The Daily Catch | February 15, 2023

Winter fishing is always a fun experience for us. We have been bottom-fishing during most of our offshore trips, and to make it interesting, Mother Nature has us working around a few cold weather fronts. Our primary focus has been finding red grouper, as they are currently in season. It’s worth noting that the red grouper need to be 22 inches long to be classified as a keeper, which makes the 6 and 8-hour trips the sweet spots for your best chance to put keepers in the boat.

As always, fishing of the beautiful shores of Clearwater Beach are not limited to only a couple species of fish; we’ve had our fair share of other remarkable catches too. This month has seen catch-and-release gag grouper and red snapper, both of which are quite popular among fishing enthusiasts and not in season (yet!). Occasionally, we’ll drop on a wreck or two with live shrimp bait, in search of a hogfish, or even an elusive barracuda. They can be hard to find, but fun when you do! We’ve also had been catching mangrove snappers, black sea bass, lane snappers, porgies, and grunts during our trips. All delish, and our crew will clean and filet them up at the dock for our guests to take with them for dinner at home, or at one of the local restaurants.

As we move into March, we plan to continue targeting these species until the water warms up and the trolling bite heats up.