Kingfish and bottom bite remain steady

By STEVE PAPEN
Published January 19, 2007

Fishing offshore in January usually means rough conditions, cold weather and great bottom fishing - when you can get out there.

So far we have seen great grouper fishing and great weather.

While water temperatures hover in the low to mid 70s offshore, the internal clocks of many species of fish in the area are getting confused.

King mackerel are still taking baits from 40 to 100 feet of water. Schools of small blue runners and cigar minnows have gathered near many of the wrecks in these depths and will stay put as long as the water temperatures continue to be tolerable for them.

One effective way to catch kings in these areas is to "match the hatch," which means, whatever the fish are feeding on in the area is what you should be using for bait. Most of the kings have been on the smaller side, but a few smokers are still trailing on the backside if the migration.

Bottom fishing has been better than I have seen it in years.

Last week we caught both red and gag grouper in 55 to 180 feet of water and everywhere between.

Concentrate on ledges and rock piles as opposed to just areas of hard bottom.

A huge influx of bait in most depths will keep these fish in the same areas for a long time, as they have no reason to leave in search of food.

Most of the red grouper are in the deeper areas from 90 to 110 feet. This is where the large areas on hard, crunchy bottom will produce.

Most of the reds average 10 pounds, but fish to 20 pounds are not uncommon.

Mangrove snapper have not been too common lately in the shallower water.

The fish we have been catching have been in depths of 130 feet or more.

Most of these snapper average 2 to 4 pounds, but on a recent trip we had a half dozen fish in the 6- to 8-pound range.

Frozen sardines work well, but a live cigar minnow or Spanish sardine will almost always catch the larger fish on a spot.

One effective method for catching larger snapper is a free-lined bait.

This is usually done with a spinning rod in the 10- to 20-pound class. A short length of 30-pound fluorocarbon leader attached to a 5/0 hook will get the job done.

Anchor a little up tide of the structure you want to fish and deploy a block of frozen chum. Use half of a sardine and drop it down, letting it fall in the water column until you feel a tap or the line just starts peeling off the reel.

This technique usually produces the larger fish, as they are the more dominant males farther off the bottom.

Amberjack fishing is consistent from 130 to 180 feet.

Some of the wrecks and springs in shallower water also have jacks near them, but most are smaller in size.

The Mexican Pride, sulfur barge and some of the deeper pipeline mitigation piles are all holding amberjack right now.

Larger baits will produce larger fish. Some might say "elephants eat peanuts" and use smaller pinfish and runners for bait.

Although this will work, a 20-pound jack usually will not try to eat a 3- to 4-pound bait, so that bait will stay down there longer until a larger fish that can eat it comes along.

Steve Papen charters out of Indian Shores and can be reached at (727) 642-3411 or www.fintastic inc.com.

[Last modified January 19, 2007, 01:47:26]