Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By DAVE ZALEWSKI
Published January 17, 2006

Fishing in deeper water than usual this time of year has caused us to make several changes in our routine. We are stocking the bait cooler with the usual frozen Spanish sardines and taking along an extra 5-pound box of squid. Our standard routine now is to equip one or two of our anglers with 20-pound class spinning tackle and a gold 2/0 two hook rig with a 3-ounce sinker placed below the hooks when we start fishing. This rig not only produces white grunts, triggerfish, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, and some keeper grouper, but the activity generated by the feeding frenzy of these smaller reef fish seems to pique the interest of the larger gag grouper.

The other members of our party are given the standard 40-pound class tackle with a 50-pound test leader and a 6/0 hook. In the past we have been baiting some hooks with squid, some with half of a sardine and some with a whole sardine with the tail broken off to prevent spinning on the way down and also to produce more scent in the water. On several of our recent trips we have noted that more keepers were caught by using a combination of a piece of squid along with the sardine. The theory is that the smaller fish attack the squid and call the gag grouper's attention to the larger piece of sardine. We try to rotate who has the lighter outfits so that everyone has a chance at catching some of the larger grouper. We have also found that once a person has experienced using the lighter tackle and non-stop action from the smaller fish they are hesitant to give it up.

--Dave Zalewski charters the Lucky Too out of Madeira Beach and can be reached at 727 397-8815 or by e-mail at Luckytoo2@aol.com

[Last modified January 17, 2006, 01:26:05]