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By DAVE ZALEWSKI
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2000
Hurricane Gordon put a damper on the great offshore bottom fishing that we had experienced for several weeks. Friday we returned from a trip to 70-foot water with a colorful box of fish. We caught red and gag grouper, Lane and mangrove snapper and several dolphin-fish that we picked up out of a school of about a dozen that circled the boat and would not hit any bait, live or frozen. The key to catching these wary intruders was to use a small, shad-tailed jig pulled rapidly through the water.
Columbus Day, which ushers in kingfish season, is less than three weeks away and as usual I have spent a major amount of time checking our trolling tackle. Reels needed to be respooled with fresh line. Drag washers that appeared to be fine last fall showed signs of needing replacing by sticking and jerking when checked.
Three weeks will go by quickly and soon reel repair shops will be backlogged. Now is the time to get reels cleaned and serviced. Dirt, rust and grime appeared on several spoons, so they needed to be shined and have hooks replaced. Running a piece of nylon stocking through the guides of the rods revealed a couple that needed to be replaced because the nylon snagged as it was pulled through.
Just before the storm, reports of large Spanish mackerel were coming in from boats trolling No. 1 spoons behind a No. 1 planer at artificial reefs. Several fish were in the 5-pound range. As soon as the water settles and clears, mackerel fishing will be strong and early kingfish will show up.
-- Dave Zalewski charters the Lucky Too out of Madeira Beach. Call (727) 397-8815.