It is July and it is HOT! Red Snappers were the main target for the beginning of the month but there have been lots of Kings, a few Groupers, tons of Vermillions, some Amberines and even a few Cobia caught by local captains and anglers. Plenty of kings on the edges but slower nearshore with the heat. Good numbers on the groupers fishing 25-40 miles SSE.
Red Snapper have closed in state water until weekends in Sept. & Oct. and just closed in federal waters, Still LOTS of fish to catch other than Red Snappers and many boat captains are looking forward to getting to target something different for a little while…
July is a pretty tough month for the inshore bite but it can be really good, if you know where to go. The fish really don’t like the hot water, so they’ll move off the flats during the day out to deeper water where it’s cooler. In the middle of the day, the fish can be hard to catch. You can fish the deeper structures (i.e. docks and bridges) once the sun gets up high and you’ll get some bites. The flats will still be good if you can fish them during the first couple hours of daylight or the last few hours before sunset. This is a good time to take advantage of those early morning fishing charters or the early departure option with our fishing boat rentals.
Amberjack opens August 1st.