Paul and Tammy Roble did what every good parent should do, take the kids to Orlando, skip the 'mouse' and go directly to Tampa for a fishing charter on board the Jawbreaker. Although we were surprised to see the water as rough as it was on Saturday morning, it did not slow the excellent Grouper fishing bite that we have been experiencing here in the Tampa Bay area.
With the water temps up to 64 degrees spring is slowly approaching. I decided to head to the Egmont shipping channel to do some trolling for some early season Kingfish. There were Terns and Gannets diving everywhere as soon as we arrived...a good sign! There were also about 200 dolphins swimming and feeding in the area as well. That equaled to no bites! The fish will not bite with dolphins present. Well, off to plan 'B'.
Anchoring the boat in 45 feet of water was all it took on this 4-hour fishing charter. With Mom and Dad watching, Sarah and Aaron got down to business with the Groupers. Aaron had to release about 4 gag grouper like the one he is proudly showing off above. And Sarah caught over 44 fish and 6 different species...yes, she was counting. On this fishing trip out of St.Pete beach,Florida we caught Gag grouper, Red grouper, Mangrove snapper, Flounder, squirrel fish, puffer fish and of course the good ole' grunt! The grey snapper a.k.a. grunts have been bigger than normal, in size and numbers.
If you are planning a trip to Orlando this spring or summer, take a short detour to Tampa and look up Jawbreaker Fishing Charters Inc. for a great day of family fishing fun. You will not be disappointed, just ask the Robles'. Happy fishing to ya, Capt.Dan