Skyway Report, Paul Bristow 5/20/2016

There was plenty of moisture in the atmosphere around the Tampa Bay region over the past week in the form of rain & high humidity, but that did not dampen the bite at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers.  Spanish mackerel have been improving in both size & numbers over the past several weeks, and this week continued that trend.  Mangrove snapper are still on a great bite on the artificial reefs and bridge pilings, and plenty of nice grunts are also available.  Pompano have been showing up in catchable numbers along the approach sections, and some jack crevalle & blue runners were also available to jigging anglers.  Snook, trout and flounder have remained steady on both the approach sections and the artificial reefs.

Spanish mackerel have continued to fire-up during the late afternoon time frame.  These bites were mainly during outgoing tidal cycles, but the pre-dusk mackerel bite has been good on incoming tides over the past several weeks as well.  Many anglers are using sabiki-style baitfish rigs to land plenty of scaled sardines and/or threadfin herring for belly-baits.  The white belly section of both species is easily clipped off with a scissors into a 2″ – 3″ section that appears like a white canoe.  Although all parts of cut baitfish can work for mackerel, this portion is perhaps the most appealing because of the enticing wobble it gives when just barely hooked from one end on a long shank hook.  Monofilament or fluorocarbon leader material, split-shot sinkers and floats round out the entire list of terminal tackle needed to perfect this deadly belly bait presentation.

Pompano action is finally improving – as should typically be the case in what is often one of the better months for targeting this fine-eating & hard-fighting member of the Jack Family of Fishes.  It can certainly be said that the pompano bite in the entire Tampa Bay region has been slower than average over the past several fishing seasons.  Late afternoon outgoing tides along the approach sections of each pier provided the most consistent action.  There were many fish short of the legal minimum size, but also plenty of fish that were well over.  It is important to remember that  pompano are both nomadic & gregarious by nature.  As a result, small groups might often travel & feed all along an entire section of each fishing pier during just a single tidal cycle.  Pompano can literally be caught almost anywhere along the piers, and usually just 5 minutes of jigging will tell you if fish are in the area.  The best colors this past week included chartreuse, pink, sand flea, white and yellow.  Many anglers deployed teaser flies either in a loop knot at the jig or as a dropper above.

Mangrove snapper have continued on a great bite at both fishing piers, and fish over 15″ are becoming commonplace for anglers fishing the night shift.  A fresh 1″ square chunk from a scaled sardine or threadfin herring was like snapper candy this past week, but live or freshly frozen shrimp were also very productive.  One key to successfully using shrimp at the piers is that you must relocate your bait if too many pinfish are in the area where you are targeting snapper.  The pinfish are so aggressive that they do not let shrimp remain long enough to attract the often more-wary snapper.  Repositioning away from pinfish need not be a major move, indeed, often it is simply a longer or shorter cast to a different portion of the reef.  Large grunts are joining mangrove snapper in helping to fill visitor’s coolers.  Indeed, some of the grunts landed over the past few weeks are the largest your author has ever seen in well over a decade of being around the Skyway Pier fishing community.

Summertime snook are staging along the rocky approach sections to each fishing pier, and the tollbooth areas on both sides are kicking out plenty of catch-and-release snook action.  Free-lining a large & lively scaled sardine or pigfish is perhaps the most certain way to connect with these fish.  Shrimp will take plenty as well, and live ladyfish will give you a shot at a true monster.  Anglers who enjoy fishing artificial lures can toss white bucktails or diving / suspending plugs.  During the strong Skyway tides that snook love to feed on, oftentimes your bait or lure will simply appear to stop dead in its tracks – rather than pulling away.  Set the hook hard on these stops and tie your shoes on tight…