All Shores Outdoors

Summer is in full swing! We have been enjoying a very plentiful scallop season so far. July produced great numbers of large scallops in the 3ft to 6ft depth range. Coming into August we can expect more of the same results. Usually I will bounce around and look for the thinner eel grass or mixed grasses. The best time to do the easiest picking is during the slack tides. Low or high is good since the tidal movement slows and the grass stands straight up and makes it easier to see. If scalloping near the full or new moons, the current will be stronger and the grass will be laid over and harder to look through. At these times, seek out the shorter and thinner grasses to be more successful. August is also the month where we see larger schools of redfish moving around the mangroves and oyster bars. These fish will be moving around, sometimes daily, looking for ambush points in shaded areas with a lot of water movement. These types of areas will have the cooler, more oxygenated water that moves in with the incoming tides. I like moving around looking for concentrations of bait while throwing a small gold spoon. A paddletail on a 1/8oz jig head or weighted worm hook work great too. If throwing bait, I tend to land on shrimp free lined, or under a cork when the current is moving well. When there is less water movement I lean towards a piece of cut mullet, ladyfish, or pinfish on the bottom. This takes a little more patience to get the bite. Snook are still hanging out in a lot of these heavier current areas and the same presentations are producing well.

The catch and release grouper bite has been picking up. The nearshore rocks have been the main focus lately producing quality mangrove snapper, grunts, black seabass, and Spanish mackerel. The cobia bite is slacking off the hotter it gets. Preseason scouting reports are looking good for our scallop season starting July 1st. We are seeing good numbers of scallops in 3-7ft of water.

Inshore bite has been as hot as the weather! The redfish and snook bite have been pretty steady in the mangroves. The trout have been hit or miss as the water warms up, but where they lack in number, they make up for in size. The nearshore rocks are also starting to heat up with the mangrove snapper and grunt bite picking up as well as black seabass for the first time in years. Cobia are still around, but the tarpon bite has neen hot/cold this season. We're still putting some great fish in the boat as we approach scallop season starting in July.