In the spring there is a real slugfest between those peacefully calm days and a series of rugged, windy blasts which invariably disrupt the peak offshore fishing season. Ironically, it is usually when the winds howl at highest velocity that the main schools of king and Spanish mackerel, blackfin tuna, bonito and other spring visitors choose to parade through our near shore waters. Those with lower seasickness tolerance must wait for a break in the gusty winds to venture out with their spoons, planers and plugs.

Upon passing the outer buoy, you notice the crystal clear character of the spring offshore waters. The surface is busy, pock marked with burbling, shifting schools of roaming baitfish. Birds dive into this feast, loading up on calories missed during the austere winter. Somewhere under the pods, large groups of equally hungry pelagics survey the scope of the baitfish banquet, ready to feast on these beleaguered silvery forage fish. It is also your turn in nature's food chain.

If wrestling with "smoker kings" is your passion, slow-trolled live bait is just what the doctor ordered. Larger horse minnows, shad, and mullet work best. Some chum and a good sized cast net is about all you need to load the baitwell. A net with heavier leads is going to get down quickly enough in the deeper waters to capture sufficient greenbacks. If you're not yet ready for all that fuss, there is the time honored and highly productive technique of trolling artificials. Most choose spoons and plugs trolled on small planers or downriggers.

It's not too soon to start dragging your spoons right at the outer buoy. Keep your eyes peeled for birds diving on bait. Never drag planers through the greenbacks. You'll spook the bajeebers out of the fishes feeding on them down below. Try pulling your spoons or plugs so they skirt around the edge of a bait school. Sooner or later a mack will make a big mistake and lunge at that piece of metal.

Many anglers, not too keen on trolling, prefer anchoring up and still-fishing for mackerels using live bait, spoons or jigs. First, you can prime the pump by setting up a chum line. Many tie off a prepared chum block the to the stern. There it can dribble out a line of goodies that’ll draw just about every fish in the neighborhood. Some prefer their own chum mixture, mushing up canned jack mackerel in bread and water, or simply cutting up bait with shears, dropping small pieces off the stern. All of these tactics get the chumming job done, calling the fish over to within casting range.

IT'S PRIME TIME FOR GROUPER

One of nature's springtime pranks is that when the kings are in and biting, every other sportfish species... inshore and offshore... busts loose. This is evident as you pull your planers where it's not uncommon to have an occasional grouper striking your bait. Before GPS, lorans, color machines and chart recorders, most old-time Florida anglers trolled until they located a bunch of hungry gags. Once hooking a grouper or two trolling, they'd mark the spot, anchor, and bottom fish. This is still a valid technique, breaking that "fish by the numbers" mentality, especially during the active spring fishing season.

The grouper have now returned from the winter spawning haunts in the bays and from deeper offshore waters to converge on what locals call "the short rocks." (Translation: rocks a short ride from shore.) It is not uncommon during spring months to catch reds and blacks up to 20-pounds in waters as shallow as 10 feet. Remember, in spring you don't want to head out too far. You could very well be riding right over the grouper motherlode.

Start by looking for good structure in the shallowest of waters. The aforementioned trolling actually speeds up the process of finding fish. It will enable you to cover vast areas until you locate a pack of hungry fish. If you're in the "dip and drop" crowd, not into the trolling scene, simply motorfish a "fish show" on a ledge or set of rocks. Here's how that routine goes: As you move around your loran coordinates, keep that bottom machine chugging. When you spot a stack of fish on the recorder, have one of your buddies drop a bait down as you keep the vessel held over the spot with the motor. Should he catch a grouper, fling a marker jug over the side. Then simply set up right on the jug.

Remember, most grouper are lazy and will not leave their cozy rocks. Therefore, anchoring is very critical and it's important to know how the boat is going to hang. One way is to observe the direction in which other anchored craft are pointing. If you have a buddy who's already on his spot, give him a blast on the radio to check out his anchor heading. That can save a lot of aggravation and valuable fishing time.

As for baits, since there are so many live shiners showing up, why not load up on the freebies before you hit the trail. Outer buoys with good structure are often the scenes of swarming schools of greenbacks. Here too chumming before you toss the net makes a big difference in how many shiners you catch per throw and, thus, how much time you'll be spending with this chore.