Captain’s Corner for November 13 Dave Zalewski 727 397-8815

Offshore water temperature is hovering around the magical 72 degree mark and fishing for all species both benthic and pelagic is about as good as it gets. Find the bait and you will find the kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonita, jack crevalle, and barracuda. All of these species are feeding heavily as they prepare to leave our area for warmer water temperatures. For some reason the baitfish have not been concentrated on the artificial reefs, channel markers and shipwrecks, but have been abundant on hard bottom areas within a mile of them. Paying close attention to the fish finder will show these concentrations even though they may not be visible from the surface.
Cobia are still around, but are difficult to target specifically. We have been catching them while bottom fishing, using a flatline, and trolling for kingfish and mackerel. If one is hooked while bottom fishing be prepared to back off the locked down drag employed for grouper so that the fish may run freely without breaking the line.
Catch and release amberjack fishing because of the closed season is rapidly improving on many of the artificial reefs, springs and wrecks. Slow trolling blue runners may produce many different species on these high profile structures. Now is a great time to test light tackle skills because of the closed season.
Gag grouper have been scarce. There is no shortage of red grouper to produce action. Red grouper do not appear to move much and make note of where keepers are released so that when the season opens they may be targeted