As grouper season winds to a close on Florida’s West Central coast, I managed to land one last 24″ gag grouper from the Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille:

There were a few short gag’s caught, along with several big stingrays. No sign of snapper, cobia or snook.

I visited my Friends Harris, Ginta and Egla on Saturday in Punta Gorda, Harris and I cruised the canals and caught some nice Mangrove Snapper. A big snook broke me off under a small bridge. Fun times – and a tasty snapper dinner.

My mission this weekend was to nail a keeper gag grouper for a batch of fresh grouper nuggets. My plan was to hit Merry Pier in St. Pete Beach just before sunrise loaded with a box of frozen sardines, and see if I could coax one off the ledge just north of the pier. This is usually pretty easy when there is a south wind and an incoming current, but this weekend the breezes were out of the north, and the tides were stagnant. Didn’t mater. I pulled a few short tails before getting the 23″ grouper that I was looking for:

Meanwhile, the pompano bite has slowed in Blind Pass (although there has been a 4 foot ‘cuda cruising around 76th Ave). There are small snook here and there, but nobody’s really catching them. Sharks have shown up in Boca Ciega Bay (got about a 20 pound spinner shark over the weekend, and was bitten off by SOMETHING much bigger). Whitebait is starting to show up at Merry Pier, although the greenbacks remain confined to the beaches, jetty and Blind Pass. Tarpon are rolling thick at sunup. No sign of snapper yet, but it won’t be long. There are still occasional flounder being caught here and there. Mullet are all over the place. With a 3 day weekend coming up, I may try to get one more grouper in before the season closes.

The pompano have been running strong in the passes and near bridges in St. Pete Beach. A Doc’s Goofy Jig with a bright teaser is the ticket to catching these tasty fish. Jig along the bottom, with a sharp snap to lift the jig up, then let it settle to the bottom, raising a puff of sand (this attracts the pompano).  Eventually, when you go to snap the jig up, you’ll set the hook in a fiesty pompano. Early morning is the best time for a strong bite, but we’ve been getting them throughout the day. 15 a day seems to be the norm, although there are lots of fish just shy of legal size. By-catch includes ladyfish (lots), sea trout, lizard fish, grunts, bluefish and macks.

I spent a couple hours Sunday at the Merry Pier. There are still grouper around on the incoming tide, and the first few greenbacks just showed up. There has been a four foot barracuda lurking around the boats. And, finally, the first snapper have arriverd Here’s an 11″ mango: