Captain Zach's Manatee Fishing Report, Sept. 16, 2010

CORTEZ – Whether fishing is an art or a science is a never-ending debate. On the one side of the argument,it is an inexact science to be sure. A case in point is a trip out at mid-week that had success written all over it at the outset. My fellow anglers and I had decided to exclusively go the artificial route.

The big incoming tide brought a lot of action early in the morning and early in the tide. We plied the deep grass around Anna Maria Sound and the bulkhead of Manatee County. Action with trout, ladyfish, jacksmackerel, bluefish and grass(gag) grouper was pretty steady with a variety of offerings including top water "Chug Bugs", Tsunami "Trout Maulers", and various other soft body lures and spoons.

There were numerous schools of small to average sized bait all over the place and numerous flats roaming species in pursuit. The tide was scheduled to top out at around 2 p.m. at 2.6 ft. As is often the case, on a huge flood tide like that, the action tended to wane after the tide surpassed the 2.0 ft level. Inshore species as reds and snook tend to scoot way back in the shade of the mangroves on the flood. In the past few weeks, most every guide report in the area has boasted redfish being "just about everywhere".

I can attest that we found one area completely devoid of reds and snook. We decided to check out a local bayou that is widely regarded as top notch redfish and snook territory. Our initial efforts concentrated on several spots that have consistently produced good catches in the past. When they did not pan out, we cruised the length and breadth of the bayou and honestly did not spot any fish other than massive schools of mullet.

We were rapidly approaching the fall blitz of pelagics and from all appearances it should be a banner year. Many species have never really moved on as usual. Heavy rains late in the summer are flushing huge amounts of bait towards the gulf. Savvy anglers will spend some time in the next couple of weeks tuning up their tackle and stockpiling terminal rigs with long shanked hooks and some wire for the toothy onslaught.

Spanish mackerel have been on the scene all summer and look for their bully cousins kings coming on real soon. Throw in some cobia and departing schools of shark and tarpon for some really hot autumn action.
It is still conjecture on my part, but I still believe the BP fouling of the north gulf coast has bunched up many species of fish and has them taking refuge in our still clean, pollution free waters.

Good luck and good fishing. Be careful out there! Capt. "Zach" Zacharias Cortez, FL. Call 941-795-5026 to book an offshore/nearshore/inshore trip.