Captain’s Corner for September 9 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

It may have been the extremely cold winter that we are trying to forget or it may be a natural cycle, but the normal red grouper timeframe is far from normal. Several trips through the summer to the 90 to 110 swiss cheese depths which are usually teeming with red grouper proved disappointing and it was necessary to come back into the 60 foot range to experience the activity from the various bottom fish that we were seeking. Labor Day weekend proved to be the turning point for the deeper water fishing. Saturday mornings lack of wind and tide offshore allowed us to drift fish because of the inability to hold the boat in position. The slow drift produced many red grouper of various sizes ranging up to a 15 pounder and resulted in the charting of several new interesting spots.

Tip: Keep a marker handy and toss it overboard whenever a sizeable fish is hooked so that you can easily return to the spot and explore it more thoroughly. Experience has proven that there are usually more than one keeper on a spot.

Flatlines deployed while bottom fishing again produced a number of species attracted to the activity and natural chum slick produced when grouper are reeled up from the depths and the pressure change forces out their stomach contents. Smaller reef fish also become easier prey for the apex predators as they swim back down to the bottom. Barracuda, several kingfish, small amberjack, Spanish mackerel and sharks all were attracted to the frozen sardine deployed on the stinger rig.

Captain’s Corner for August 8 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Great fishing exists for offshore anglers who do not wish to make the budget breaking run far offshore. Spanish mackerel, barracuda, bonita and a few kingfish can be found on all of the near shore artificial reefs as long as there is a concentration of bait hovering over the various structures including large culverts, junction boxes, bridge pilings, concrete light poles, and on some of them barges and obsolete military tanks which were placed their by our artificial reef program. Tell tale signs that bait is present are birds diving or seeing the bait being pushed to the surface by predators. Oftentimes these signs will not be present on the surface and it is necessary to search out the cloud of bait by the use of a fish finder.

Two methods are successful when fishing these reefs. The most popular and easiest is to troll small (#0 or #1) spoons 30 feet behind a #1 or #2 planer at a speed of 6 knots. Once a fish is hooked using the MOB button on the GPS will insure a return to where the fish are located. The other is to locate a piece of structure that is holding bait, use a sabiki rig to catch bait and deploy it by use of a flatline.

Tip:

The location of the artificial reefs can be found on most charts and on many websites. The published GPS number is for the center of the reef. These reefs had material scattered all over a rectangular area that was 2000 feet long running north to south and 300 feet wide from east to west.

Captain’s Corner for May 20 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Gulf water temperatures have reached the low 80’s which usually signifies many changes effecting both bottom and trolling fish. In a normal year kingfish have pretty much left the area, except for a few which decide to stay through the summer, and are replaced by large schools of Spanish mackerel which can be found near any pass and on the near shore artificial reefs. In the past week scattered schools of kingfish have been the hot item being caught by anglers trolling spoons and plugs or live bait. It was not unusual to catch several kingfish during a bottom fishing stop by deploying a stinger rigged flatline with either a live or frozen Spanish sardine. The majority of the fish were “schoolies” in the 8 to 10 pound range, but we did put a 29 pounder in the box which inhaled one of the dead baits. Schools of Spanish mackerel are abundant in Tampa Bay but are very scattered in the gulf. Those targeting mackerel would be more successful in areas near the Skyway.

The severe cold weather last winter also has effected the patterns of the bottom fish. Normally we would be fishing in the 90 foot plus depths targeting primarily red grouper at this time of year. It has not been necessary to travel that far offshore to catch some keepers. In the 40 to 60 foot depths there are so many undersize gag and red grouper that they become a nuisance by getting to the baits before the keepers that are mixed in with them. Dropping a large bait such as a white grunt head, squirrelfish or large live pinfish usually triggers a strike from the larger fish once the bite has been established by the use of frozen squid and sardines.

Captain’s Corner for May 7 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

What’s Hot:

Both bottom fishing and trolling are on fire right now. It would be difficult to choose between the two methods because of the multitude of species available to the average offshore angler. Kingfish and Spanish mackerel can readily be caught trolling either live or artificial baits by anglers targeting bait piles as close to 100 yards from shore all the way out to the 80 to 90 foot depths. It pays to “match the hatch” by fishing with sabiki caught live baits from the area you are fishing or determining what size bait the fish are feeding on and adjusting the size of plugs and spoons to match.

