Saturday Captain Steven was on the water before 6 and off before noon beating the peak heat of summer. Red hot best described the action. First stop was to get bait which was a breeze. The white baits are still small but the quantities are amazing! One toss of the net and the live well was blacked out. The net was almost too heavy to lift into the boat.
Stop number one was in 6-8’ on a grass flat adjacent to Port Manatee. A quick check on the water temperature showing a blistering 87 degrees! I deployed a chum bag and tossed free lined white baits on 1/0 hooks into the outgoing tide. The action started quickly and didn’t stop! Spotted sea trout, mackerel, ladyfish and black tip sharks on almost every cast.
Hoping to find larger mackerel I ran to the flats North of Port Manatee. The action was awesome like the first stop. No big mackerel but some truly big ladyfish. Big jumps, drag pulling runs and lots of fun. Mixed in on this flat were bluefish and flounder.
My last stop was on my Tierra Verde trout hole. It was a dud not a single fish. Sunday’s charter I am heading right back to the eastern shore and stay on the hot bite. As a charter Captain it’s a blast watching my anglers catch fish after fish.
