Captains Corner: Dave Zalewski

The Tampa Bay Times

Dave Zalewski 460-9893

Spanish mackerel finally arrived in great numbers this past week. We stopped at one of the near shore artificial reefs not expecting any stellar activity, but decided to give it a try. We were greeted by a double header hookup on rods that were equipped with #1 planers 30 feet of monofilament leader and small silver and gold spoons. The near shore reefs such as St Petersburg Beach, Treasure Island and the others extending to the north in about 30 feet of water consist of mainly concrete piles of bridge rubble, concrete culverts along with some steel objects such as military tanks and barges. This material is scattered for the most part within a 2000 feet by 300 feet rectangle that runs north and south. The published GPS number for each reef is the center of this rectangle. The key to success while trolling is to insure that your lines are crossing over these structures. On many days the fish will only be located over only one or two spots. We have 2 GPS units on the boat and when trolling these reefs each one has a different structure location plugged in to make sure that we are keeping our lines over structure as much as possible.
Downsizing tackle to 3/0 strong hooks on a 2 hook chicken rig has enabled us to return to port with a colorful box of extremely tasty bottom fish consisting of white grunts, Lane, vermillion, and yellowtail snapper. The yellowtail snapper have been a bonus and we have learned that they respond to chumming with small slices of squid or threadfin herring as long as the current is not running strong.