Salt Spray

[100lbStriper]

Vortex Charters Fishing Report
11-26-2003
Captain Chuck MacIntyre
Vortex Charters of Tampa Bay
www.vortexcharters.com
This past week, the big news again was Gag Grouper. With the Kingfish season becoming disappointing, at best, these bottom dwellers have taken up the slack and have more than made up for it.

On two trips last week, I had clients literally hanging on for dear life as these fish were hungry and did not want to be caught! We put 6 Gags in the fish box on Saturday that ranged in size from 23 to 30 inches. On Sunday, my clients managed only 4 for the ride home; with a couple of mangrove snapper tossed in for good measure. The one King we did manage to catch ate a frozen sardine meant for the Grouper!

In order to get him to the boat, my client had to loosen the star drag pretty quickly as that King was running for the Keys!

Inshore, even though the Sea trout season is closed for now, there has been some great catch-and-release action on area grass flats 4-8 feet deep. Mixed in with them are some big Bluefish—not great on the table; but a good fight. Snook are becoming more active as the water cools to the low 70’s, and their migration to the warmer canals and residential docks is on its way. We lost 3 on three successive trips—too fast and strong for my clients to handle.

Good Fishin’ to ya!

Capt. Chuck MacIntyre
www.vortexcharters.com