Bottom fishing for gag grouper remains strong in the 50 to 60 foot depths. Keeper red grouper (20 inch overall length) have begun to take up residence on their usual summertime haunts on relatively flat limestone areas in the 80 to 90 foot depths. Downsizing tackle when targeting grouper will produce white grunts, triggerfish, mangrove snapper along with some yellowtail snapper. Deploying a stinger rigged flatline with either a live or frozen sardine while bottom fishing may often result in an incidental limit of kingfish which are attracted to the activity and chum slick created in the entire water column. Keep a sharp lookout for cobia which may be attracted to the shelter of the anchored boat and may not be visible until you are leaving a spot. Casting a live or frozen bait to them will usually produce a strike.

When speaking of trolling for gag grouper, thoughts immediately turn to the edges of the Egmont Shipping Channel in 30 to 40 feet of water. Similar results can be had by targeting hard bottom areas offshore in the same depths. Trolling gold jointed plugs, large curly tailed jigs and Sea-witch/ballyhoo combinations behind a #4 planer while moving between bottom spots has recently produced some impressive gags.

Captain’s Corner for May 4 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Kingfish and Spanish mackerel have arrived off our coastline in good numbers, but have remained scattered in smaller schools at all of the traditional spots. They can be found all along the edges of the shipping channel leading to Tampa especially near the buoys which harbor baitfish seeking shelter near the chain which anchors them to the bottom. All of the artificial reefs whether they are near shore such as St Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach or Dunedin or mid-water like South County, Indian Shores, Rube Allyn and Veterans are great places to try.

Tactics:

Because the fish seem to be in smaller schools, we have been targeting them by the use of different types of “hardware” as opposed to slow trolling live bait. Trolling 2 planers ranging in size from #1 to 3 followed by spoons or plugs at 6 knots along with a surface line that will have a small lipped plug, trolling lead and spoon, or a ballyhoo will allow us to cover more territory when searching for these concentrations of fish. Hitting the MOB (man overboard ) button on the GPS as soon as a strike occurs will enable you to return to the position where the fish are located.

Tip:

Keep an eye out for cobia whenever trolling near any marker at this time of year. If they are spotted and do not strike hardware, return to the marker prepared to pitch a live or frozen sardine to them.

Captain’s Corner for April 18 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

What’s Hot:

Every type of offshore fishing is on fire right now. The abnormally cold winter set back our fishing almost one month. Normally we can expect Spanish mackerel and kingfish to show up in our waters in Mid-March. Spanish mackerel arrived in force last week and great reports came in both from anglers fishing the Sunshine Skyway fishing piers and anglers fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. They could be caught by trolling small gold spoons, plugs and live bait from the swim buoys just off the beach out to the near shore artificial reefs in the 30 foot depths. Most of the kingfish remained offshore in the 50 to 60 foot depths with the markers along the shipping channel producing consistent results.

Red and gag grouper, white grunts, trigger fish and mangrove snapper fishing has remained strong in the same depths that the majority of the kingfish have been found, probably because this is the depths that baitfish have found comfortable temperatures. On a recent nice day I did not listen to the advice I give others to not run past the fish, and ventured out to the 90 foot depths and experienced poor results bottom fishing. It took an 11 mile run inshore to finally produce a nice box of assorted bottom dwellers.

Tip:

Always deploy a stinger rigged flatline while bottom fishing baited with either live or frozen bait. Last Monday we bagged our limit of “schoolie” kingfish ranging from 8 to 12 pounds while targeting grouper. All of these fish struck frozen sardines.

Captain’s Corner for March 28 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

The grouper closure ends April 1^st and it looks like our trolling season will begin around the same time. Last week’s charters allowed us to do some scouting which produced some great news. Spanish mackerel showed up in scattered schools feeding on schools of extremely small baitfish which required us to use 00 spoons behind a # 1 planer and 2 inch skirts rigged with a 2/0 long shanked hook behind a small trolling sinker to generate strikes. Larger spoons did not produce a single bite. Diving gannets and flocks of terns dipping down to pick up remnants of baitfish led us to stop in the 40 foot depths to try trolling on our way to the 60 foot depths where bottom fishing produced almost constant action.

Water temperatures are not ideal yet, but the appearance of the mackerel should lead us to start thinking about trying to intercept some of the northward migrating cobia which are able to tolerate somewhat cooler water and are usually some of the first pelagic species to arrive in our waters. They are structure oriented fish and will be found stopping and taking up residence near the channel markers in the Egmont Channel, artificial reefs (especially the mid-water reefs in 40 feet of water), and all the wrecks.

