Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By CHAD CARNEY
Published October 28, 2006

What's hot: Not the water. It's 72 degrees close to shore, and the fish are definitely back in shallow. There are many artificial reefs and some natural bottom sites within kayak range from Sarasota to Clearwater, and I saw nice-size grouper, snapper and sheepshead. The problem was marginal visibility, 4 feet or so. By the time I saw a gag grouper, it would whip its tail around and send silt flying before I could line up my spear gun. I saw more mangrove snapper, but I couldn't get a bead on any of those amazingly agile fish.

Tactics: Tides are important, and I need to pay more attention to them. The mornings almost always have better visibility and the water around John's Pass looked great at noon, but by the time I got my kayak in the water and offshore, it was only half as good. The best way to use a spear gun in dirty water looks more like shooting billiards than shooting a gun. You have to see the fish before or at least at the same time it sees you, so you can't hold the gun out in front. You have to feel the handle and trigger as you slide your back hand into place, so it takes repeated practice. Free diving is the only way to sneak up on spooky fish.

Gear: Short guns around 36 inches will work best in limited range. Most Gulf Coast shooters have only medium and long guns, so another inexpensive but effective tool to use is a pole spear, about 4 feet long. Many of the full-size three-piece variety have a middle section you can remove to make them just right for dirty water days.

Chad Carney teaches diving and spearfishing in the Tampa Bay area and can be called at (727) 423-7775 or visit his Web site at www.mobilescuba.com.

For today's tides chart, see the weather package on 2A, or online at outdoors.tampabay.com.

[Last modified October 28, 2006, 00:20:27]