Anna Maria Island Fishing Report: Captain Aaron Lowman-09-09-2013

Anna Maria Island Fishing Report
Captain Aaron Lowman – Fishing Report – September 9, 2013
Captain Aaron – (941)-465-8932

—–This is a great time of year to fish near Anna Maria Island and Tampa Bay. Although a short snook season has been opened, redfish, trout, flounder, snapper, cobia and permit have taken center stage for near shore fishing.
—–Shiners have been easier to catch over the last few weeks, so we have had no problem getting the trout, snook and redfish to turn-on. Artificial lures will work well but it’s easier to get the bite going with live bait.
—–Redfish have started to school and have been aggressively eating. My charters have been hooking-up in the Manatee River and south of Cortez near Perico Island. We have also found redfish in Terra Ceia Bay. Watch your tide chart. One of my favorite tactics is to fish potholes near channels as the tide bottoms-out. Redfish from all over the flats pour into these potholes waiting for the bait fish to be washed right to them. It’s just like a smorgasbord for the redfish and they will gladly take your live or artificial bait offering.
—–Fall is also a good time to catch some mangrove snapper around Tampa Bay area structure. We have been fishing the artificial reefs and the Skyway Bridge. Some days you can actually use chum to have a cloud of snapper swarming behind the boat. They see well so use light leader material for better luck.
—–The predictable late afternoon storms have been less frequent lately so we have taken the opportunity to try some night time fly fishing around the Anna Maria Island docks. Many docks have night lights that attract baitfish and they attract bigger fish, mainly snook and trout. A small white fly, stripped slowly along the outside edge of the lights, is the key to some thrilling sight fishing with a fly rod.