Captain’s Corner: Ed Walker

By Ed Walker

Fall is one of the best times of the year to target tripletail. Each year around this time large numbers of these odd but tasty fish migrate though the Suncoast region. Last year in November we saw most tripletail we have ever seen. At the peak of the migration it was not uncommon to see 50 or more tripletail in a day.

Here in the North Pinellas region most of the tripletail we find are floating under lines of grass where currents collide. Some are found on crab trap buoys or under floating objects but the vast majority are seen lying under surface grass.

To target them we run along the weedlines on plane looking for the characteristic brown blobs trying to blend into the cover. Sometimes they will flush out and dive when you go by but most of the time they’ll come right back up to linger on top. If we are looking for tripletail we always carry live shrimp. There is simply no better bait. Quite often they refuse just about anything but will pounce of a properly presented shrimp. If we encounter one when we weren’t planning on it and have no shrimp onboard, a small sardine or pinfish can work. We have also had luck using small pieces of cut bait.

One trick for catching tripletail is to use a small float and set it 6 to 12 inches above the bait. This keeps the bait up in water where these fish usually bite. Many times we have caught them by casting over the weeds or floating objects and leaving the bait hanging off of it.