Capt. George Tunison

If heading offshore to collect some delicious dinner guests, make sure you first obtain or renew your State Reef Fish Angler designation by visiting GoOutdoorsFlorida.com.

Not only did snook season open on the first of the month but grey triggerfish season did as well. I only eat one good snook meal each year and enjoy it, but I could eat triggerfish daily. You’re allowed one per day on our west coast, but our Atlantic cousins are allowed to keep 10 with their season open all year.

Gulf grey triggers must meet a 15-inch fork length minimum to keep. When measuring, measure from the lips to the middle edge of the tail and not to the end of the top and bottom streamers extending rearward from the tail.

Triggerfish are highly intelligent, very territorial and often violent fish, popular on the plate and also kept as pets by home aquarists. Do your research and get the right species and size before buying one for your already populated aquarium otherwise you may wake up to find your newly introduced pet has chewed through all of his tank mates during the night.

Opinions vary on hook size with most preferring a 1/0-2/0 circle hook for a triggers very small mouth with a 20 to 30-pound leader. Multi-hook chicken rigs with a bottom weight, a simple Carolina rig or popular knocker rigs (YouTube) are three good rigs to drop down to these fish stationed on reefs or structures. Small pieces of squid, barnacles, fiddler crabs, fish, oyster and clam bits, even shrimp, will get a trigger’s interest.

Often called leatherjackets due to their tough hide, making them a bit more difficult to clean but definitely worth the effort, as triggers simply taste great with a delicious crabby flavor. Stuff and bake or simply pan fry in olive oil, lemon, light salt and pepper, and never overcook any seafood.

There’s lots of small trout around with the season open year-round if you enjoy the taste of seatrout. Three per angler are allowed measuring between 15 inches to 19 inches with one per vessel over 19 inches. From shore each person can harvest one over 19 inches. Craig Carson of Orlando caught one nearly 40 inches long, a new IGFA all-tackle world record that’s stood since 1995. This giant seatrout weighed in at 17 pounds, 7 ounces! With trout in Southwest Florida running on the small side, I encourage anglers to carefully release any larger trout you catch and eat the little guys. Big genes needed!

The inshore and offshore report hasn’t changed too much over the last month with red grouper and larger mangrove snapper out at the 80 to 120-foot mark. Nearshore reef and wreck fishing remains strong with snappers, sheepshead, grunts and porgies, all looking to eat along with the newly arriving permit. Back inshore there are lots of smaller redfish, snook, trout, cobia and sweet tasting pompano along the mangroves and grass bed mostly in the 3 to 5-foot zones from Matlacha to both the east and west walls of Charlotte Harbor. Whiting, pompano and silver trout can be found along the beaches, especially around the passes. Bigger snook will show soon as they swim to the coast and more bait moves in while others wait for tarpon reports that will soon arrive.

A great way to spend family time while introducing young children to angling is to go on a shoreline cichlid hunt! Florida’s freshwaters are now full of colorful invasive fish from the cichlid families originating in Africa and South America but introduced into our waters by aquarium hobbyists, and from outdoor fish farm ponds that overflow in heavy summer rains.

Take along feather weight tackle and tiny hooks and floats, a tub of earthworms or small minnows and a handful of Beetle Spin lures (a miniature spinnerbait) for some fast action on a variety of cichlids like Mayans and tilapia that fight hard and taste good.

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-282-9434 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.