Weekend Anglers Have Small Window of Opportunity

Capt. Ryan Rolland of Outriggers Sportfishing Charters was warming-up his 35-foot custom Carolina sportfish boat Dec. 16. After days of icy weather that dropped inshore water temperatures into the high 40s, Rolland wanted to warm his engine and get his fluids moving.

With a cold front expected to hit Sunday, Rolland, an offshore charter captain out of Marina Jack, was ready to squeeze in a pair of trips. He said he would be targeting gag grouper from 28 feet of dept to 120 feet using live and dead bait.

Even ledges between 8 and 10 miles have been holding some big gags."I'm just trying to stay busy," Rolland said. "Fishing seems like it's a weekend job anymore. These cold fronts hit one day and then you don't have trips. It's just a constant fight trying to jockey around the weather."

Rolland recommends anglers troll the channels in the Intracoastal Waterway with Stretch Minus-30s or Yo-Zuri bomber plugs for some big gag grouper.

"People have been pulling in some nice grouper that way," Rolland said. "That's definitely been going off."

The trout bite remains steady, but the season on trout does not open until Jan. 1.