Mackerel Bite Heats Up
Capt. Fred Everson
September 2, 2008
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Light winds let me get out a couple of days this week, and the fishing was okay on Wednesday. I bottom fished with Capt. Rick Bollinger and it was slow, but we caught a few grunts, mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel and a nice flounder. We caught the flounder on a chub, and if you haven't tried chubs for flat fish, you are missing the boat. Chubs are simply the best flounder bait out there, and they are readily available at better bait shops. You can also cast net them over sandy bottom in very shallow water around creek mouths.
Larry Malinoski emailed me with a great grouper report on the same day. He said he put 20 fish in the boat trolling around the mouth of the bay. He sent me a picture of four keeper gags.
I went fly fishing for mackerel on Friday and put six fish on ice using a small glass minnow imitation. The fish were on the surface in the shipping lanes just south of Bahia Beach, but they were feeding on small baits – glass minnows and tiny sardines. Here nothing beats a small fly tied on a 50-pound monofilament leader. I started out throwing the fly on my 10 weight, but it was really too much rod for the two-pound macks. I made the switch to a seven-weight rod and had a lot more fun with these feisty fish. I also checked a lot of buoys and several range markers looking for a cobia, but never found one.
Capt. Billy Jordan showed up at my dock on the Little Manatee River late in the afternoon with 14 macks in the box. He and Roger Mills did all the damage around the ship's channel with spoons. This has been the best mackerel bite of the year.
I found plenty of threadfins between Simmons Park and the Alafia River. I threw the net three or four times and filled thirty sandwich bags full of bait for future use. Frozen threadfins will catch most anything in Tampa Bay, but they don't hold up on the hook very well. It's important to keep the bait you aren't fishing with on ice. Once it thaws, it turns to mush.
Join Capt. Fred at the Skipper's Smokehouse Inshore Fishing School on Tuesday, Sept. 09 -- 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. It's Ladies' Night. Ladies and a guest get in for $25, and get a copy of the Captain's latest book Fish the Flats. Call 813 830 8890 for more information.
Tampa Bay Fishing Forecast:
Amongst the huge schools of mackerel that blanketed the bay this week, we saw a lone kingfish. But I bet he isn't alone. Snook season opened yesterday, but that bite is not apt to take off until the water temperature drops back to the mid 80s.
Target Species:
Mackerel, pompano, redfish, snook, cobia
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