The question best posed on the “Suncoast” decision and what to do is, “Why not do both?”

Whether it's late fall or early spring, the difficult part of fishing for anglers traveling to West Central Florida near Sarasota and Bradenton is often times deciding for what to fish. I mean, when it comes to dinner table fare, almost nothing in the sea compares to a fresh grouper or snapper. Then again, when it comes to having fun, there's nothing quite like a 40-50 mile per hour kingfish to cheer things up. Such was the case just last week!

After far, far, too many hours at the controls of my laptop and far too few at the controls of my boat, something had to give. With my time on the water becoming way too limited lately, I did what any smart angler would do in an effort to ensure a productive outing. I called a guide. In this case, I called Sarasota-based Captain Chris Seger of Tightlines Charters and I squeezed into his schedule on the first day he had available. The mission would be a simple one; just get out on the Gulf of Mexico and experience the type of drag smoking kingfish and arm-breaking grouper action Seger had been putting his anglers on all week. Rather than being forced to make a decision as difficult as what to fish for, we decided we'd try and use the combination of my 34-foot Baja Sportfish and Seger’s knowledge to take on both species in the same day.

The first step:

Without a doubt, the best friend a traveling angler can have is easy access to the waters he or she wants to fish and to the bait and supplies they'll need to do so. In my case, we had both. I can tell you that while I'll gladly tow my Baja off to far away places on its triple axle Loadmaster trailer when the season dictates, pulling it to the 10th Street ramp in Sarasota is always a pleasure. That ramp is without a doubt one of the best public ramps that you'll find anywhere no matter what the size of your vessel. Once in the water and straight across the bay, you'll find New Pass Bait just before you venture into the Gulf itself. At New Pass Bait, you'll find both the majority of the live and frozen bait you'll need as well as a healthy dose of what's going on and where. Our stop at New Pass provided us with a couple dozen Pinfish and a box of frozen sardines. These two things would, of course, be the staples of anyone's grouper and snapper efforts.

Next stop, barely a mile or so out into the Gulf of Mexico, you'll want to start shopping for more live bait at the local crab traps. These traps, whose buoys dot the surface of the water in seemingly never-ending rows, are just incredible in their bait-gathering ability. The routine here, according to the experts like Seger, is to utilize little gold hook baitrigs to gently jig up and down right beside the traps themselves. A couple of jigs is all it takes. If they don't start hopping on your tiny gold hooks right away, just move on to the next trap. At Seger’s direction I moved the boat from one trap to the next, starting in 25 feet of water and heading deeper and deeper until we found the traps at their preferred depth for the day. Then all of sudden, at about our 6th or 7th trap, there they were! Lots of little grunts, some diminutive snapper and, more importantly, half a dozen blue runners and a couple of cigar minnows.

The second step:

Off to the reefs. With a lot more wind than we had wanted and with my 76-year-old best fishing buddy aboard (a.k.a. my father in-law Willie Reid) we decided that we'd target fish on some of Sarasota County's more accessible artificial reefs. In this case, we headed 10-12 miles out to the "M" reefs, M-7 to be specific. As we approached the reef itself, and despite the windblown chop and occasional 2-3 foot waves on the water, we were quickly greeted by signs of life all around. The birds were actively dipping up and down at the water's surface and my Furuno DF1850 lit-up in the most gorgeous shades of red and orange you've ever seen, as it read the fish and bait below the boat. Things looked good.

First bait out, we connected with a blue runner on a relatively small double hook kingfish rig at the business end of 350 yards of 15-pound mono. Now as Seger explained, when you are slow trolling live baits, those blue runners are his least favorite bait if he's looking for high quantity kingfish results. They, however, work really well if it's fewer but larger kingfish you are looking for. Second bait out, one of the few cigar minnows we pulled from the safety of the crab traps. Now, cigar minnows, according to Seger are the closest thing there is to dynamite if you are looking for a "sure thing." Seriously, fishing guides as well as stockbrokers will seldom, if ever, use the word "guarantee," when it comes to their respective businesses, but Seger was so confident in that bait that he muttered that very word as he fed line out of his Shimano Calcutta! Sure enough, I don't think that bait lasted more than a minute, or maybe two at the most, before a beautiful silver kingfish slashed across it, hooking himself on the free-swinging treble in the process. Okay, I can only assume that fish was beautiful. Unfortunately, rather than potentially ending up on our grill, that first king managed to get across the back of the boat during one of his runs and tangle himself in the line attached to the aforementioned blue runner. As I dropped the pressure on the first king of the day so that Seger could assist me in untangling the two lines, something quite unexpected happened without my ever having felt it. With lines untangled, I reeled down on the fish once again, but immediately noticed a distinct lack of fight. I could feel a little weight on the light G.Loomis rod, but there was definitely nothing there strong enough to have been taking line off my reel just a minute or so before. After piling back on the 100 or so yards of line that the fish had taken, my worst fears were realized. The fish hadn't shaken the hook free when I let the pressure off him, he instead became barracuda food in one quick slash! I'm talking about a 8-10 pound fish that was cut in two just behind the gills as if done so by an infomercial chef with a “Ginsu” knife. But with cudas still on the reef, it was time to go find a grouper!

