Right on schedule, the gag grouper have moved closer to the beach. On Sunday, Frank Perri, fishing the Mega-Bite , found several in 60 feet of water just west of the whistler buoy. He was fishing dead sardines to get the bite started and moved to live bait to catch the largest fish, which measured 26 inches.
Chris Clark ran the Mega-Bite II this past weekend and reports there are more large Spanish mackerel than at any time over the previous five years. The kingfish are here in numbers, along with schools of cobia cruising the near-shore artificial reefs and wrecks.
The weekend's cold front seems to have blown the live bait out to 40 to 50 feet of water, but expect it to be back around the pass markers and beach bait spots late this week. That should coincide with the arrival of smoker kingfish in areas around Blind Pass drop, Clearwater hard bottom and the 90-foot hole off Egmont. All of the areas traditionally hold smoker-sized kings this time of year.
The largest fish will be caught slow-trolling large baits such as bluerunners, ladyfish or shad. Troll these baits just fast enough to guide them but not pull them through the water, making them look unnatural or strained. The easiest way to tell that you are at the right speed is to observe your light-tipped live bait rod. The line coming off the tip should be taut but not tight, and the tip of the rod should be bended slightly rather than being bowed over.
