2011-11-17 fishing report by Captain Van Hubbard.

Venice to Boca Grande fishing is productive now.

Time flies by and its Thanksgiving already with Christmas right around the corner. Don’t procrastinate colder weather is coming soon. Fishing has picked up outside with better weather, some kings and plenty of Spanish mackerel. Flounder are around the near shore artificial reefs. We finally found a few pompano yesterday around the pass. Inside red fish keep me guessing; we do great for several trips and then fish move around. Snook and trout are here but fun only for now. Ladyfish have reappeared for fun action. We have fish and maybe some good weather for the Holiday?

If the weather doesn’t stir up near shore waters with today’s front, we have mackerel to play with from Venice Beaches south to Boca Grande. Spanish are thick right off Stump Pass and Venice Beach. We are using Gator spoons since minnows are hard to find right now; live shrimp are also working. The larger kings are scattered but cruising thru with some nice cobia. Tripletail have blessed some trips recently too. Our near shore fishing will turn on if we get a migration of baitfish to help us locate the action. Sharks will follow the food too.

The flounder have been abundant so far we even had almost a dozen on Monday’s trip. Some were smaller but we had six from 2-3+ pounds. That’s a nice mess of fresh fish for dinner! The trick for us is to use cut bait and jig heads bounced around the reefs structures. Nice to have tasty flatfish with grouper closed.

We found a few pompano at Stump Pass yesterday. The ladyfish kept us busy; we had fun with Spanish and pompano for lunch, that’s a good morning. We usually bounce Doc’s Goofy Jigs along the bottom for pompano. Add a tip it of fresh shrimp to enhance the bite.

Redfish are here and abundant but some days we catch them other trips they elude us. That’s the thing about fishing even with thirty-five years of guiding experience the fish keep educating me! Maybe the bright Full Moon last weekend just had them eating at night? The trout and some snook help keep poles bent but we have to release them for now.

Bottom line is we have fish and a lot to be thankful for so enjoy Thanksgiving with your family and then Let’s Go fishin’. Captain Van Hubbard  <www.captvan.com>