This time of year the near shore bottom fishing 3-9 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico is very productive. Finding areas of live “hard bottom” and natural ledges that is holding bait and crustaceans will attract the game fish that we are looking to catch. This style of fishing requires dropping live/dead baits to the bottom with weight to hold it near the bottom. This style of fishing is pretty simple and easy to get the hang of with constant action and lots of chances at hooking and landing fish on these fishing charters.

We use a circle hook 2/0 up to about 5/0 depending on the size of the bait that we are using and ½ ounce to 5 ounces of lead to make a knocker rig to drop to the bottom. We also use a “chicken rig” which suspends the bait off the bottom a bit more than the traditional knocker rig. We use 20-30 lb leader. We try to carry a variety of baits on our fishing charters and this type of fishing is no exception. The top 4 baits that we like to carry around live shrimp, dead shrimp, fiddler crabs, and dead squid. These can all be purchased at your local bait shop and are pretty inexpensive. By booking a fishing charter with us you do not need to worry about bringing any of this as we will have bait, rods and all terminal fishing tackle, and we will fillet your fish at the end of our trip to ensure it is ready to bring home and cook.  

Some of the species we encounter while bottom fishing include, imperial snapper, porgies, sheepshead, hogfish, lane snapper, mangrove snapper, red grouper, and gag grouper. There is also a chance of hooking into a shark, Bonita, kingfish, or a cobia if conditions are right and we have some good live bait aboard. This is one of the best parts about fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is that there is always a chance of something swimming by that can make your day very interesting! On our way from spot to spot and coming in and out of Longboat pass on Longboat key we make sure to go close enough to some of the  stone crab traps in hopes of spotting a tripletail right next to the foam buoy marking where the trap is. Once we spot one we circle back around and toss a live shrimp in front of it hoping that it comes over and eats it. These fish are one of the tastiest fish in the Gulf of Mexico and can be found just a couple hundred yards off the beach this time of year.

If you are looking to book a fishing charter give me a call or text 813-220-8725. There is a lot of fish around right now and it is only going to get better as the weather warms. We are based in Bradenton and Anna Maria Island. We also have pickup locations in Palmetto, Longboat key, and Siesta key. We offer inshore and near shore fishing charters for the beginner all the way to the avid fisherman. We encourage kids to come on our trips!