Captain’s Corner: Dave Zalewski

The Tampa Bay Times

 Dave Zalewski 460-9893

We have been hesitant to spend much time trolling because of the red tide that has invaded our waters close to the beach, and until last week have directed our efforts to bottom fishing in the 40 out to 80 foot depths. Seeing that the water temperature has reached the magical 72 degree mark prompted us to try trolling. We started at the near shore artificial reefs, about 5 miles offshore, well past the algae blooms and encountered immediate success from Spanish mackerel, which were eager to strike the 0 and 1 spoons trailed 30 feet behind #1 planers. The mackerel are still in the process of migrating and are not yet on every artificial reef, but when they are found it is worthwhile to spend some time targeting them. Emboldened by success with Spanish mackerel, we switched to larger spoons on both the #1 planer and also put out a #2 which will take the line down 20 feet hoping to catch the Spanish’s larger cousin the king mackerel with no results at the near shore reefs.
The next trip was longer in duration and the game plan was to try the shipping channel, where historically kingfish show up first. The plan worked and scattered “schoolie” kings and some large mackerel were picked up trolling near each marker starting with 5 and 6 and working our way westward to the Tampa Sea Buoy. The fish are scattered, so we did not spend any time live baiting for them and stayed with the planer/spoon combination.
Offshore red grouper fishing has been slow, but there are many other species to target. Downsizing tackle has allowed us to return with colorful boxes of fish consisting of Lane, vermillion, mangrove, and even an occasional legal sized yellowtail snapper along with the usual white grunts and porgies. Gray triggerfish have rebounded strongly and are being caught on every bottom fishing trip. They have to be 15 inches at the fork to be kept and we have yet to catch a legal one. Nonetheless they provide great sport on light tackle.