Captain's corner

By LARRY BLUE

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 3, 2000

On a trip this past week, our group didn't want to bottom fish. With the kings almost a thing of the past, there wouldn't be much to live bait, and pot-luck trolling would be our only option. Since we haven't trolled much lately, the best we could hope for were big blue runners. Not exactly what you might call "sports fish." Dragging hardware most often brings in a mixed bag. Deeper digging planers sometimes come up with a grouper. But always look out for barracuda, ready to take away whatever you hook, including blue runners.

Once offshore in 35 feet of water, we were relieved to see Spanish mackerel. Usually, Spanish mackerel are hot on the heels of king mackerel, but we hadn't seen any to speak of this spring, so this was quite a surprise. The mackerel were feeding on small sardines and pilchards, so we decided to pull the No. 1 and No. 2 spoons. Mixed in with the mackerel were some "chicken" dolphin, so we hung some blue-green tape on one of the spoons. The taped spoon paid off handsomely.

If you have a taste for Spanish mackerel, head offshore early in the morning, keeping an eye out for sea birds working the water.

-- Larry Blue charters the Niki-Joe out of Madeira Beach Marina. Call (727) 397-3773 or e-mail captlblue@aol.com.

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