Touching on the Big Bend offshore bite; offshore in most places drops about a foot per mile so if you’re in 15 feet or more of water, that’s a good run for our area, and beyond that is what I would consider running offshore.

The Florida Middle grounds is about 90 miles, so if you went east that would put you almost across the state. In the 30-foot range, Capt. Chris Wilkins has been catching the angler’s limit of gag grouper, big mangrove snapper, and hogfish. Hogfish are very good eating and fall under the exotic cool fish to catch.

On the shallower side, I’ve caught some in 10-feet of water that were not keepers but altogether fun to catch on light tackle. According to Capt. Chris, “use live shrimp on the outside edges of the structure to get the bite, letting the action heat up on the rock before trying to catch them.” Back up way shallower, that is how we caught ours with live shrimp on the bottom near the outskirts of the structure. 

The inshore bite remains strong, with trout being caught on popping cork rigs near rock grass flats. Redfish is best on the incoming tide with live shrimp and snook on the high outgoing tide near passes with deep water.

High incoming tide this weekend will be mid–morning. 

Homosassa Weekly Fishing Report from Captain William Toney

To schedule a fishing charter excursion with Captain Toney, visit his website.

If you want to learn more about how to catch Nature Coast fish from Captain Toney, subscribe to his videos at https://inthespread.com