Captain’s Corner: Jim Lemke

Capt Jim Lemke Times Correspondent

All I can say is wow what happened to are spring weather in February. The weather has the fish moving back and forth between there winter and summer spots and with April just a few weeks away the air temperature is warming up and the air temperature should be in the upper 70’s and low 80’s during the day and you might want to start your fishing trip look for warmer places to fish in the morning.

With the water temperature, still around the 70-degree mark in the mid-morning the Snook bite has been an afternoon bite on the bay area flats like the lake at Weedon Island and Cockroach Bay as the sun is getting up a little higher in the sky. The Redfish have been moving around in that 1 to 2 feet of depth on the flat laying in the potholes on low tide waiting on the incoming tide to feed.

Now nearshore when the wind lets us out to fish the Spanish Mackerel are moving in along with the Kingfish. I had some good reports of Kingfish up off Clearwater and the ship channel from Egmont Key out. Just look for the big schools of bait and birds.

Spring always brings big schools of Mackerel in the bay and off the beaches along with some drag screaming fun. It’s some of the best fun fishing and just not for the kids but for the adults to. I use a long shanked hook in a 3/0 a short piece of 60 or 80-pound fluorocarbon leader and hold on.

Capt Jim Lemke charters out of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and can be reached at (813) 917-4989 and at captjimlemke@gmail.com