The Silver King has signaled that fishing in the Tampa Bay Estuary is already approaching a summer pattern – about 45 days ahead of schedule!  Tarpon were numerous in recent days, with lots of fish hovering like armed drones right around the shadow line after sundown.  Mangrove snapper continued to push the limits of spring fishing history as visitors took many big fat mangos home this past week.  Various grunts and porgies are also joining in the snapper catches – especially on the artificial reefs.  What Spanish mackerel lacked in numbers, they made-up for in size, as some anglers continued to take a few fish deep into the 20″+ size class on each outing.  Jacks, bluefish and ladyfish are all around in solid numbers and are providing both culinary & bait options to visitors depending on their preference.

The Skyway Piers are already seeing a wide range of size & species diversity in the preferred live bait options available for catching at the piers.  Multiple size classes of scaled sardines and threadfin herring are already present, providing a wide array of live and cut bait options for visiting anglers.  Scaled sardines (whitebait) are much easier to keep alive in a bait bucket or bait tank with a basic pump than are herring.  Smaller sardines are great for snapper and the larger ones can catch everything from large mackerel to tarpon.  Threadfin herring grow larger, but are more difficult to keep alive and are best if deployed immediately upon catching.  Anglers can easily take both of these fish species with cast nets or simply by jigging sabiki-style baitfish rigs along the pilings.

Scaled sardines and threadfin herring are both great cut bait options and there are two maxims to keep in mind.  Sardines are generally a firmer-fleshed species that are tougher to get off the hook.  Herring are a softer (but oilier-fleshed) fish that are easier to get off the hook.  At times the strong scent of cut threadfins will outperform sardines, and at other times you will want the ‘holding power’ of a sardine to hook more fish.  Experimentation is the only way to give you the answer, but never be dismissive of either of these baitfish species.  Small or large – live or dead – chunks or belly strips – these two fish will catch almost everything that swims in Tampa Bay.  Of course the Skyway Pier bait buffet is nearly as endless as Golden Corral with pinfish, grunts, ladyfish and jacks easily caught most months of the year.  Mojarra, mullet, menhaden, bonito, ballyhoo, anchovies, spots, rays, shrimp and both blue & pass crabs are also caught during select months based upon temperature and tidal variations.

Tarpon were the angling highlight this past week as many anglers jumped more than 5 fish during a single fishing session.  Buck tail jigs in a variety of sizes, colors and designs all took fish.  Whites and glows were the most popular, but many had streaks of green, blue, red or orange in the pattern.  Some anglers thought they got more strikes by adding a plastic curly tail to their jig while others said they had plenty of hits just ‘going naked’.  Tarpon would poke their heads out in the light line near almost every piling.  Look for them to always point their nose to the tide – unless they are simply looping around to reposition.  This means to fish the Gulf side on the incoming tide and Bay side on the outgoing tide if you are fishing pier pilings.  If you fish main bridge pilings, some breaks with very large piling clusters are significant enough to hold fish against the opposite tides as recommended above.   Landing a tarpon at the piers is very difficult given the proximity to structure and the tidal flows.  Most anglers are happy with lots of ‘jumps & dumps’ or a photo of the fish still in the water before breaking it off.  Always consult current Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) rules & regulations before any actual landing and/or handling of a tarpon.

While the mangrove snapper bite has been way ahead of schedule this season, so too are many nice species of grunts & porgies that inhabit the artificial reefs that line the fishing piers.  Although mangrove snapper seem just as happy relating to main bridge & pier pilings as to artificial reefs, the larger grunts & porgies definitely have an affinity to the reefs.  Smaller specimens of these species are often caught amongst the pilings, but the larger ones that make fine fillets are best fished on an outgoing tide along the reefs.  The same 1″ cut chunks of scaled sardines or threadfin herring will take grunts & porgies, but freshly cut squid or small shrimp might be an even better attractor.  These species are among the finest eating fish in the Gulf, so do not be disappointed if they help you fill your fish fry cooler.  Your family and guests will rave about the culinary qualities of these fish.

Paul Bristow
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