Bull Reds, but it can be like trolling. You can catch 4 at once or catch one or two all day if you are not in the right place. When you run into a school of breeders, it will be reel screaming pandemonium. Make your plan before you hit the water to use their ambush points combined with low light conditions of the day for success. Until next month, practice your Fish Jitsu. Captain Tim Peterson

In the past week this area has seen the Amberjack hitting. The bigger ones are in 60+ ft of water, although they can be caught in 40+ ft of water west of the island near the ship wreck One More Time. The Gag Grouper have been hitting all over the area. Many people bottom fishing have complained about catching many fish that are just under the legal size of 24 inches in state waters. People that troll don't seem to have the same problem lately. I personally, have seen some bull Mahi Mahi / Dolphin fish around the Franklin County reef, south of St. George Island. The Mangrove Snapper and triple tail have been readily accepting live bait around the area. I have seen a few Tarpon jumping in St. George sound. Also dozens of Devils Rays have been schooling on the south end of Dog Island.  You know what that means...people have also been catching Cobia's in the area. People have been catching Spotted SeaTrout lately near the river and docs. As always the Redfish are bitting. Triggerfish are also readily accepting cut bait. People have been catching nice King Fish off the east end of Dog Island. The Red Snapper are very thick in state waters and we can't wait to hammer them on the opener June 11th to July 20th! The 2018 Florida Red Snapper season charters are selling out fast in the area so book your trip fast. Until next week, I wish you a waterfull life.