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A few whiting and redfish will be available for the surf fisherman during the month of August. Fresh shrimp on a double pompano rig will be good for both species. Spanish mackerel and bluefish will get close enough for anglers to throw gotcha plugs or bubble straw rigs to them to have some serious fishing fun as these fish can fight. You will also be able to catch hardtails and ladyfish from the surf as they chase the baitfish right onto the beach. Bubble straw rigs, clark spoons, and the most popular gotcha lures will also do the trick nicely.

Be aware that in Federal Waters fishing for Red Snapper will be closed starting the first week in August. State waters will remain open. For the red snapper, the key will remain to use as light as tackle as possible using fluorocarbon leaders. Chumming them up over wrecks and free lining your baits down among the chum will be a good method for bringing home the big ones. Live bait for the grouper will be readily available around the buoys and over the shallow wrecks, but make sure you bring some frozen cigar minnows/northern mackerel as backup and use a Carolina rig with 80lb fluorocarbon leader and 10/0 Mustad circle hooks. Trigger fish never leave us and are great table fare. Use a double drop rig with squid on #4 owner flyliner hooks. Amberjack will stick around wrecks and the towers, a favorite lure is the AJ glow jig.

Trolling will be hot as the Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, mahi-mahi, wahoo, and marlin move into our realm of reach. Offshore areas such as the squiggles will produce some serious nice mahi and wahoo with a marlin a good possibility. Trolling ballyhoo skirted with an blue/white islander will work for all, but if wahoo is what you are after, use a panhandler or yozuri bonita lure. The Spanish will be running the buoy line along with the kings. Try trolling the buoy line with Christmas tree rigs for the Spanish. The king mackerel will be in thick around the buoy line and inshore wrecks, using the old faithful Duster rig with a cigar minnow will work great. Live hardtails slow trolled is a favorite for the bigger kings.

The trout and reds will be hitting topwater plugs like the Mirrolure Top Dog Jr’s, Rapala Skitterwalks, and Heddon Spooks on the flats first thing in the morning and late afternoon. During the heat of the day, the trout and redfish will move off the flats to the channels, so a Carolina rig with a ½-1 oz egg sinker and an 18 inch fluorocarbon leader ending with a Owner Mutu-light circle hook baited with live shrimp/LY’s will be the ticket. The ladyfish and bluefish will be thick throughout the month of August, so using a heavier fluorocarbon leader to save a lure might be wise. Spanish mackerel will be in the bay and along the buoy line and can be an easy catch as they will devour most anything thrown to them. The all time favorite place to fish for the Spanish mackerel from shore will be from the oil docks using a Gotcha plug or a double speck rig. If trolling is your cup of tea, troll a Christmas tree rig with a clarkspoon around the bay up into the buoy line. Flounder will be spotty and your best bet will be at the edges of the grass flats in the sand and also at the entrances to the canals and bayous to include under the George Tapper Bridge. Fishing live bull minnows on a Carolina rig and Mustad Kale hook is best, and if your choice is artificial use a DOA shrimp, Berkley Gulp shrimp, or CAL jig in red and rootbeer colors. If tarpon is your target, this is the month you’ve been waiting for. Your best chance at the silver king is using live pogies caught along the shore outside Indian Pass. Use an Owner SSW 10/0 circle hook rigged with 80 lb fluorocarbon leader and drift fish your live pogies a few hundred yards off the beach or through the passes of West Pass and Indian Pass. Be ready to catch quite a few sailcats and sharks before your first hook-up with a tarpon.

FRESHWATER

Not much change here as the largemouth will be along the edges in the morning and at sunset. This calls for the use of spinner baits, top waters, and jerk baits. In the heat of the day, try the deeper channels and along the drop offs using soft plastics and deep running crank baits. The bluegill will follow suit as they will be along the weed lines in the morning and deeper in the afternoon. Use crickets in the morning and evening and wigglers in the afternoon.

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