[Capt Charlie Farrell]

CAPTAIN CHARLIE FARRELL’S
SWEET SPOT CHARTERS
PORT MANSFIELD FISHING REPORT
April 22-23, 2005

Friday, Apr. 22. A short break in the weather opened an opportunity to venture offshore. While federal waters have opened for snapper we opted to stay in state waters. Fishing was so good it only required one stop to fill our limit of red snapper between 3 and 8 pounds. We were also greeted by several undersized lings and numerous king fish to 27 pounds. Fishing shallow rocks in 50 feet of water allowed us to break out the light tackle and chum snapper to the surface. The bite was so aggressive the snapper were hitting 6 inch Rapala countdown lures in orange and green colors. A few kingfish and ling also went for this combination.

Saturday, April 23. The morning was met with a quick burst of strong thunderstorms followed by north winds to 30 mph. We were still able to find decent water south of the Port. Redfish were abundant along the color changes but most were undersized. We were able to catch a few keepers. Red and white TRKs and Purple and Chartreuse TTKs worked best. The redfish were located in 2.5 feet of water on the darker side of the color change. The trout bite was very slow. Look for fishing to only improve as the weather patterns stabilize.

Good Fishing,

Capt. Charlie Farrell
www.sweetspotcharters.com