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.