Skyway Piers, 3/18/2016

Warm weather and the beginning of Spring Break visitors were the storyline this past week at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers.  Many visitors from northern states with only freshwater fishing experience caught their first ever saltwater species.  Spanish mackerel were excellent at certain times and tougher at other times.  Huge jack crevalle have crashed the pier party this week and destroyed some light tackle rigs nearly at will.  Sheepshead remain on a decent bite, and some nice mangrove snapper were also taken by visitors this past week.  Finally, smaller sharks have continued to entertain anglers with their eagerness to take cut or live bait presentations on both fishing piers.

Spanish mackerel were best both early & late in the day for anglers fishing both live & natural baits.  Mackerel seemed to be feeding closer to the surface this past week, making popping corks an excellent way to present all types of offerings.  On the artificial lure side, choices like spoons, jigs and straw lures all worked well fished a few feet below a float.  The popping-style float disturbs the surface for fish attraction while the lure darts & flutters in the wake to tempt trailing fish.  Many pier regulars call the method ‘water walking’ a lure, but the method is not limited to artificial baits.

Cut strip belly baits of scaled sardines or threadfin herring fished on a long shank hook several feet below a popping cork were also very effective in recent days.  The white belly strip looks like a canoe and has flesh and skin firm enough to withstand the occasional popping of a float.  Hook the strip from the belly cavity side upwards at either of the far ends.  When the cork is popped, the cut bait will dart ahead and when the cork is at rest the strip will simply flutter in the tide.  Live sardines are better fished below traditional streamlined floats (or free-lined) as continual popping will either kill or dislodge the live bait.

Jack crevalle in the 10 lb. plus range crashed the days of many anglers either fishing for mackerel or bottom fishing with light tackle.  The yellow-tailed beasts ran in ravenous schools and spooled some anglers fishing light tackle within just a few seconds.  Large jacks should be bled immediately if chosen for the table, and are best if the fairly large red lateral line is removed during the cleaning process.  The flesh is firm and works best chunked into in heavy soups or chowders where the chunks can benefit from rich or spicy flavoring.  These large specimens can also be smoked or even stripped, salted & dried in the sun as a form of fish jerky.

Mangrove snapper have once again made an early-season return to the Skyway Piers.  The mango bite at the piers typically peaks in the Summer months, but the past few years have shown an almost year-round snapper fishery.  Live or freshly dead shrimp was the best bait for snappers this past week, but cut bits of scaled sardines were also productive.  Anglers accustomed to Winter snapper being short of the minimum legal size limit were quite surprised when several recent fish topped the 15″ range.  Limits were tough to procure, but some die-hards did manage some full limits of fish in the overnight hours.