Captain’s Corner: Dave Zalewski

The gulf water temperature has reached the magical 74 to 76 degrees which signifies the height of both live bait and artificial lure trolling season for Spanish mackerel, kingfish, barracuda, bonita, and the occasional blackfin tuna and cobia. All of these species are migratory and spend their winters in the Keys and Cuba. They and the baitfish they feed on are temperature sensitive and cannot live in the cold winter water off our coast. Keeping them well iced and properly cleaning pelagic fish, with the exception of bonita, results in excellent table fare. Removing the skin and lateral line when cleaning will result in a product that can be prepared in any way that bottom fish can.

Spanish mackerel can be found throughout Tampa Bay and just inside of every pass entering the gulf, They also make easy targets on all of the artificial reefs including the mitigation reefs that run from the Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores all the way to Clearwater. Many of them are within ½ mile from shore making them readily available to small boaters and kayakers alike.

Kingfish can also be found close to the shoreline, where the big solitary females feed on the Spanish mackerel and other large assorted baitfish, The best choice for finding the “schoolie” kingfish which are much more numerous and  are in the 6 to 12 pound range is any of the artificial reefs and the shipping channel. Among our many artificial reefs the mid-water reefs, South County, Indian Shores, Rube Alyn, and Veteran’s are the best places to target both King and Spanish mackerel because of their high profile structure and size, Each of these reefs encompass a ¼ mile square of area. The structure on these reefs is scattered and both live bait and hardware trollers must concentrate their efforts to stay over the srructures.