Capt. Brent Gaskill
 
 The Tampa Bay Times
 

        I was once tasked with catching a scary fish for a spooky Halloween-themed fishing show.  We targeted barracuda on an artificial reef as their large sharp teeth and menacing look fit the bill.  We found quick results using a live blue runner as bait but the better find was the large quantities of mangrove snapper holding on the reef.  The discovery was made while dropping a waterproof camera to the bottom to record the structure we were fishing over.  At that moment a plan was hatched to return to the reef at night to catch the keen-eyed snapper.  The night trip experienced great success as the snapper let their guard down under the cover of darkness.  The subsequent TV show was titled “Secret Spots”.  The insider joke was that the secret spot was the St. Pete Beach Artificial reef.  The moral of the story is that many people believe our artificial reefs with publically published coordinates are either over fished or don’t hold fish at all.  The truth is that they are very productive with the right timing and techniques.  

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