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Captain's Corner

By Wade Osborne

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 21, 2000

At times, I think most of us put too much emphasis on catching only gamefish. The Bay area waters are loaded with baitfish and, with that, large schools of predators. A day hasn't gone by lately that I haven't come across massive schools of jacks, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel.

If you want to take a kid fishing, are new to the area, or new to flyrodding and want to have tons of fun catching one fish after another, target these fish right now. The schools are easy to spot, just look for diving birds and churning water then move into casting position. If you don't have a trolling motor, move upwind or upcurrent, shut off the engine and drift into cast range.

Bait selection usually isn't that critical because these fish are in a feeding frenzy. They readily will devour whatever is thrown in front of them. Scaled sardines or shrimp are good live bait choices. Hard-bodied plastic baits, jigs and gold or silver spoons also work well, but when using these, work them back to the boat really fast to entice a strike. Good fly selections are chartreuse and white deceivers, silver and red streamers or a shrimp imitation.

Light tackle spinning gear is all that is needed, providing the reeds have smooth drags; 8 or 9 weight fly rods are perfect. When targeting mackerel use 40-pound leader and long shank hooks or a trace of No. 3 wire to help prevent cutoffs.

-Wade Osborne operates Afishionado Guide Services in Tampa. Call (813) 286-3474 or e-mail wade@wadefish.com.

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