Captain’s Corner for September 15 Dave Zalewski 397-8815
Spanish mackerel fishing is continuing to offer an almost sure thing on a daily basis in the Gulf. They are concentrated near the mouth of nearly every pass on the outgoing tide and then after the tide change they can be found within a mile of the shore by watching for diving birds. This past Monday we put out #1 planers and small gold spoons in the no wake zone before entering the gulf through John’s Pass and were rewarded with Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. We were destined to venture offshore , but found it hard to leave the school of large mackerel that were concentrated between the bridge and the first set of markers. After a dozen fish were iced in the box our trip continued to the Treasure Island reef where every large concrete pile held baitfish, more Spanish mackerel, undersize kingfish and barracuda. The barracuda put on aerial displays , jumping clear of the water and dazzled us with drag screaming runs just like large kingfish make. The barracudas were brought to boatside, Boga gripped, photoed and released to provide another angler the same exciting battles.
Stopping on mid-water reefs like the South County proved to be disappointing with little in the way of bait or fish to be seen. Trolling both live and artificial baits resulted in little more than empty holes being dragged in the water.
There has been no need to venture past the 65 foot depths to target red grouper, white grrunts, and mangrove snapper. Take squid, frozen sardines, live pinfish and sabiki up some live sardines and hardtails. The grouper will bite one particular bait on one day and not even look at the same bait in the same area one day later.
Captain’s Corner for September 15 Dave Zalewski 397-8815
Spanish mackerel fishing is continuing to offer an almost sure thing on a daily basis in the Gulf. They are concentrated near the mouth of nearly every pass on the outgoing tide and then after the tide change they can be found within a mile of the shore by watching for diving birds. This past Monday we put out #1 planers and small gold spoons in the no wake zone before entering the gulf through John’s Pass and were rewarded with Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. We were destined to venture offshore , but found it hard to leave the school of large mackerel that were concentrated between the bridge and the first set of markers. After a dozen fish were iced in the box our trip continued to the Treasure Island reef where every large concrete pile held baitfish, more Spanish mackerel, undersize kingfish and barracuda. The barracuda put on aerial displays , jumping clear of the water and dazzled us with drag screaming runs just like large kingfish make. The barracudas were brought to boatside, Boga gripped, photoed and released to provide another angler the same exciting battles.
Stopping on mid-water reefs like the South County proved to be disappointing with little in the way of bait or fish to be seen. Trolling both live and artificial baits resulted in little more than empty holes being dragged in the water.
There has been no need to venture past the 65 foot depths to target red grouper, white grrunts, and mangrove snapper. Take squid, frozen sardines, live pinfish and sabiki up some live sardines and hardtails. The grouper will bite one particular bait on one day and not even look at the same bait in the same area one day later.
