Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide – June 1, 2016

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide
Captain Aaron Lowman – June 1, 2016
Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Anna Maria Island Waters
Tarpon, Snook, Grouper

 
—Tarpon bite still going strong. With all the pressure in the pass, I’m looking in the bay and on the beach for less pressured fish. Using long, light leaders, and burning a little gas, I’m catching fish away from the big crowds.

—Mackerel, trout, and snook have been good on bigger tides of the week inshore.

—Gag grouper bite has been on fire. Catching them in as little as 10ft of water inshore, out to 9miles. Snapper mixed in have been big, not a ton, but nice ones.
 

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide – April 22, 2016

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide
Captain Aaron Lowman – April 22, 2016
Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Anna Maria Island Waters
Snook, Seatrout, Redfish, Kingfish, Snapper, Grouper

 
—Great couple days on the water with the propane guys of Nashville, TN.
Pre-front, full-on conditions had the bite on fire!
On the super windy Thursday, we went offshore to some ledges in about 35′.
Spent the morning catching tasty mangrove snapper, big catch-and-release gag grouper, kingfish, and bonito.

—We decided to stay inshore Friday.
Started out the day with a handful of nice trout over deep grass.
Finished up the day with close to a dozen nice redfish, and a bunch of snook!
 

Anna Maria Island Fishing Charter – February 14, 2016

Anna Maria Island Fishing Charter
Captain Aaron Lowman – February 14, 2016
Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Anna Maria Island Waters
Sheepshead, Permit, Snapper, Grouper

 
In between cold snaps this week, clients still found plenty of jumbo sheepshead.
Fishing live baits, such as shrimp around structure was the ticket.
Sheepshead are often underestimated – they can be super cautious, are hard fighters, and taste great.
Permit have made a showing around some of the local beaches and passes this week.
Permit are the larger cousin of the highly-sought pompano.
As with the pompano, permit will agressivly strike small, brightly colored jigs.
This makes jigging for permit a really exciting way to catch these elusive fish.
Hogfish and mangrove snappers have been the highlight offshore a few miles.
Red grouper and throw-back gag grouper have been consistent offshore, as well.
 

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide – January 9, 2016

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide
Captain Aaron Lowman – January 9, 2015
Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Anna Maria Island Waters
Hog Snapper, Grouper, Pompano

 
—Hope that everybody had a great New Year! Despite the poor weather lately, fishing has been good. Redfish and sheepshead have begun to show around docks and structure. Shrimp or fiddler crabs are a killer sheepshead bait, and when paired with shiners or small pinfish, you should be able to catch quite a few of both species. Pompano are also trickling in, and can be caught near sandy areas using jigs or shrimp.

—Offshore fishing has been productive, and we have been catching red and gag grouper, hog and mangrove snapper, sheepshead, and an occasional cobia or kingfish. Sharks are also still around, and are usually eager to eat a dead bait.
 

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide – December 27, 2015

Anna Maria Island Fishing Guide
Captain Aaron Lowman – December 27, 2015
Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Anna Maria Island Waters
Cobia, Mangrove Snapper, Grouper

 
— Despite the persistent South wind last week, we got offshore to do some reef fishing. Bait has been harder to find, but live pilchards and shrimp on offshore structure have been productive when paired with a moving tide.
 
— Grouper, mangrove snapper, and cobia have all ben hanging around on the reefs, and we managed to have some great days out there!