Captain’s Corner for October 29 Dave Zalewski (727) 460-9893

The water temperatures have dropped to the magical 74 to 76 degrees caused by the shorter days and cold fronts sweeping through the area and kingfish, Spanish mackerel, cobia and shark fishing is now as good as it gets. Strong easterly winds prevent us from targeting favorite areas such as the shipping channel especially from markers 5 and 6 westward, the 10 Fathom wreck, South County artificial reef and the natural gas pipeline in the 70 foot range, all places that are holding large numbers of fish. All is not lost when the wind blows because this causes the baitfish that the predators so hungrily seek to move close to shore seeking protection from buffeting seas. Some of the best Spanish mackerel and king fishing will be found within a mile of shore and often times within 100 yards from shore near any of the entrances to the gulf. Trolling small spoons behind a #1 planer or a 4 to 6 ounce trolling sinker may produce non-stop action. Deploying a large gold spoon or plug and having some patience will usually result in a strike from a kingfish. Troll 2 or 3 rods with a mixture of baits to target both species.
Anchoring, putting out a chum bag and chumming with either live baits or small slivers of frozen sardines or baits caught with a sabiki will draw hordes of mackerel to the boat. Casting locally made hard twitch baits on light tackle will produce exciting visual action.
Sharks of all sizes will be attracted by the chum and feeding activity and putting out a filet of mackerel either directly on the bottom or suspended from a balloon will result in some bonus action.