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Daily fishing report
By JAY MASTRY Rising water temperature and availability of bait have ignited a flurry of activity along the Suncoast. Slow trolling around the bait pods at markers 3 and 4 and out to 1 and 2 in the Egmont ships channel netted Angelo LoGrande a handful of kingfish. Though most of those were schoolies, Kevin L'eon battled an estimated 45-pound smoker to the boat during last weekend's trolling tournament. Larry Mastry and his party trolled near markers 9 and 10 on Wednesday using bluerunners and greenbacks for bait; several of their fish tipped the scales at more than 20 pounds. Our spring kingfish run has just begun. Over the next couple weeks it will vastly improve. And while the ships channel has historically been a hangout for early arrivals, look for reefs and wrecks to be early hot spots as well. Amberjacks are as big and bad as ever and seemingly there are more of them. Kelly Carter's 40-pounder was the largest of nearly 30 that manhandled six of us on a trip to 105 feet this week off Longboat Key. Though they hit most any live bait we offered them, bluerunners were clearly their favorite. Pompano have been caught along with mackerel at the fishing piers at Fort DeSoto. Even more productive has been Pass-a-Grille Pass. John Young and guests landed more than two dozen on a recent trip with the bigger ones nearly 3 pounds. Pink or yellow jigs work best and the latest craze is the trailer skirt that may be attached to the jig. The sizzling hot grouper bite off Hudson a week ago cooled off to a simmer this week. The full moon this week may have been to blame. Riley Weingart and friends went through 100 live bits and a couple boxes of frozen sardines en route to catching more than 30 keepers last week. As we move away from this moon phase, look for good grouper digging in the 50-foot range to heat up again. Though we generally don't start fishing seriously for tarpon around these parts until late April, rapidly rising water temperature apparently has made at least some silver kings arrive ahead of schedule. Closer to shore, snook fishing has been an option. Clark and Karen Nash have been wearing them out working dock lights at night in Treasure Island. Whitebait, shrimp and 10-pound test have been the keys to success. They have been reaching their limit each night by observing which baits are being ambushed as they drift through the lighted areas. Shrimp has been preferred lately and the fly-lined offerings on light line allow the most natural presentation to the often finicky eaters. Large trout and redfish also have been caught on baits intended for snook. The rocky edges of the ships channel in Tampa Bay are another option if unable to get offshore. Mackerel, mangrove snapper and grouper kept us busy Tuesday just inside the Sunshine Skyway bridge. Fish the hour and a half before and after the tide changes to avoid the ripping tide still influenced by the full moon phase. Otherwise too much weight is necessary to effectively keep baits on the bottom. -- Jay Mastry charters Jaybird out of St. Petersburg. Call (727) 321-2142.
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From the Times Outdoors page
From the AP | |||||||||||||||||
