Captain’s Corner: Dave Zalewski

Dave Zalewski

460 9893

Grouper fishing has been spotty at best lately, but fishing for several other species has made for successful trips on every day since the winds and seas have laid down. We have targeted Spanish mackerel every day with great success. Because of the residual dirty water near shore, we have not attempted fishing right on the beach and have concentrated trolling efforts first on what are called the near shore artificial reefs such as St. Petersburg Beach, Treasure Island and Madeira Beach. Each of these reefs have structure spread over a fairly large area with desert like sand between the high profile concrete or steel structure. The key is to determine which of these are holding fish and bait by using both GPS and your depth finder and then trolling in a figure 8 pattern to insure that your trolling lines receive maximum exposure. Large spoons will catch some fish, but 0 and #1 sizes will increase your catch. Many juvenile kingfish will be in the mix and these must be released unless they meet the 24 inch fork length size.
We are rapidly nearing the magical St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) which traditionally starts kingfish season and this year should be no different considering water temperature and bait schools that have arrived. The west end of the shipping channel and the mid-water artificial reefs should be the first places to experience their arrival. Larger spoons and plugs will allow one to cover more territory in locating these fish