Captain’s Corner for July 11 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

On several recent trips we have returned with colorful boxes of fish which included dolphin (mahi-mahi), yellowtail snapper, mangrove snapper, and red grouper. All of these species have been caught in the 80 to 90 foot depth range either while targeting red grouper or on the way. The dolphin have been attracted to the boat because of the protection it affords and mostly because while bottom fishing copious amounts of chum are released by the loss of baits and the expelling of stomach contents caused by the pressure change when fish are reeled to the surface. Whenever they are seen either chasing a bait or a hooked fish being prepared is the key to success. These fish are 2 to 3 pounds and have correspondingly small mouths, so small 1/0 or 2/0 long shanked gold hooks should be used tied directly to an 8 to 10 pound class spinning outfit. A pair of scissors for cutting a frozen sardine into thin slices should be at hand when the fish are spotted. These small slices will serve to tease the fish, remain near the surface and not fill them up. Using chunks of chum will often fill them up or the chum will sink rapidly drawing the dolphin into the depths and out of the strike zone. The use of the above mentioned hooks serves two purposes, the first is that the long shank helps to prevent swallowing of the hook. The second is that many times the aggressive strike of the fish will strip the bait from the hook. When these fish are feeding we have observed many times their willingness to strike the flash of the gold hook as it is being reeled in to rebait .Most of our yellowtails have been caught by use of a 2/0 circle hook rigged “knocker style” with a small sliding sinker and a chunk of frozen Spanish sardine just large enough to cover the hook.

Captain’s Corner for June 10 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

It appears that we may have a great summertime fishery for Kingfish just like we had in 2008. Looking back at some trip records from that period revealed that we had a population of kingfish that stayed in our area for the entire summer instead of continuing their migration to the Panhandle. Here it is June and we have been able to target kingfish in several areas instead of them being an incidental catch while bottom fishing. The 10 Fathom curve (60 feet of water) with its numerous ledges, jumbled rock areas and wrecks is holding the majority of the bait and kings.
Tactics:
Many of the fish that we are catching have been below the surface, halfway to the bottom or deeper picking off stragglers from the huge bait piles of Spanish sardines, hardtails and blue runners. Catching the bait with sabiki rigs using a 3 or 4 ounce sinker to prevent these larger baits from tangling the rig has been relatively easy. Presenting the baits is a little more complex. Downriggers can be used with a clip near the weight to present a bait near the bottom. A 2 to 4 ounce trolling weight can be used to present a bait in the mid range and a nose hooked bait can be deployed on the surface. A stinger rig should be used no matter what depth one is fishing. Initial light drag settings should be employed to prevent break offs on the strike.
Tips
Always slow troll around the bait piles with the lines far enough out so that they will pass through the bait instead of the boat which will tend to separate the bait into smaller schools.. These bait piles may not be visible from the surface, so place close attention to your depth finder to locate sub surface schools.

Captain’s Corner for Jan 29 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Gag grouper have been a catch, photo, release fish since November and red grouper will join them on February 1 when the closure for them will also go into effect. Until April 1. There are still plenty of fish available to provide a few delicious meals and some for the freezer. White grunts AKA Key West grunts, gray snapper, saltwater crappie and a host of other local names are our predominate reef fish and when tackle is downsized provide drag pulling action just like the larger reef fish that we so often target. In addition to the grunts mangrove snapper, triggerfish, silver trout, and sea bass are all open in the gulf waters
Tip: Bring some light spinning or bait casting tackle to a rocky area that is normally targeted for grouper, rig with a 2 hook “chicken rig”2/0 hooks, 3 to 4 ounce sinker and let the action begin. The activity of the smaller reef fish feeding will bring in the larger grouper, who will join in the fray and will test angling skills on the light tackle.
We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of kingfish and large mackerel that have shown up while bottom fishing in the 50 to 60 foot depths recently and have went back to deploying frozen sardine on a stinger rigged flatline.
Tip: Keep the flatline rigged and ready when traveling offshore, we have been encountering small pods of kingfish smashing into schools of bait and have had great success casting a frozen sardine and using a “walk the dog” method of retrieval to trigger a strike.

