http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/captains-corner-kingfish-still-around-late-in-the-season/2325443
Hopefully the windy days and rough seas are behind us for a long time. Kingfish are usually pretty much gone by this time, but this year might be the exception. We’ve been able to target them in 60-70 feet while bottom fishing for red grouper, white grunts and mangrove and lane snapper. Deploying a frozen Spanish sardine on a flat line is standard operating procedure, along with cutting small slivers of sardine to not only chum up the snapper but entice any kingfish or Spanish mackerel lurking nearby. Once the bottom bite has begun, it pays to drop a sabiki rig to the bottom to catch live hardtails or Spanish sardines. These are also deployed on another stinger-rigged flat line. Using the two flat lines allows more of the water column to be covered. The live bait swims near the surface, while the frozen one will sink deeper. Once we are done bottom fishing, we deploy spoons or plugs using Nos. 1 and 2 planers and spend a few minutes trolling directly over the spot we have fished in a figure eight pattern. Be on the lookout for mahimahi, which will show up while bottom fishing, especially in 90-foot depths.
Dave Zalewski charters the Lucky Too out of Madeira Beach. Call (727) 397-8815.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
