Bag those gags while you still can

It is transition time on the fishing front as fall and winter patterns are developing. Northeastern winds have made it tough for anyone looking for reds, as the fish are in skinny water. The winds have wreaked havoc on the offshore grouper action, but when the winds have calmed down for the day, the gag grouper have been cooperating nicely.

DAN CLYMER/Special to the Chronicle

Crystal River resident Mike Scalzi shows off a 19-pound gag grouper caught recently while trolling plugs in 16 feet of water out of Homosassa with Capt. Dan Clymer. The limited gag grouper season closes Nov. 15.

Inshore, redfish have been tough to get at.

“You can sight fish for them, but they are in real shallow water because of the winds effect on the tides,” said Capt. Dan Clymer, a member of the Homosassa Guides Association (www.homosassaguidesassociation.com).

“There is not a lot of water because of the stiff northeast breeze,” he added. “The trout bite has been great, though.”

Clymer said the key to finding trout is to look for strands of kelp grass, which grows on hard limestone rock bottom. “It holds the heat, and the trout are in there,” he said. Clymer has been using the DOA Deadly Combo with shrimp glow. He said MirrOlure’s Lil John twitch bait in glow color have also been paying off with limits of keeper speckled trout.

Capt. William Toney is also a big fan of kelp, and sang its praises during a spring fishing trip last year.

“When the kelp starts in the fall, target it,” Toney said while reeling in a trout near the bird’s nests in Homosassa. “The trout love it, and I learned a long time ago it attracts them like a magnet.”

The limited gag grouper season, which ends Nov. 15, has seen high winds keeping anglers from being able to get out to their spots. And even if you can make it out, those same winds will make staying on your spot almost impossible.

When the winds have been manageable, anglers are getting on the fish by trolling big plugs over structure. Clymer has had good luck using fire tiger- and bunker-colored Rapala X-Raps trolled in 15 to 20 feet of water.

“Last week on Thursday we had an eight-fish, 100-pound stringer of gags,” Clymer said with a laugh. He said fish have been running in the 8- to 20-pound range.

Capt. Rick Burns out of Floral City almost echoed Clymer’s words. Burns reports the water temperatures have been at or near the 67-degree mark, and said if the windy patterns start slowing down, water temps should rise and help the fish bite.

Burns reported his party caught a mixed bag last Thursday to include short but hard-fighting gags, big grunts, sea bass, trout and mackerel attacks on plugs.

Bass fishing on the freshwater front is also in transition, but anglers can still put together a decent bag of fish if they target the right spots. Bass are still feeding on shad early in the day and fish can be found moving under cover as the sun peaks.

Crappie fishermen will start to see the action picking up as colder temperatures begin to kick-start the bite. Trolling a wide pattern of baits at different depths is the best way to bag a limit.

Crosnoe finishes strong on Lake O

Inverness bass angler Robbie Crosnoe finished in second place last month at the Walmart BFL Gator Division Super Tournament on Lake Okeechobee. Crosnoe weighed-in a two-day bag of 10 bass that weighed 32.4 pounds. Jason Counsil of Cassleberry won the event with 35.6 pounds of bass.

The finish was good for a check in the amount of $2,915, giving Crosnoe, a Citrus County Sheriff’s Office deputy, career earnings of $111,409. Not bad for just four years on the fish-for-pay circuit. 

Dan Hermes is an mailto:danoutdoors2001@yahoo.comoutdoors writer based in Inverness. He can be reached at danoutdoors2001@yahoo.com.