Captain’s Corner: Dave Zalewski

Dave Zalewski

The Tampa Bay Times

Phone: 460-989The game plan for our offshore trips has finally arrived. Mixing up some trolling on the artificial reefs on the way to the 80 foot depths where we have been targeting a variety of bottom fish was spotty until last week. Schools of larger than usual Spanish mackerel have arrived and taken up residence on all of the near shore and mid water artificial reefs along with bonita and barracuda. The baitfish on these reefs have been small and it has been necessary to downsize spoons to 0 and 00 size to “match the hatch”. On most calm days schools of bait will be scattered over the reefs. Each school will have taken up residence over a higher profile structure and now is a great time to mark these locations for the day when the bait will not be so visible. By doing this a trolling pattern can be set up that insures maximum exposure of the spoons and plugs to the structure that harbors the larger predators. Bonita provide great catch and release action and will often take the same size small spoons used to target mackerel. By using 50 pound test monofilament leader they can be hoisted into the boat without use of a gaff and quickly released. Barracuda have dangerous teeth and must be handled with care. They can be gaffed through the lower lip or secured through the use of a fish gripping device and the hooks removed using a hook out or long pliers. Both of these species provide great light tackle action and should be quickly released so that another angler can enjoy them on a different day.