Captain’s Corner for March 31 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

The big decision that had to be made at the beginning of each trip offshore before the cold fronts blew through was what species to target. Spanish mackerel were abundant near every inlet emptying into the gulf, and were eager to feed on both live and artificial baits. On most days all it took was the presence of one or two diving terns to indicate that a school of mackerel was under the surface. Until last weekend baitfish were very small and the use of a 00 or 0 spoon was mandated. Large baitfish arrived in numbers over the weekend and trying different sizes of spoons became necessary to “match the hatch”
Kingfish arrived in scattered schools and some were caught in all the usual spots such as the mid-water artificial reefs , wrecks and the markers at the western end of the shipping channel. Cobia were spotted at many of these same locations but were hesitant to take anything offered to them. The clear water allowed us to see barracuda in the water over several high profile structures. Historically they show up about a week or two before the concentrations of kingfish arrive and will not strike anything until then.
Bottom fishing continues to be outstanding in the 40 to 60 foot depths for all species. Because of the grouper closure we have been directing efforts towards light tackle white grunt, triggerfish , sea bass, porgy and triggerfish activity. Catch photo and release grouper have been a welcome addition to the activity and beginning April 1 some of these will end up in the fish box. Red grouper will be open in both State and Federal waters and gag grouper will be open only in State waters. State waters extend up to 9 miles offshore.

Captain’s Corner for May 19 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

We were hoping that our spring kingfish season that started late would last longer than usual. Although there are scattered schools of kingfish to be found near the artificial reefs, wrecks and the shipping channel, the majority of the fish appear to have continued their migration to the Panhandle. A recent trip to markers 1and 2, 3and 4, and the Whistler was very disappointing in the fact that there was no bait to be sabiki up and the lack of bait resulted in no fish to be had even trolling hardware. Whenever we leave the dock, the bait cooler has an ample supply of frozen sardines and squid so that we can bottom fish as a back up plan. The hard bottom 2 to 3 miles north of the Whistler produced a variety of reef fish that included catch and release gag grouper, both undersize and keeper red grouper, white grunts, mangrove snapper and a surprising amount of undersize yellowtail snapper that were caught on the 2 hook grunt rigs.
The 60 to 65 foot depths are the key to some non-stop bottom fishing activity at this time. Keeper red grouper can be readily found in these depths by using both frozen and live baits. A live or dead sardine on a stinger rig will surely result in a few kingfish strikes while bottom fishing. White grunts are in a pre-spawn mode in these depths and some fish in the 15 to 17 inch range are being caught . Downsizing tackle to 10# class will provide both sport and excellent table fare

Captain’s Corner for May 13 Dave Zalewski

In the past as soon as the majority of the kingfish left our area , we would put away our trolling tackle and concentrate for the most part on bottom fishing in the 70 to 90 foot depths for red and gag grouper, white grunts, mangrove snapper , and yellowtail snapper. The kingfish have left us , but there are still plenty of species to target trolling. Gag grouper trolling in the 30 to 40 foot hard bottom areas has provided exceptional action.
Tip: For years the majority of trolling for gags has been conducted along the shipping channel going into Tampa. The channel averages about 40 foot deep. Hard bottom rocky areas that receive less pressure than the channel are accessible to the average boater without a long run offshore. A broken backed gold lure trolled behind a #3 planer, the large lipped stretch plugs in gold or blue produce the best.
Barracuda have made their presence known by schooling on the artificial reefs and wrecks for several weeks. They have just become active in their feeding and provide great action by slow trolling any large bait such as live blue runners or mackerel caught on site and deployed with a stinger rig.
Spanish mackerel action has left something to be desired offshore, but the best action has been right on the beach within a 100 yards. Trolling small gold or silver spoons behind a #1 planer, or sight casting small locally manufactured plugs into the schools of bait have produced exceptional action.

Captain’s Corner for May 29 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Red grouper, white grunts, and mangrove snapper have been our main targets in the 50 to 70 foot depths recently. It is necessary to catch and release many red grouper that are just short of the legal size of 20 inches overall. Deploying a stinger equipped flat line on every bottom stop has produced several memorable fish lately. Large Spanish mackerel, gag grouper, kingfish, barracuda and a tiger shark have all been drawn in by the activity of bottom fishing and the natural chum slick produced when bottom fish expel their stomach contents on the way up from the depths.
Tip: Putting out two flat lines, one with a nose hooked frozen Spanish sardine and the other with a live bait such as a blue runner, live sardine, or hardtail covers much of the water column. The dead bait usually sinks midway to the bottom , while the live bait remains near the surface.
Last week we were caught unprepared for the school of dolphin fish (mahi-mahi) that appeared under the boat while bottom fishing in 70 feet of water. From now on we will have one or two 10 to 12 pound class rods rigged with 2/0 gold hooks ready to put into service. Our usual drill when they show up is to start chumming with small slivers of sardine to beep them nearby and active. Chumming with large chunks only feeds them and they will soon move on. The use of a small gold hook allows a piece of bait the size of the chum fall naturally in the water column. Because these fish feed so voraciously, keep several hooks handy as it is usually quicker to cut the line and retie if the hook is swallowed.

