The kingfish bite has been steady, although really big fish have been hard to come by. Smaller, school-size fish seem to be just about everywhere and will hit a wide variety of live and artificial baits. The best bite has been in 30-60 feet, fishing wrecks and areas of hard live bottom.
The grouper bite inside of the 80-foot mark has been fair to good. You'll have to pick through a number of undersize fish to catch a few keepers. Try fishing rockpiles and ledges, in 45 to 75 feet from Tarpon Springs and north, if you're searching for gag grouper. Recent trips have produced a few fish near 20 pounds. Live bait is a must. The grouper bite out deep continues to get better as water temperatures warm and more schools of bait make their way north.
If you're going to fish out deep, have a couple of light spinning outfits rigged with a short length of 40-pound leader and a 3/0 live bait hook or a small feather jig. On our last couple of trips we've had schools of small dolphin (mahi-mahi) show up while drifting areas of hard bottom for grouper and snapper. Use jigs, live and small chunks of cut bait to catch them and remember to leave one hooked up near the back of the boat to hold the rest of the school close.
- Randy Rochelle runs Islander Charters in St. Petersburg and can be reached at (727) 528-1213 or by e-mail at Islandercharters@ij.net
