SUNCOAST SALTWATER SCENE
Capt. Jonnie has been catching a lot of Spanish mackerel in the Gulf of Mexico again. “All of a sudden they started showing up again,” Walker said. “It hadn’t been very good.”
Big threadfins have moved in from the south, and with it has come reports not only of Spanish mackerel, but of kingfish. Now that’s a Florida fishing report we like to hear.
Walker said tarpon fishing has been tough the past couple days as the tarpon return from their offshore, full moon spawn. “There’s a lot of fish,” Walker said, “but we can’t get them to bite that well.”
He said trout fishing also has been slow following the full moon. “I think a lot of them spawned because a lot of the spawning fish are full of roe,” Walker said. “Before the full moon we were getting lot of 20-inch trout.”
SOMETHING TO TRY
To target the Spanish mackerel, head off the beaches and net some of the 3-to-4-inch scaled sardines. Try a 30-pound test leader and a 4/0 202 Eagle Claw hook that prevents the bait from getting cut as much. Walker uses 5-to-6 foot leaders so that he does not have to re-tie every time he gets cut off. The big, 26-to-28-inch Spanish he’s been getting simply dice through leaders.
CAPTAIN'S TIP
Don’t set the hook on Spanish mackerel -- simply reel. “They hit so hard and fast anyway,” Walker said. “If you jerk, you end up jerking it out of their mouth.” And Walker does not like to use braided line with Spanish mackerel – monofilament will give anglers the shock absorption they need to ensure the hooks embeds in a mack’s mouths.
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