Good Catch: Snook dominate inshore while hogfish pick back up offshore

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (FOX 13) - Every Friday morning, Captain Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard's Marina joins Good Day to fill viewers in on his fishing forecast as we head into the weekend. Here is his fishing report for August 9, 2019.

Inshore

The snook continue to dominate the inshore report from the passes to the beach to the grass flats they are the most commonly caught fish inshore right now especially at night. This past week I had some family in town and I had to get in on the action myself a few mornings this week catching some nice fish from around the docks inside John's Pass.

We were using live bait like shrimp, crabs and pinfish and we found that getting them frenzied up with some chummers helped get them fired up before dropping our baits down. The heavy tackle is a must around the docks and structure we used 60-pound floro carbon and 3ot hooks and they were feeding well -- despite the heavier gear. The lures work well for the snook too, but they take more presentation and skill to get the snook to feed. If you're a less experienced angler, the live bait is a much easier option, but if you're looking for a challenge the artificial lures can help you just as much. With correct presentation I confidently feel artificial lures will catch you just as many nice snook -- and Mr. John Sasser is a testament to that fact.

We are also seeing lots of the mangrove snapper around the passes and docks and piers around the area biting well on small pieces of live shrimp or white bait on the lighter tackle. 

Near Shore

The big news this week is the hogfish. Finally, after a long summer break the hogfish are starting to pick back up with some decent action and it should only get better and better as the water continues to cool.

We love targeting these fish on our near shore fishing trips because they are so good to eat and you catch plenty while trying to get them chewing. They are super smart and super leader-shy, so they are one of the last to feed.

The best way to target them is using live shrimp and light tackle around 35 to 70 feet of water right now with either a knocker rig with a 4ot hook, Nekid ball jig or jig head with around 30-pound test super long leader. The lighter the lead the more realistic the presentation, and the more realistic the presentation the more effective you will be in catching those hogs -- but they are also harder to feel the bite. You need to find a happy medium that works for you and works with the current and day's variables. 

Offshore

The amberjack season is in full swing now while red snapper are a distant memory. We are seeing some nice jacks around 150 to 300 feet of water while our primary depth is around 200 feet of water. We use huge tackle, like 100 to 125-pound test and 10 to 12 ot hooks with the biggest live baits you can find like spadefish, mullet, blue runners, or big knobbed porgies.

You can vertical jig for them too but that's a lot like work. We have been catching a few while trolling by our fishing areas with rapala xraps or the nomad design dtx minnows. 

We have been seeing decent gag grouper catches around that 180 to 200ft mark. Plus, mixed in with the gags we have seen some good action on the scamp grouper too.

The mangrove snapper bite has been a little hit-and-miss but we are finding some decent numbers when the current isn't making catching them effectively harder than it already is