Third step:

Off the reef and on to the grouper grounds. In this case, from M-7, we headed about 14 miles to the South in the increasingly bumpy conditions. Despite the bumps, the twin 250hp Mercs pushed us to our intended spot in a matter of just 25 minutes or so and we were ready for some fish. Or should I say, the fish were ready for us? This was one of those days when you'd swear the fish were just lined up down there looking for a handout. Now for those of you who are uninitiated in the ways of grouper fishing, let me tell you, it's probably not what you think! As a transplanted Northerner myself, I thought that grouper were like any other fish. With the approximate length and girth proportions of a largemouth bass, I figured that these would be similar to bass, only a little bigger, right? Wrong! When you hook a grouper, you won't mistake it for bass, that's for sure! I'm talking about a fish (even a little 5-pound one) that will double your favorite 20 or 30-pound rod over like it was your favorite 5 1/2-foot ultra light.

Drift fishing over some of Seger’s "cheese bottom" in 75 or so feet of water, was the ticket last week just as it is through most of the fall, winter, and early spring months. To say that we stayed busy out there would be a tremendous understatement as we would drift a quarter mile or so, drive back upwind and start all over again. It seemed as if there was never more than a minute or two when at least one of our rods wasn't doubled over under the strain of the 30-pound line attached to grouper after grouper. The most memorable fish though had to be the 15-pound gag that Willie landed on our second pass. That fish was memorable not only for its size or the way it tasted the next evening, but most of all for the way Willie hooked it. Or did it hook Willie? I can't really decide who hooked who. As Willie lowered his pinfish toward the bottom, it was met, as most of them were, by a hungry grouper. Willie did, as we've all done, and he pulled the bait out of the eager fish's mouth before it had a chance to take it deep enough to insure a solid hookset. What followed was the memorable part as Willie's luckless bait, now suspended 8-10 feet off the bottom, got absolutely slammed by the big fish. There was no setting the hook on that fish. I'm absolutely sure it was the fish trying to set the rod into Willie's gut! Not being exactly a slender guy, was a big help in Willie's efforts not to get pulled clean out of the boat. In the end, after a couple of hours drifting, the scorecard included a few red grouper in the 10- to 12-pound range, the aforementioned gag, a really nice 4 to 5-pound lane snapper, and way too many short grouper of which to possibly keep track. Lots of fun, but we still needed to get a "whole" kingfish or two to round out our day.

Last step:

Heading East from the grouper bottom a few miles, we found ourselves over hard bottom that featured a series of ledges in about 45 feet of water. This would be “the place” to take a king stated Seger. Without any major features like a reef or wreck, I had my doubts, but after his prophecy proved so accurate on the fate of that little cigar minnow earlier in the day, I certainly wasn't going to second guess him. Out went the two flatlines, this time both offering blue runners, to anything willing to take them. These big baits would, of course, be less likely to attract smaller-sized kings, but one good one was all we needed.

Slow trolling livebaits is without a doubt the way that big-time kingfish tournaments are usually won. The question here would be whether or not we could be patient enough to hook a really decent fish. Well, fortunately for us, the kingfish didn't want to keep us wondering for very long. Just as I finished a turn to the right, the left bait got really nervous. As the panicky bait caused the light rod tip to start pumping, Seger reassured Willie that when a fish hit it, we'd all know it! No guessing, no subtle take. The rod would just double over and the drag would scream, or so we were told. Boy, does that guy know what he's talking about! It wasn't even 30 seconds after giving Willie that advise, and sure enough, the rod doubled over and the reel started to scream as if right on cue. When I say it screamed, I mean it screamed! We aren't talking about screaming the way it does when a 35-pound king salmon takes line in the Great lakes, I'm talking about the way your favorite salmon reel would sound if you hooked it to the bumper of your car, you stomped on the gas, and it went from zero to 50 in about 3 seconds flat! Once hooked, Seger cleared the other line, while coaching me into following the fleeing fish with one of my big Mercs. Ten to 15 minutes later, the 16 or 17-pound silver speedster came aboard for the photos of the day.

Come on down:

The Sarasota area has a ton of fun to offer both the traveling angler as well as the entire family. If you are on your way down, I heartily recommend Captain Chris Seger as a point of contact for anyone looking to book a quality trip. Seger can be reached at 941-362-4032 . If you are looking for accommodations in the area as well, it would be hard to beat the Sarasota Hyatt which offers both first-rate rooms as well as available dock space for your boat. The Hyatt is on Sarasota Bay itself just a block away from the 10th Street public boat ramp and you can reach them at 941-953-1234. If you are looking for additional information of any type, or about the world-class fishing opportunities on the flats or far offshore in our area, just drop me an e-mail at [email protected].

Saying that we had a great day on the water would somehow just not be enough. After all, we trolled with only two flatlines at a time and caught some really decent kingfish, we got into a great grouper bite with a variety of bait that anyone can stop and buy, and we did all within 15 miles of the beaches themselves. I'm not sure this type of fishing would be too relaxing for you though. You know, with the stress involved in those grouper trying to pull a couple hundred dollars worth of rod and reel right out of your hands, or the anxiety caused by kingfish taking a spool of your fresh line right down to the knot. This sure doesn't sound too relaxing to me. Then again, if you like your fishing injected with a little adrenalin, we've got the place for you. Whether you come to Sarasota with your own boat in tow, or you employ the services of a first rate guide like Seger, you almost can't miss on some of our combo opportunities. Our day was proof enough that this is the kind of fishing opportunity almost anyone can get in on with the help of someone like Seger.