Grouper season open for business

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Grouper season for Florida’s Atlantic waters officially opened May 1 and will remain open until Jan. 1, 2013. To get all the particulars on grouper regulations, go to www.myfwc.com.

A couple of people I know ran offshore earlier this week in search of some cobia on the Flagler County reefs. They only found one 25-pound cobia but did get some nice flounder that averaged around 4 pounds.

I don’t keep up too much with the offshore scene, so let’s move to the beach.

There have been some good-sized pompano caught in the surf — fish up to 21 inches. The Flagler Pier has been producing bluefish up to 10 pounds, along with pompano and flounder.

The surf has been very clear the last couple of weeks, but if the wind switches to the Southeast, the water will begin to look muddy. When the water gets muddy, the fish tend to turn off, and you’ll mostly get saltwater catfish and small sharks.

Saturday night will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. Experts expect that it will exert 42% more tidal force, so look for the tides to be higher than normal.

I mention this because it will make accessing the backwaters easier. On the other hand, it can make fishing the backwaters more difficult because the fish also have access to more areas. Use an artificial bait to cover more area quickly to locate fish in the deeper flats.

Last week, a friend and I fished the Tomoka River for snook. The search was slow. We fished long and hard before we found the one. I was retrieving a Berkley Gulp 4-inch jerk shad (nuclear chicken was the color) when it appeared out of nowhere. The big snook was about 3 feet from the boat as I watched her nonchalantly swim over and eat my bait. When I felt her on my line, I set the hook. She was on for about five seconds when the hook pulled. I was not a happy camper when I lost the fish.

Oh, well. Chalk another one up to the fish. I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching.

The flounder action is picking up in the Intracoastal Waterway. I caught three flounder on fly last week, and they were all small keepers. I also had a nice 24-inch, 10-spot red on a fly. Fish the shallow water along the banks of the Intracoastal using live or artificial shrimp for your best results.

You’ll get both species using these baits.