Captain’s Corner for April 13 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

What’s Hot: The water temperature reached the magical 72 degrees, which is the point where baitfish and their attendant predators are all comfortable. Schools of Spanish sardines have arrived but, because of the nearshore dirty water conditions caused by the recent cold front with its high winds, they have stayed offshore in the 30 to 60 foot range. Kingfish, Spanish mackerel, and bonita will be found crashing into these baitfish. The water has cleared up at the western end of the shipping channel and on the mid- water artificial reefs such as South County , Indian Shores and Veteran’s. The Rube Allyn reef has been consistently producing for the past two weeks for those trolling both live baits and hardware. Large spoons, lipped plugs of all sizes, and a ballyhoo/skirt combination trolled at 6 knots are effective for kingfish. Smaller 00 to #1 spoons and smaller plugs are necessary if Spanish mackerel are targeted at the same speed.
Once the bait is located the use of a sabiki rig will produce quickly produce enough to start fishing . Slow trolling at “as slow as you can go” speed is the key and bait can be continue to be caught while trolling.
Kingfish must be 24 inch minimum fork length with a 2 per person bag limit. Spanish mackerel must be 12 inch minimum fork length , with a 15 per person bag limit. As with any species “Limit your catch, don’t catch your limit” and there will be fish for the future.

Captain’s Corner for April 29 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Fishing for kingfish and Spanish mackerel has either been hot or “not” during the past week. On the days that the fishing has been hot, we have been fishing the shipping channel markers, Treasure Island artificial reef, and hard bottom areas northwest of the St Pete Beach artificial reef with almost non-stop action on both live and artificial baits. Going to the same areas only one day later, it is quickly evident that the fish have moved on, and after a reasonable length of time dragging holes in the water without a strike we have changed gears and went bottom fishing.
Bottom fishing has stayed consistent in the 50 to 80 foot depths with red and gag grouper, white grunts, scamp and porgies providing most of the action. Gag grouper are a game fish until July 1, when the season opens , and are catch, photo and release. There has been no complaints from our clients when releasing these great battlers, especially when they realize that by releasing the fish another angler can enjoy the same fight.
Tip: Deploy a stinger rigged flatline on every bottom stop made because the activity of the bottom fish being brought up will entice any pelagic predator in the area to partake in the easy meal provided by the stunned smaller reef fish being put back and the steady chum stream caused by the reef fish expelling their stomach contents and lost baits.

Captain’s Corner for May 29 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Spanish mackerel, kingfish, bonita, and barracuda are highlighting the species to target for offshore trollers utilizing both live and artificial baits. This season has been different than previous years because of the late arrival of both baitfish and their attendant predators. Normally the middle of March is when we began to see Spanish mackerel and kingfish off our coast and the migration reaches a peak in mid-April. The Spanish mackerel remain throughout the summer, with their larger cousins leaving the area by mid-May. Barracuda normally can be seen on the wrecks and artificial reefs at the beginning of April and began feeding in earnest later on in the month.
This year is markedly different with our successfully targeting kingfish of all sizes on every trip along with the other pelagics this late in the season. Spanish mackerel fishing has been best within one mile of the beaches, especially near any of the passes on an outgoing tide.
Tip: Look for where the dirty bay water meets the cleaner gulf water and troll live bait or spoons just inside the dirty water. This seems contrary to the thought that the bait would be more visible in the cleaner water, but we consistently receive more strikes by staying just out of the clear water.
The first 3 sets of markers coming from sea in the shipping channel have been holding kingfish and bait on a daily basis. On some days the fish are finicky and will refuse to strike anything but a Spanish sardine and on other days will strike only a blue runner.
Tip: Start by offering both types of bait until one seems preferable for the day