The Tampa Bay Times
Our divers are searching out red snapper areas and gag haunts, as the summer season just opened for both species. Our divers have been very successful in finding red snappers under and through the bait it depths past 110. The hard bottom areas from 110’ to 140’ due west of St. Petersburg have presented large schools of these snappers. These hard bottom areas are better for fishing rather than spearing. There’s not much structure in these areas, so the fish just keep swimming away from the divers and not holing up, but without a lot of structure there are fewer breakoffs for fishermen. There are sharks darting in and out of the big schools, so keep a wary eye. Bottom water temperatures are warming and gags will soon be following the cooler water to deeper depths. The thermocline is about 10 feet off the bottom in 80’. The gags love to hang out just below the thermocline in the cooler water. The temperature difference is about 8 degress. It’s a big weekend for the spearfishing community. Sunday the weigh-in for the Tampa Bay Spearfishing Challenge (2nd largest spearing tournament in the world) will be held at Ferg’s Sportsbar in St. Petersburg. It is open to the public and children under 18 can get involved and win while attending. Event starts at 10am. I will be there, look for me and come say Hi. For more info go to, www.tampabayspearfishingclub.org.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
