As weather began to turn towards a variety of frontal systems late in the week, the action seemed to pick-up dramatically at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers. Spanish mackerel were difficult to catch earlier this past week, but some faster action was finally found by mackerel hunters who put in their time towards the early evening tidal cycles. Mangrove snapper remained on a good bite for this time of the year, and grunts & porgies were also active for bottom-fishing anglers. Snook are starting to hang around the rock retaining walls near the entry point of each pier, and some nice spotted seatrout are in these areas as well. Shark fishing is picking up for larger species, with some spinner sharks & bulls joining the ever-common blacktip, sharpnose & bonnethead varieties.
Spanish mackerel were tough to take early this past week, but the fish got more consistent towards the end of the week. The baitfish schools that were absent early in the week on the South Pier were everywhere along both piers later in the week. The North Pier maintained baitfish schools throughout the week, but the mackerel bite seemed to improve later in the week there as well. Some baitfish schools will attract feeding mackerel, while others will not. Look for active sweeps through the school, jumping bait or leaping mackerel to find the best schools to target.
Silver spoons, Gotcha lures and tandem jig rigs allowed anglers to quickly eliminate unproductive areas. With an abundance of small to medium scaled sardines around the piers, many anglers then switched to live or cut baits on a long shank hook with a split-shot sinker once feeding fish were located. A combination approach of artificial lures & live or cut baits is sometimes the quickest way to get a limit of mackerel when fish are scattered along the piers. Indeed, rods with natural baits can be set with light to medium drag pressure and placed in rod holders while the angler works an artificial lure. Most of the fish simply hook themselves and the angler will be alerted when the drag starts to spin.
Mangrove snapper remain ahead of schedule, with many nice fish taken on late evening outgoing tides as the week came to a close. Live or freshly-frozen shrimp were one top choice and chunks of scaled sardines were another. Outgoing & incoming tides can both be fished for mangos at the piers, but anglers this past week were most successful on the outgoing cycles. The outgoing tide is also the easiest one to pursue snapper on the artificial reefs. If you are not getting bites from either snapper or grunts very soon after your bait hits the water, it is quite likely you are not close enough to the artificial reefs that line each fishing pier.
Shark species & sizes have begun to transition into the warm water period in the Tampa Bay region. Some of the smaller shark species are present at the piers on a year-round basis, but the arrival of good numbers of tarpon often corresponds with much larger sharks showing themselves at the Skyway Piers. Tarpon have been present for many weeks now, and anglers are beginning to pursue big sharks from the piers as well. Most anglers use conventional tackle in the 6/0 – 12/0 size range, but line capacity is the most critical element of fighting big sharks from fixed structure. Anglers using braided line with a monofilament & wire leader top-shot can get away with much smaller tackle than was previously sufficient. In addition, the lighter gear is often more fun & less tiring to handle. If looking to take a picture with a big shark at the piers, target areas nearest the approach sections so fish can be photographed & released along the retaining walls.
- The Skyway, Paul Bristow - August 24, 2018
- The Skyway, Paul Bristow - August 17, 2018
- The Skyway, Paul Bristow - August 10, 2018
