Captain’s Corner: Tyson Wallerstein

Light offshore winds and plenty of sunshine for much of last week made for ideal conditions for scanning crab trap floats for tripletail.

Tripletail up to 15 pounds have been caught recently in our nearshore waters. These curious fish will readily take a small pilchard or shrimp fished a couple of feet below a float. While those wanting to make the hunt a bit more challenging will find that triple tail will also readily take a well presented fly or artificial lure. The minimum size for tripletail is 18 inches which is a good sized fish and will put up a great fight on medium spin tackle. However with the potential for fish over 10 pounds it’s a good idea to have a slightly heavier rod rigged up with a stouter hook.

With an on again off again spotted sea trout bite over the last week its paid to have lots of tricks and spots up your sleeve. Fishing residential docks isn’t the most glamorous, especially on a pretty day, however it has been a good option for some medium sized black drum. Trial an error is perhaps the only real way to find productive docks, but it’s a great time of year for canal fishing, so it doesn’t take long to get into some kind of action. Medium sized live shrimp with a number 4 split shot works great for pitching to docks.

Spotted sea trout have been hard to pattern at times. Warm weather and perhaps the last full moon were to blame. This weekends cold front will help to bunch those trout back up. Spoil Islands have slowed but should pick back up, while pothole laden grass flats particularly on the east side of the ICW are holding good numbers of quality trout.

Flats Monster Inshore Fishing
(727) 692-5868
capt.tyson@hotmail.com