Captain’s Corner for June 28 Dave Zalewski 397-8815

Offshore fishing has become as hot as the weather. Both benthic and pelagic fish have cooperated well for the past few weeks. Red grouper (still legal to keep as long as they meet the 20 inch overall size limit) have been feeding heavily in their usual summertime depths of 80 to 90 feet over flat Swiss-cheese bottom. Numerous short grouper provide nearly non-stop action with the larger fish mixed in. We have observed that the larger red grouper tend to inhabit the transitional area where the bottom turns abruptly from sand to hard rock. This usually has a washed out area slightly deeper than the adjacent rock. Paying close attention to the sonar and marking the edge and anchoring over it will usually result in larger fish. Gag grouper (closed until Sept 16) have been mixed in with the reds in some spots and have provided exciting catch-photo-release action. White grunts, triggerfish, porgies, and some mangrove snapper have fallen victim to the two hook “chicken rig” with the 3 ounce sinker underneath presented to them. We have found it necessary to cover the full gamut of bait including frozen squid and sardines, live pinfish, sardines, squirrelfish, and hardtails caught with sabiki rigs. On some recent trips it has been observed that what worked well the previous day will hardly produce a bite the next.
Spanish mackerel have been quite scarce offshore with only scattered fish being caught whether using live bait or trolling spoons. A welcome surprise has been their larger cousins, kingfish. Using stinger rigged flatlines with live sardines or hardtails caught while bottom fishing or using a frozen sardine which will fall partially in the water column and remain suspended by the current we have encountered kingfish ranging from 10 pounds to the high 20’s.
Tip: School’s out — take a child fishing