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It’s mango time on wrecks, Pipe

Posted Jan 30, 2012 by Tribune Sports

Updated Jan 30, 2012 at 04:57 PM

BY RANDY ROCHELLE

Well, thanks to high winds and rough seas, red grouper season was shut down a few days early. The next couple of days aren’t looking much better, but by the end of the week the winds may lay down.

Mangrove snapper will be a target species for the next couple of months. While the bite has been very hit or miss, they are out there. You may just have to work at it a bit. Two places come to mind when targeting snapper this time of year: wrecks and the Pipe. Both hold good numbers of snapper, but both also hold amberjack, cobia and perhaps a stray kingfish or wahoo.

Chumming will not only stir the snapper up, but also any other fish that are within sniffing range. Let the chum work for 15 to 30-mintues before you start fishing. Giving them time to feed will allow the fish time to ball up, making it less likely to spook them scattering them out.

For the next couple of months, grouper will be off limits. However, even though it’s catch and release only, this is a good time to do a little scouting. Head out to an area you don’t fish or don’t have numbers in and slowly cruise around while watching the bottom machine. Watch for any kind of break, hard bottom or just about any kind of structure. Once you find something, mark and make a couple of drops. If you catch a good fish or two, log the number and move on to the next spot. I found some of my very best numbers this way.

Capt. Randy Rochelle runs the “Gotta Go” out of St. Petersburg and can be reached at (727) 365-3218.