Outdoors

Captain's Corner

By DAVE ZALEWSKI, Times Staff Writer
Published October 25, 2007

The lack of severe cold fronts has contributed to the continued great Spanish mackerel fishing the past couple of weeks. Baitfish are concentrated on the nearshore artificial reefs such as Treasure Island and Madeira Beach. The midwater reefs such as South County, Indian Shores and Rube Allyn are not holding the quantities of bait and fish we expect this time of year. One or two cold fronts with their strong winds will help reduce the water temperature and concentrate the mackerel and kingfish on the deeper reefs. Bottom fishing continues to improve with concentrations of gag grouper, triggerfish, mangrove snapper and white grunts moving onto ledges and rock piles at 45-65 feet. Live baits are the key to catching some of the larger gags once the bite has been started by frozen squid and sardines.

Tip: On a calm day it is easy to overrun the depth the fish are in, wasting valuable time traveling. Capmel.com, floridasportsman.com and spearboard.com can help determine the depth they are holding in.

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

[Last modified October 24, 2007, 19:46:14]