Skyway Report, Paul Bristow 11/25/2016

As nice fall weather greeted the first holiday season visitors to the Tampa Bay region and the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers, many anglers were giving thanks for catching some of the finer-eating species the piers have to offer.  Grunts and porgies of several varieties were feeding heavily this past week, and this helped folks to easily fill a cooler for a post-Thanksgiving family fish fry.  Spanish and king mackerel remained spotty, but there was just enough action to keep anglers seeking a big fall mackerel for holiday season smoking interested.  Jacks, ladyfish and bluefish continued to feed in the shallows after sundown, and many anglers were able to take a mixed bag in the overnight hours.  Atlantic sharpnose, blacktip and bonnethead sharks were eating for anglers seeking these toothy-critters, and gag grouper were taking both natural and artificial baits for grouper diggers eagerly awaiting the last (and often best) month of the open season.

Grunts and porgies might be thought of as baitfish species by some bigger game anglers, but anyone who has eaten most members of these families of fishes knows they often perform much better on the table than many more glamorous catches.  These fish gather in large numbers not only amongst the pier pilings, but also on the artificial reefs that line each pier. Most of these fish are in the 3/4 lb. to 1 1/2 lb. range, but some fish landed are much larger.  Indeed, each season at the Skyway Piers will see some grunts in the 3 lb. range and some porgies that exceed 10 lbs.

One great advantage for anglers newer to saltwater fishing that are angling for grunts and porgies is that most medium-light freshwater class spinning tackle is ideal for this game.  Look for main lines in the 10 lb. – 15 lb. class and accompany them with about 20″ of 20 lb. fluorocarbon leader material.  Use either a live bait style or knocker style approach with 3/4 oz. to 1 1/2 oz. egg sinkers.  Try black nickel octopus, circle or bait holder hooks ranging from size #1 to size 2/0 depending upon the bait of choice.  Freshly cut scaled sardines, shrimp and squid all attract these eager biters.  You might get your largest fish on sardines, but cut squid strips are probably best at holding to the hook upon multiple pick-ups.  When you are seeking fillets to batter and deep fry, there are very few fish families in all of Florida that are any more mild and flaky than porgies and grunts.

Gag grouper are often at their most active levels as we approach the month of December, and this year appears to be no different.  Although many anglers fell just short of the legal length limit this past week, many gags were reported and anglers trumpeted their aggression level.  Most grouper anglers at the Skyway Piers deploy live pinfish caught at the piers on heavy conventional gear.  Pinfish are easy to procure with a sabiki-style baitfish rig and tiny bits of squid or shrimp added to the hooks for scent.  Pinfish can be kept alive in a 5 gallon bucket with an aerator pump as long as just a few fish are kept.  Free-line these fish out to the artiifiical reefs using the tide and hang on for a heavy strike.  You will be warned the strike is coming when the pinfish starts to dart in an act of nervousness.

The more aggressive gags get at the piers, the more effective that artificial lure methods of taking them become.  Casting large diving plugs on heavy spinning gear and letting the tide pull them past the reefs is a deadly method.  Once the lure crosses the reef line, a steady retrieve will bounce it along the structure and drive the grouper nuts.  If the plug foul hooks the reef, feed some extra line and the tide will often pull it out.  Most fish hook themselves because of their aggressiveness, but a quick back-up upon the strike is often needed to extract the fish from the reef.  The is some of the most intense artificial lure angling you can do from shore, and has turned many natural bait users into plug fanatics.