Captain Favorite's Weekend Fishing Forecast: Jan. 2, 2014

Posted Thursday, June 18, 2015 12:00 am

Merab-Michal Favorite

BRADENTON – Seasonal grouper closure in the Atlantic and Monroe County started yesterday. There is a FWC buoy in Tampa Bay to aid water quality and harmful algal bloom monitoring. A warm front on Thursday will be followed by a cold front over the weekend. Our contributing Capt. Rick Grassett recommends fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay for trout, blues and more. Looking for false albacore and tripletail in the coastal gulf when conditions are good should also be a good option next week.

Fishing Updates

Seasonal grouper closure starts Jan. 1 in Atlantic, Monroe County waters

Several species of grouper will close to recreational and commercial harvest starting Jan. 1 in Florida state waters of the Atlantic, including Monroe County. This seasonal closure includes gag, black, red, yellowmouth, yellowfin and tiger grouper; scamp; red hind; rock hind; coney; and graysby. State waters in the Atlantic are from shore out to 3 nautical miles.
The harvest of these species of grouper in Atlantic state waters will remain closed through April 30, reopening May 1. The harvest closure was established to ensure the long-term sustainability of Atlantic grouper species.
A similar closure will also occur in federal waters of the Atlantic. Tiger grouper is not included in the federal closure.

Grouper information, including Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic grouper regulations, is available online. Go to MyFWC.com/Fishing and select “Saltwater” then “Recreational Regulations” and “Groupers.”

New FWC buoy in Tampa Bay to aid water quality, harmful algal bloom monitoring

A new buoy deployed this month by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in Old Tampa Bay collects continuous water quality information to help researchers learn more about conditions that trigger harmful algal blooms.

Weekend Fishing Forcast

A warm front lifts north across the waters tonight. Low pressure will develop along the front by Thursday morning and move northeast to the mid Atlantic coast Thursday afternoon. A strong cold front will move across the northern and central waters Thursday and the southern waters Thursday evening. Strong Canadian high pressure will build over the region Thursday night and Friday creating strong gusty north to northwest winds and building seas with small craft advisories likely ... and gusts to gale force possible. Winds and seas will begin to subside Saturday.

Thursday

South winds around 20 knots then becoming west in the afternoon. Bay and inland waters choppy. A chance of showers in the morning ... then showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms may increase winds and seas in the afternoon. Thursday night will bring northwest winds around 20 knots then becoming north 20 to 25 knots after midnight. Bay and inland waters rough. A slight chance of showers in the evening.

2014/01/02 Thu 02:23 AM 2.37 H

2014/01/02 Thu 10:17 AM -0.44 L

2014/01/02 Thu 05:23 PM 1.24 H

2014/01/02 Thu 09:02 PM 1.06 L

Friday

North winds around 20 knots then becoming northeast 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Bay and inland waters choppy. Friday night will bring northeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Bay and inland waters a moderate chop.

2014/01/03 Fri 03:12 AM 2.26 H

2014/01/03 Fri 10:54 AM -0.3 L

2014/01/03 Fri 05:44 PM 1.31 H

2014/01/03 Fri 10:08 PM 0.97 L

Saturday

East winds around 10 knots. Bay and inland waters a light chop. Saturday night will bring east winds around 5 knots. Bay and inland waters smooth. A slight chance of showers.

2014/01/04 Sat 04:02 AM 2.06 H

2014/01/04 Sat 11:28 AM -0.11 L

2014/01/04 Sat 06:09 PM 1.41 H

2014/01/04 Sat 11:12 PM 0.88 L

Sunday

Southeast winds around 5 knots then becoming south around 10 knots in the afternoon. Bay and inland waters a light chop. A chance of showers. Sunday night will bring west winds around 10 knots. Bay and inland waters a light chop. A chance of showers.

2014/01/05 Sun 04:53 AM 1.79 H

2014/01/05 Sun 11:59 AM 0.1 L

2014/01/05 Sun 06:39 PM 1.53 H

Solunar Forecast

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