By the time this report makes it to the angling crew the grouper getters will be a few days into it. I myself have never been a great grouper fisherman but I’ve caught a few. One thing I do know is to have patience when it’s worth it, and get moving when your gut tells ya to move.

These are two things both offshore and inshore anglers have in common. With the warm water, deeper will be better but don’t overlook good structure at that 15 to 20-foot mark.

It’s possible to catch a keeper gag grouper in 6 to10-foot, but good GPS numbers are hard to find that everyone else has not already found or shared. These spots usually get targeted early in the season.

One thing that is the same for offshore or inshore – live bait is the ticket. I like to free line live pinfish on a heavy spinning tackle on the shallow rocks like a run and gun, but out deeper patience with frozen sardines and conventional reels on a knocker rig will get the bite. 

Inshore trout are biting best on the high outgoing tide in the large bays or out in the 8 to 10-foot range. 

Mangrove snapper are my new favorite fish at the moment because they are smart fish that I love to fool. The shallow rocks are the place to catch them on live shrimp. They bite the best on a high slack tide.

High incoming tide will be mid-day this weekend. 

Homosassa Weekly Fishing Report from Captain William Toney

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