Captain’s Corner for October 29  Dave Zalewski  460-9893

The fall kingfish season has been less than stellar for me so far this year. Normally I would expect good numbers of schoolie fish (6 to 10 pounds) to be in our area at this time savagely attacking schools of Spanish sardines, hardtails and blue runners. Several trips to both the nearshore and mid water artificial reefs have resulted in a fish or two, but nothing consistent. The ray of hope for trollers has been the abundance of larger than average Spanish mackerel at all of the usual spots that should be harboring the kingfish. Small spoons trolled behind  #1 planers and many types of hard bodied plugs are producing the best results. Barracuda have been numerous and have been quick to attack a hooked mackerel leaving a set of lips on the spoon.

We have found a great use for our kingfish tackle. The light sensitive rods with 20 # class conventional reels have proved to be great to fish for sharks near any pass emptying into the gulf. We like to think of the monster sharks depicted in movies and television, but the reality is that most of the sharks that we are catching are relatively small (10 to 40 pounds) and provide great sport on the light kingfish tackle. 6/0 to 10/0 circle hooks and a 2 foot wire leader are all that is needed. A good chum slick augmented by chunked fish with some baits placed on the bottom and some suspended from balloons will quickly produce action especially on an outgoing tide.