What’s Hot:

St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) and Columbus Day (October 10) are the two holidays that signify the usual start of the Spring and Fall kingfish runs. The 2011 Fall kingfish run was disappointing for Tamps Bay anglers. This Spring season is a little ahead of schedule because of the mild winter and almost perfect water temperatures in our area and is promising to be one of the best in recent years. Kingfish, Spanish mackerel and bonita can be found in schools of various sizes from within 100 yards of shore near any of the passes entering into the gulf out to the 10 Fathom depths. .

On most recent trips we have mackerel fished using #1 planers and #1 spoons in the area just outside the swim buoys between John’s Pass and Pass-a- Grille.

Tip:

There are many juvenile kingfish mixed in with the Spanish mackerel. Spanish Mackerel have to be 12 inches fork length. King mackerel have to be 24 inches fork length. Fork length is measured from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail. King mackerel have a lateral line that starts high and drops sharply below the second dorsal fin. Spanish mackerel have a lateral line that curves gently to the base of the tail.

The forty and 60 foot depths have both proved productive for our kingfish attempts, with both trolling #1 and #2 planers with larger spoons or slow trolling with live sardines or hardtails.

On a recent trip the kingfish almost became a nuisance while bottom fishing. A stinger rigged flat line with a dead sardine cast out and retrieved with an inshore “walk the dog” action resulted in multiple hookups.

On every trip offshore last week we encountered scattered schools of large Spanish sardines and hardtails in the 40 foot depth range no matter what direction we took from John’s Pass. It was easy to catch them on sabiki rigs and proceed to the 55 to 60 foot depths where they were used for outstanding catch and release action from both gag and red grouper. Switching to light tackle, small 2/0 hooks snapper rigs baited with strips of squid or grunts, non stop action occurred from white grunts, porgies, triggerfish, sea bass, and an occasional mangrove snapper along with grouper that presented a challenge keeping them away from the structure. Although they are harder to clean than a single larger fish , the smaller reef fish all provide excellent table fare.

The early arrival of larger baitfish and unusually warm gulf water temperatures for this time of year prompted us to try trolling. South County artificial reef was a logical choice because of the depths where we had been catching the baitfish. Large amounts of floating seaweed greeted us when we arrived, making trolling with planers and spoons difficult. Spanish mackerel have arrived! Every pass over the tug “Orange” that we were able to make without weed fouled lines produced a mackerel in the 14 to 16 inch range.

Tip: There is no longer a marker on the South County reef. Coordinates for the reef and the structure scattered throughout the area can be found at www.pinellascounty.org/utilities/reef

Huge schools of bull redfish in the 20 to 30 pound range have caused us to strop on our way offshore to target barracuda, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, and grouper. These schools of redfish have taken up residence from 2 to 4 miles offshore from Redington Beach to Pass-a- Grille and are willing to strike almost any live or artificial bait presented to them. There are several indicators in locating the fish aside from the obvious churning of the water when they are attacking a school of baitfish. If you are lucky enough to spot 2 or three frigate birds above some terns diving into the water you can be assured that the redfish are below the terns. One frigate bird above the terns is usually an indicator that bonita are below.

Tactics:

We have been using a gold King spoon 30 feet behind a #2 planer and a medium spoon behind a # 1 planer . These fish are so powerful that use of a small spoon or plug will result in straightened hooks. We also have a large shallow running plug rigged on a medium spinning outfit at the ready. Once the fish are located double hookups on the planer equipped rods are common. We have seen as many as a dozen other fish pursuing the hooked fish and casting the plug to them has resulted in epic battles on the lighter tackle.

These fish are well over the redfish slot limit and must be carefully released. Because of their size, it is best to keep the fish in the water while removing the hook and photographing them.

Bottom fishing for both species of fish that have an open season as well as those that have to be catch and release because of closure continues to be very strong in the 40 to 60 foot depths. Because of the grouper closure we have been targeting white grunts, triggerfish and mangrove snapper with tackle downsized to the size of the fish. On recent trips we have been starting out with at least half of the party with spinning gear rigged with 2 hook 2/0 snapper rigs attached to a 2 or 3 ounce sinker with strips of squid. The other half are usually given 40 pound conventional tackle rigged with 4/0 hooks baited with sardines to target both grouper and grunts. Just about everyone has asked to switch to the light 10 to 12 pound tackle once they see how much fun and sport it is to target these fish with appropriate tackle. We have always had downsized tackle onboard for children, but now we have regular clients asking for the lighter tackle. Now is a great time to take children and grandchildren fishing to enjoy non-stop rod bending action.

Baitfish are beginning to be seen near the Skyway and all over Tampa Bay and the near shore waters of the gulf. Scattered reports of Spanish mackerel striking these schools of bait and being caught are coming in and increasing every day. Water temperatures near Venice are close to the magic 72 degrees that we all look for and will soon be that in our area. When water temperature hits that mark the kingfish, Spanish mackerel ,bonita and cobia will be all here

Gulf of Mexico fishing had just gotten into high gear when last week’s cold front with its high winds brought everything to a halt. Both trolling and bottom fishing should quickly return to some of the best of the year. Gulf water temperatures have plummeted and that should push both the baitfish and their attendant predators into our area from the northern areas.

Kingfish, bonita, Spanish mackerel, and barracuda have been our trolling targets for the past month. Spanish mackerel and kingfish have been scattered for the most part and required some searching to find small concentrations of them. This all should change with the decrease in water temperatures. Spanish mackerel will be found close to shore near every pass entering the gulf and will be feeding ravenously on outgoing tides. Their larger cousins kingfish will be there also, but the larger schools of kingfish, not necessarily larger fish, will be found along the Egmont shipping channel and on all the artificial reefs and wrecks where the migratory baitfish have taken up residence. Cobia were beginning to be seen and caught on the artificial reefs just before the cold front hit and should remain in our area for several weeks.

Tip: Cobia are often found in pairs. It pays to keep a rod rigged and ready for whenever one is hooked. Our favorite has been a stinger rigged frozen sardine, retrieved just like the inshore anglers “walk the dog”

Gag and red grouper fishing no longer requires long runs offshore. Concentrations of them can be found in the 30 to 60 foot depths. They are willing to bite on almost any bait presented, but right now the larger ones find it hard to resist a large squirrelfish hooked just above the anal fin.

Huge schools of bull redfish in the 20 to 30 pound range have caused us to strop on our way offshore to target barracuda, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, and grouper. These schools of redfish have taken up residence from 2 to 4 miles offshore from Redington Beach to Pass-a- Grille and are willing to strike almost any live or artificial bait presented to them. There are several indicators in locating the fish aside from the obvious churning of the water when they are attacking a school of baitfish. If you are lucky enough to spot 2 or three frigate birds above some terns diving into the water you can be assured that the redfish are below the terns. One frigate bird above the terns is usually an indicator that bonita are below.

Tactics:

We have been using a gold King spoon 30 feet behind a #2 planer and a medium spoon behind a # 1 planer . These fish are so powerful that use of a small spoon or plug will result in straightened hooks. We also have a large shallow running plug rigged on a medium spinning outfit at the ready. Once the fish are located double hookups on the planer equipped rods are common. We have seen as many as a dozen other fish pursuing the hooked fish and casting the plug to them has resulted in epic battles on the lighter tackle.

These fish are well over the redfish slot limit and must be carefully released. Because of their size, it is best to keep the fish in the water while removing the hook and photographing them.

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.

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.

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.