A question that we often recieve from potential customers is which is better, an offshore charter or an inshore charter. There is no single answer but I will try to explain some of the differences between the two.
We run our offshore charters on our 31' Contender, which has a bathroom, twin outboards, EPIRB, and a trolling motor. This boat fishes six people comfortably and has the Federal Reef and Pelagic Permits requred to fish beyond 9 miles. The Gulf is not as deep as most large bodies of water and most of our trips consist of running 20-50 miles. We use heavy spinning and medium conventional gear enabeling our customers to bring grouper and snapper up from 150 feet. Some of the other species we catch offshore are mangrove snapper, amberjack, permit, king mackeral and blackfin tuna.
We use our 23' Parker for inshore trips. It fishes four comfortably and can accommodate up to six people. This boat has a second steering station located above the T-Top for seeing fish from a distance and a trolling motor for approaching quietly. We primarily fish the mangrove shorelines and grass flats of the Manatee River, Palma Sola Bay and Tampa Bay. Snook, trout and redfish are mostly targeted but we also fish for tarpon, grouper and sharks in Tampa Bay and along the beaches. We use live pilchards on most charters and specialize in light spinning tackle. Our four and six hour inshore trips are quite popular and require less travel.
Offshore
We have had some good weather lately and managed to put quite a few grouper, cobia and permit in the boat. Fishing cut bait and live pilchards in 100' of water has worked well for red grouper and a few catch and release red snapper. Some of the offshore reefs are holding permit and cobia with some keepers going home with happy customers. Red snapper season opens June 1st so give us a call to book a trip.
Inshore
The spring bite is still on fire. We have been catching trout in the 16-27 inch slot size, redfish up to 30 inches and plenty of snook. The tarpon are beginning to show up so stay tuned for our next fishing report.
