Mangrove snapper fishing has been excellent in 85 feet and deeper. Our past two trips produced banner catches over some of my favorite rock piles. As soon as we motored over the structure, things looked encouraging. The mangos were schooling about 15 feet off the bottom, a good sign they were aggressive and ready to eat our bait immediately.
The limit for snapper is 10 per person, but I stop my clients from keeping more than five. That's more than adequate, especially when the average size is an impressive 5 pounds. My personal limit of 30 mangos was met with ease both days.
Live pilchards are the best bait going for mangos and are quite accessible around bell buoys. One throw of the cast net, and the live wells will be stuffed. Use three-eighth-inch mesh netting as there will be a few smaller baits mixed in with the 5-inch pilchards.
While we were bottom fishing some flat lines were employed. Between the chumming and reeling up of fish, the kings couldn't resist investigating. We hooked as many kingfish as anyone could desire. Their size wasn't impressive, but the drags still screamed out. We have a limit of one king per person as the fish don't freeze well and mercury levels have become an issue. They are still fun to catch and release. The trick with catch-and-release kingfishing is to tighten the drags. Getting the fish boatside quickly increases their survival rate. The state allows anglers to keep two kings per day.
- Dave Mistretta captains the Jaws Too out of Indian Rocks Beach. Call 727 595-3276, or e-mail jawstoo@msn.com
