A full moon cycle and early evening hill tides were the story this past week at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers, and some of the bites were as bright as the evening sky. Spanish mackerel made a notable comeback this past week, with several anglers picking up 8 – 10 fish in a single visit and the overall size remaining quite large. Mangrove snapper continued on a good bite during both daylight and overnight hours. Large ladyfish schools are showing at both piers after sundown, and this is attracting many larger predators like tarpon, sharks and cobia toward the lights of the piers. Gag grouper were on a good bite during the early evening outgoing tides and many fish were too large to be extracted from the structure. The pompano bite was good on some days and tougher on other days, but these fish were joined by good numbers of jack crevalle and a few bluefish to keep jigging anglers entertained.
Baitfish schools of many size classes remained around the piers, and their presence served to keep several predatory species in a feeding mode. Small (2″ range) scaled sardines infiltrated the shallows recently and many anglers put them on ice for mangrove snapper baits. Larger sardines lurked on the outside of these young-of-the-year fish schools and allowed savvy anglers to net a few larger live baits to present as free-line offerings. Threadfin herring remained along the piers as well, but threadfins are much more difficult to keep alive than scaled sardines, so they are often either fished immediately or placed on ice. Pinfish, pigfish, ladyfish and small jacks rounded out the primary baitfish mix. Pinfish & pigfish are fairly easy to keep alive, but ladyfish & jacks are best fished immediately or placed on ice.
Good numbers of cobia were both spotted and hooked over the past week, but unfortunately very few of these big ‘brown clowns’ came over the rail. Cobia activity has increased dramatically over the past 10 days or so, seemingly in conjunction with the appearance of large schools of cownose rays and ladyfish. Many anglers spotted fish – and a few even saw them take baits – only to be spooled by what many described as fish well over 50 pounds. Preparation for cobia fishing at the Skyway Piers is actually quite simple – landing them is another matter altogether…
For cobia preparedness, keep one heavy action conventional or spinning outfit rigged with a 6/0 – 10/0 hook and a length of 80 lb. – 100 lb. leader material. Have a pinfish or pigfish waiting in a 5 gallon bucket with an aerator pump. When you see a fish approaching – very often with sea turtles, rays, or floating debris – hook on your baitfish and cast the offering well past the approaching cobia. Reel the bait a few feet past being even with the mouth, slowly cross it into the line of sight and prepare for a strike. One proven tip is to wait for the white flash of the wide open mouth to again become only just a brown head. When the mouth is fully closed, wait just one or two seconds and then send the hook home hard. Keeping another heavy outfit rigged with a 2 oz. – 4 oz. buck tail jig tipped with a 8″ – 10″ black or purple largemouth bass worm is another very solid option to cast towards approaching cobia.
Spanish mackerel were better in both numbers and size than in many of the previous weeks. Anglers were employing multiple live and cut bait strategies to secure some big mackerel. Most times, live (or freshly cut strips) of medium-sized scaled sardines on a long shank hook (using either a split-shot sinker or float to best present the bait) were deployed. Monofilament or fluorocarbon leader material in the 20 lb. – 30 lb. class is generally sufficient because the long shank hook guards against the razor sharp teeth of these fish. Mackerel fishing seemed best near the end sections of both piers this week, and some visitors hypothesized that the fish were hanging close to the main shipping channel and working the sharp edges.
Pompano are showing in reliable numbers once again at the Skyway Piers. The approach sections (up to the dumpsters) are almost always the most consistent places to jig for this species. The restroom & bait shop regions can also be good at times, but still remain a distant second. Many anglers were able to catch at least 1 or 2 legal pompano in a visit, and many had jacks, ladyfish and bluefish to keep their jigging session interesting. Some anglers approached a limit of fish, but this was the exception rather than the norm. Both tidal cycles can be productive for pompano at the piers, but the late afternoon / early evening outgoing tide outshined all others this past week. Pompano swim jigs in the 1/2 oz. – 3/4 oz. range in pink, yellow, chartreuse and white were all productive, and many anglers used teaser flies both at the jig and in a dropper loop / tandem rig style. Some of the fish this past week were quite large, with many 14″ catches and even a few that were just over 16″ in length.
- The Neil Blog… - July 26, 2023
- The Catfish - July 26, 2023
- update - July 22, 2023
