Spring has arrived early this year and the traveling fish from down south are coming on earlier than normal. The Spanish mackerel and kings will be near the beach in real large numbers by the time you read this and they are extra-large.
While the traveling fish are arriving early, the normal spring time fish are here in good numbers in St. Joe Bay. The pompano are already around the buoys in the ship channel and in the deeper holes inside the bay as well, the red fish are still coming on strong in the intercostal waterway, under the bridge and in the deeper holes in St. Joe Bay.
Offshore fishing is showing really good signs of plenty of fish. After the March winds April should be a very good offshore fishing month. The only problem we have now is the government letting us bring our fish to the dock. The government made a big change and opened trigger fish on the first of March so you can still bring home trigger fish this month if they do not shut us down. I guess it will be in May before we can start bringing those gag grouper in but in the meantime you can still bring home the other grouper and the vermillion snapper as well as those black snapper and there are plenty of them waiting for your bait. All of the indications appear to show that it is going to be a better year for fishing. Our only problem is what the government will allow us to bring home when and for how long.
Don’t forget to file a float plan, and let somebody know when you are going to return.