By Paul Bristow
The Tampa Bay Region had been as dry as a bone in 2017, but the torrential rains of the past week have certainly helped to remedy at least some of the drought felt by waterways nearly half way through this fishing season. The question on the mind of every angler visiting the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers is how did the rains impact the bite? The most important answer is that adaptable anglers can almost always target some species of fish at the piers and fish that deal well with lower salinity & less water clarity are often the best targets for this time. Mangrove snapper fit this bill well and many limits of nice mangos were taken over the past week. Spanish mackerel and gag grouper are likely less tolerant of lower salinities, but both species did make a showing before and after the heaviest weather. Many shark species are fine not only with lower salinity, but also with feeding in stained water, and plenty of sharks were active for visitors this week. Finally, the blue crab flush continues to be joined by jumbo shrimp & nice squid, so look for the ‘Full Moon in June’ tidal cycles to produce some high quality netting & dipping action.
Mangrove snapper are a species very acclimated to dealing with influxes of freshwater and changes in water clarity. This trait is most likely related to the way that these fish are weaned from an early age – often growing up amongst mangroves and other cover that lines tidal creeks & rivers. Unfettered by a drop in salinity, the ability to hunt for these snapper might even turn more to scent rather than sight. Most anglers that took limits this past week were fishing dead cut baits of scaled sardines & threadfin herring. These baits outperformed small lively sardines & pinfish – often so effective for the largest mangos at the piers. Your author personally witnessed multiple limits of not only legal fish, but fish that well-exceeded the size limit in coolers over the past week. Almost all were caught at night using freshly cut sardines or herring, but when water clarity improves, small live sardines or pinfish could easily return to top billing for monster mangos.
Spanish mackerel remained as spotty as has been reported here nearly this entire fishing season. Some very nice fish were taken at times – mostly the first hard pull of an incoming or outgoing tide. Silver spoons fished behind a trolling weight were the ticket for mobile anglers and live or freshly cut strip baits were the weapon for anglers preferring a natural bait approach. There were reports of no mackerel, 3 or 4 fish and some of more than 10 nice fish taken by various methods. The entire season has been unpredictable for mackerel in Tampa Bay and not much changed this past week. A few maxims have held true this season for mackerel die-hards… Fish later in the day up to dark and be rapidly willing to change from artificial to natural baits & vice versa. Visitors unwilling to switch baits, tides and fish various light cycles will not perform nearly as well as adaptable anglers when mackerel are neutral to feeding.
Gag grouper continued to feed at the Skyway Piers this past week – and some nice fish were even taken during the heavy rains. As expected versus last week’s report, diving plugs and live bait like pinfish & herring began to take most of the legal fish. Plugs shined for locating both artificial reefs and the most active fish, with plenty of keepers displayed to your author this week. Pinfish free-lined on heavy conventional or spinning tackle also took many keepers, and some were fish that first missed striking a plug. The diving plug approach at the piers is fairly simple – you float a diving plug out (or in) with the tide so that it passes the artificial reef and then retrieve the lure as it bounces off of the structure. The nuances in plug fishing, however, set the experts apart from the newbies. Missed strikes, pushes and battles lost all indicate a presence of aggressive grouper or pack of fish. Have you ever been reeling a plug against a taught line and have it go totally slack? Set the hook – a fish has likely charged your lure with an open mouth and enough force to push it forwards. All of these locations where plug irregularities occur are spots to return to – either with a different plug or even a live bait approach.
Sharpnose & blacktip sharks were taking almost anything & everything visitors soaked on the bottom at the piers this past week. These generally smaller shark species will take freshly cut baitfish, shrimp, squid – and almost anything else an angler could imagine! I have seen chicken livers, gizzards and hearts work well and have witnessed a full beef liver take a very large greater blacktip (spinner) shark. Keep your bait fresh (and bloody) and your tackle simple. Light wire in the 30 lb. to 60 lb. range accompanied with a quality swivel and 3/0 – 7/0 hook is perfect. Monster sharks that inhabit the waters surrounding the Skyway Piers require an entirely different level of both tackle & dedication. Groups of these monster hunters are at the piers almost every summer night. They are both friendly & serious in their approach to the sport of shark fishing. Anglers looking to jump up a grade from smaller to larger sharks can learn plenty by watching and speaking with these cats. Watching these guys land a 1/4 ton fish from a fixed point and then release it to fight again is one of the most rewarding sights in all of marine angling.
- The Skyway, Paul Bristow - August 24, 2018
- The Skyway, Paul Bristow - August 17, 2018
- The Skyway, Paul Bristow - August 10, 2018
