OFFSHORE The cobia run is in full swing with more fish showing up everyday. The big wads haven't showed up yet but there are lots of singles to find for those that put in the time looking. I got to go cobia fishing tuesday on a day off from charters. My long time fishing partner and fellow tarpon giude Capt. Randall Jones drove over from Indian Pass for a day of sight fishing. Randall was the designated angler and I wasn't going to fish. He wanted to catch his fish on artificials, no live bait on his rod. After a late start we looked for almost 4 hours with only a few turtles for diversions. We suddenly were in the right place at the right time. The first fish we found ran from Randalls jig like it was a nightmare. I didn't even get a chance to tease him good before we found another fish. This one was all over the jig and after a couple of false passes he inhaled it. I held the boat down sea while Randall put the pressure on as best he could. I joked about my bad back and making him gaff his own fish but I finally got a chance to stick the fish and threw him in the cooler. As soon as we got everything under control and the rod rerigged we started looking and found another fish way inshore of the boat. This one was all over the jig on several casts but wouldn't eat. I had a rod ready with a eel but Randall went one more cast with the jig only to have the fish go down and disapear. By then it was late and getting rough so we called it a day. Nothing like fishing on your day off with no pressure and lots of ribbing. Bottom fishing continues to be excellent and the opening of snapper season tomorrow (the 15th) will only make it easier to fill the cooler. Most of the big wrecks have legal amberjacks on them and the groupers have started showing up in the shorter water. I ran three bottom trips last week and filled the box in about 3 hours fishing time each day. I had experienced anglers which always helps but even so the bite was exceptional. One fellow was bringing up a snapper we would have had to throw back when his rod suddenly doubled over completely when a big grouper grabbed it halfway up! I've often been accused of using big baits but we just lucked out that this snapper had decided to eat our hook at the wrong time. The King Mackeral have also shown up but are as unpredictable as ever. One day everyone has thier limit in 2 hours and the next day you're lucky to catch two fish all morning. A good mackeral rally is awfully exciting and sure-enough experience for those lucky enough to hit the right days. INSHORE The big news is pompano. In the surf, at the jetties or off the pier the pompano are everywhere. Reports of limit catches abound. One of my fishing partners has even gone on a fly fishing kick sight fishing for the usually elusive critters. Not only is he catching lots of fish he even landed one over 5 lbs. on a 4 lb. leader. A 5 lb. pompano has more horsepower than most fish 4 times his size. Of course we're not going to talk about the dozens that he didn't land---- Lets go Fishing !!! Snapper to Cobia we got it all!!!