Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By ED WALKER
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 14, 2001
Local fishing remains in its usual summer doldrums, but there are a few bright spots to check out.
If you are looking for a tough fight, this is prime season to tangle with a shark.
From small blacktips to monster hammerheads and duskys, there are plenty of sharks for anglers to choose. Anchoring and chumming over grass bottom in 6-12 feet of water will attract the smaller sharks, from 10-50 pounds, to your boat. These are great fun on light tackle.
Try floating live pinfish or grunts in your chum slick and setting at least one bait on the bottom. Dead bait will work but will produce a lot of unwanted catfish and stingrays.
For the best results, set out one regular chumbag and partially fillet a couple fresh fish such as mackerel or ladyfish and hang them over the side. Leave the fillets hanging from the fish. This creates an irresistible scent corridor behind the boat.
Tackle and leader size vary depending upon the size of sharks that show up. Most of the time, 20-pound test and 50-pound wire leader will be enough. If a really big one arrives, you may want to try 50-pound tackle and leader as heavy as 300 pounds.
If you want to target the big sharks, go a little deeper and fish at night. Use large dead baits such as whole bonito or barracuda. When you get a bite on a bait that weighs 10 pounds, you can be certain you got a bigtime battle on your hands.
The old-time shark hunters preferred a double hook leader with 300 or even 500-pound test aircraft cable and at least a pound of weight. Several baits are put out, and the reels are set on freespool with the clicker on.
During last week's tarpon tournament in Boca Grande, nearly every tarpon hooked was attacked or chased by big sharks.
Summer also is the time when big mangrove snapper gather on the reefs and wrecks to spawn.
Chumming while anchored will draw them to the boat where you can catch them by freelining small pieces of cut bait on 12-pound spinning outfits.
Every once in a while, drop a weighted live pinfish to the bottom below the snapper you see on the surface. This usually will produce the biggest snapper of the trip.
Flourocarbon leader is a must for the serious snapper angler. It is much less visible in the water and produces more bites.
Speckled trout fishing is good in the deepest water you can find that has turtle grass bottom. Trout almost always are around the grass, but with water temperatures too high near shore, most have moved to deeper water.
Heading west from New Port Richey, Hudson and Hernando Beach, you will find grass bottom out to at least 4 miles and as deep as 15 feet. Drifting and casting jigs in these areas will produce big specks, as well as a mixed bag of Spanish mackerel, flounder, undersized gag grouper and many others.
Tarpon fishing has slowed considerably in local waters.
There is good tarpon action in upper Tampa Bay. Angler casting plugs have been doing well early in the morning on tarpon up to 150 pounds north of the Gandy Bridge.
Night fishing around the bay bridges will stay decent through August.
- Ed Walker charters out of Palm Harbor. Call (727) 944-3474 or e-mail TarponEd@aol.com.