Tip:

During the grouper closure we have been targeting the smaller reef fish such as white grunts, mangrove snapper and triggerfish with snapper rigs baited with squid. Because of the numbers and activity of these species we have spent a longer time on each spot that we fish. This has led us to wait for some length of time before we have dropped down larger grouper baits e.g. Spanish sardines and pinfish. Keeper grouper have been lured in by the commotion caused by the smaller fish. After the 1^st we are going to stick with this game plan while bottom fishing.

Captain’s Corner for March 15 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

For many years I wrote that the spring kingfish season started around St Patrick’s Day (March 17). This year will most certainly be the exception because of the unusually cold water temperatures in the gulf. Historically some schools of baitfish show up in our area when the water reaches 68 degrees and when the “magic” 72 to 76 degree shows on the thermometer shoals of baitfish and their attendant predators such as kingfish, Spanish mackerel, cobia, bonita and barracuda can be found on all types of structure. Now is a good time to check drags, examine rods to see if any guides need replacing, re-spool reels and take care of boat maintenance. This should include engine water pumps, bilge and bait well pumps and their wiring connections.

What’s Hot:

Whenever the weather allows us to venture offshore bottom fishing has been outstanding and will only continue to get better. It has not been necessary to travel any more than to the 60 foot depths to enjoy almost non-stop action from porgies, white grunts, triggerfish and mangrove snapper which go into the fish box to provide excellent table fare. Downsizing tackle to 20 pound class and 2/0 or 3/0 circle hooks along with smaller baits is the key to success. Both red and gag grouper (which are closed until April 1^st) provide rod bending thrills when caught on this light tackle must be carefully released. This year the bottom fish have acclimated to the colder than usual water temperatures and are not lethargic or hesitant to attack baits as they have been in the past.

Captain’s Corner for January 27 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

What’s Hot:

Offshore gag grouper fishing is as good as it can get right now. The fish that are traditionally targeted in the 20 to 30 foot depths have moved offshore to the 50 to 60 foot depths, because of the unusually cold weather that we have been experiencing, joining the fish that have made the annual trek from the deep waters of the gulf. The cold water conditions have put a crimp in the gathering of live bait such as pinfish, pigfish and the various white baits, but that does not seem to matter. Frozen sardines, squid and pieces of jack mackerel have been producing banner catches.

Tactics:

The larger ledges and artificial reefs, being high profile structures , are more likely to hold numbers of fish because of the protection that they provide to both baitfish and their predators . The high seas and turbulent conditions caused by the strong winds accompanying the cold fronts create this movement of the fish. If we ever get a period of calm seas, these fish will move to smaller ledges near the high profile structure where competition for the available forage is not as intense.

Tip:

Pay attention as to which way the smaller fish swim when released. They will always swim toward the best available structure. The same holds true when a keeper is hooked.. If all the fish are swimming in the same direction, it is worthwhile to cast a baited hook that way. Usually there is a bigger undercut or pile of rocks in that direction which tend to hold the majority of larger fish.

Captain’s Corner for December 14 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

The wintertime shallow water gag grouper season is in full force right now and should continue right through the winter unless the water temperature plunges into the 50’s. There is no need to run very far offshore to participate in this fishery. Keeper gags have been caught in as shallow as 15 feet of water, but the best and most consistent catches are being made in the 20 to 40 foot range. Keeper red grouper (20 inches overall length) have been rare in these depths for years, and it was usually necessary to travel to the 70 to 90 foot depths to target them. This year is an exception that we hope will continue. Every recent trip has produced some legal reds in these shallower waters.

Tip:

Looking for hard bottom spots and ledges is very similar to “prospecting” offshore except for the fact that much lower profile relief will hold large quantities of fish as long as bait is present. Look on your sonar not only for the structure, but also for some signs of baitfish. The transducer cone is much smaller in the shallow water, not allowing as much area of the bottom to be read. Always be ready with a marker to pinpoint the spot as soon as you run over it.

On a recent trip with Elmer Spring and three friends from Canada, we also had onboard Butch Ayala from the FWC who was examining, measuring , tagging and releasing the short grouper that were caught. The four anglers caught 184 grouper that were released along with keeper gags, white grunts, scamp mangrove snapper and triggerfish. If you catch a tagged fish write down, the tag number, the length of the fish and note the general area it was caught in. Call this information in to FWC at 1-800-367-4461.