Go Fish for 11/27/11 by Capt. Bill Miller

Redfish continue to the hot inshore bite. Last week we caught them on bait, this week we caught them on lures.

Capt. Brett Norris guided the “Hooked on Fishing” team to a great day of inshore flats fishing using soft plastic jigs. A dark colored tail and an1/8 ounce jig head was all it took to have steady action all morning long on redfish and big speckled trout.

 We started our morning working the Ft. DeSoto islands on an incoming tide. Norris used his electric motor to slip us within casting range of the mullet schools working the shallow edges. A slow hop of the jig in the cruising mullet led to many slot sized redfish and trout up to 5 pounds. Once during the morning Norris and I had a trout double header with each trout in the 4-5 pound range. Speckled trout are closed in the south region until January 1, 2012 and redfish are open with a slot size of 18 to 27 inches and a bag limit of one per person. Check MyFWC.com for all the regulations. Kingfish have found a home in the Egmont ship channel reports Larry Mastry. Mastry says bait can be jiggled around the marker cans and the best fishing is from markers 5+6 and out. Slow trolling the fresh baits with a stinger rig has produced the best action. If the weather stays mild look for the kings to stay in the ship channel until Christmas. If the weather gets cold the kings will head south. Maximo Marina says anglers fishing hard bottom ledges west of Passa Grille are having great fun with catch and release gag grouper. These same rocky areas are loaded with white grunts. A “chicken rig” with double hooks and squid for bait will quickly fill your cooler.