Great news: The season is not over

The warm weather is providing anglers with an early Christmas present: great late-season action.

Normally by this time, baitfish have started to disappear, kingfish and cobia runs are over, and snook fishing has dropped off.

Not this year. All of these fish are here and feeding heavily.

The most notable is kingfish.

November usually signals the end of the fall king run, but the action this week has been some of the best of the year. Anglers have reported great catches in close and offshore.

My clients landed 22 kingfish 20-plus pounds, including several in the 30-pound class. Greg Freeman caught a 49-pounder off Hudson, and a party on a charter boat reeled in a 52-pounder off Bayport. Why all the king action? The answer is water temperature and bait.

Big schools of threadfin herring have appeared along the coast, and the kings are right behind them.

Watch for high-diving birds such as pelicans and gannets. They will lead you to the bait's location. Once found, you can cast-net them or use a sabiki rig to jig some up.

When using live threadfins, try nose-hooking them on a wire leader with a stinger hook dangling behind the front hook.

Slowly troll them around the area, making sure the boat moves slowly enough to give the bait an opportunity to swim naturally. If you go too fast, the baits will become tired and lay on their sides or spin -- neither of which will get you a bite.

As for the location of the kingfish, look around the bait pods in deep water, or try areas of rocky bottom just offshore. Wrecks and reefs also hold kings..

The big kingfish have been taken in less than 35 feet of water.

Cobia are abundant on the flats around Tarpon Springs and New Port Richey. Most are located by looking for stingrays over grass bottom. Perhaps the best thing about cobia is their willingness to bite.

They're one of the few fish you can run over, turn around and cast to, and expect to get a bite. Be sure they are 33 inches to the fork of the tail if you keep them.

Snook action is hot outside the rivers and canals.

Since the water is more than 70 degrees, they haven't moved into their deep, back hideaways to turn off for winter. Often, shrimp are the bait of choice in December, but whitebait is abundant.

Good grouper action has moved a bit deeper. The water is a little warmer than the gags prefer in depths less than 20 feet.

Some keepers are being taken from spots that haven't been fished. But since the weather has been so nice, the bigger gags haven't been moving around much. The best bet is to spend some time looking for a new spot. For grouper, live pinfish and threadfins are the baits of choice. Big baits will keep you from having to deal with grunts, sea bass and other unwanted fish that can slow down the grouper hunt.

Spanish mackerel are schooling over the deeper grass flatsinside and outside the barrier islands.

Marker 4 off the north end of Anclote Key is a surefire bet. Try hanging a chum block over the side and free-lining live whitebaits on a long shank hook.

If the weather remains mild, we could have great fishing into the new year.

- Ed Walker charters out of Palm Harbor. Call (727) 944-3474 or e-mail TarponEd@aol.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright