Captain’s Corner for April 9 Dave Zalewski 397-8815
What a difference a year makes! Reminiscing with clients from the mid-West who fish with us the first week of April every year made us aware of the dramatic effect weather conditions and water temperature play in preparing a daily game plan as to where to go and what species to seek . In 2012 we were targeting and catching pelagic fish; kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonita, barracuda and cobia on a daily basis. Scattered blackfin tuna made their way into the fish box and we witnessed a local charter boat catch and release a sailfish. This year we kept the trolling gear in the cabin except for the catch and release gag grouper gear and concentrated on bottom fishing for red grouper, white grunts, scamp, triggerfish and porgies. We were able to return to port with colorful catches of these tasty reef fish by concentrating on the water depths of 60 to 70 feet in any direction from John’s Pass and using a combination of Spanish sardines, squid and cut bait. The recent grouper closure which caused us to switch from conventional single hook bottom tackle to two hook rigs on light tackle made us realize how much fun and sport this allowed and we are now employing both methods especially if we have children onboard.
Last year we concentrated our efforts for the pelagics in an area called the “Triangle”, a hard bottom area located from “Times Square “ to markers 1 and 2; and 3 and 4 in the shipping channel. As soon as water temperatures warm a little we will be there with both our hardware and live bait trolling tackle
Captain’s Corner for April 9 Dave Zalewski 397-8815
What a difference a year makes! Reminiscing with clients from the mid-West who fish with us the first week of April every year made us aware of the dramatic effect weather conditions and water temperature play in preparing a daily game plan as to where to go and what species to seek . In 2012 we were targeting and catching pelagic fish; kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonita, barracuda and cobia on a daily basis. Scattered blackfin tuna made their way into the fish box and we witnessed a local charter boat catch and release a sailfish. This year we kept the trolling gear in the cabin except for the catch and release gag grouper gear and concentrated on bottom fishing for red grouper, white grunts, scamp, triggerfish and porgies. We were able to return to port with colorful catches of these tasty reef fish by concentrating on the water depths of 60 to 70 feet in any direction from John’s Pass and using a combination of Spanish sardines, squid and cut bait. The recent grouper closure which caused us to switch from conventional single hook bottom tackle to two hook rigs on light tackle made us realize how much fun and sport this allowed and we are now employing both methods especially if we have children onboard.
Last year we concentrated our efforts for the pelagics in an area called the “Triangle”, a hard bottom area located from “Times Square “ to markers 1 and 2; and 3 and 4 in the shipping channel. As soon as water temperatures warm a little we will be there with both our hardware and live bait trolling tackle
