Skyway Report, Paul Bristow 5/6/2016

Heavy winds & rain pushed through the Tampa Bay Region over the past week, but anglers employing the right tactics still found success at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers.  Spanish mackerel were available for anglers willing to find the clearest water available on each fishing pier, and some limits were taken towards the end of the week.  Mangrove snapper & spotted seatrout remained on a solid bite for visitors fishing the reefs & pilings.  Sharks are around in good numbers, and they range from smaller specimens suited for light tackle all the way up to monsters that require roller-guides & fighting belts.  Snook are still active in the shallow approach sections and some nice flounder have been taken by anglers in these areas as well.  With water clarity & baitfish activity improving, look for an outstanding upcoming bite on many species.

Anglers are wise to change tactics for mackerel when strong winds & rain cloud the waters of Tampa Bay.  As long as the proper water clarity & salinity can be found, mackerel will generally remain in any area rich with baitfish, but they will generally seek out the cleanest water available.  As a result, the baitfish schools are one guide for where the best mackerel action can be found, but baitfish will sometimes use the cloudy water to hide from the always-hunting mackerel.  Fishing the edges of clear versus cloudy water that are easily spotted from the height of the piers can be very productive.  A variety of tactical changes in the presentation of baits & lures can also help put more mackerel in the cooler in tough water conditions.

Speed is often critical in mackerel fishing, and slightly slowing down the retrieve can mean extra macks in cloudy water.  In addition, imparting a jigging / sweeping motion into traditional favorites like Gotcha plugs & spoons can give fish a longer zone of attack.  Color changes to gold, white or chartreuse over silver can sometimes help as well.  If anglers are seeing fish swipe at the lure or bait without connecting, it is likely time to consider either alternating the retrieve or changing color.  Nylon jigs, pompano jigs and mackerel trees shine in this scenario because all can easily be fished more slowly (and in multiple colors) without loosing any of their inherent fish-attracting characteristics.  Strip belly baits of scaled sardines and threadfin herring fished on a long shark hook with a split-shot sinker can also simply be raised & lowered in the tidal pull with great effectiveness in cloudy water.  This cut bait / jigging method was absolutely deadly over the past week.

Great numbers of blacktip, sharpnose and bonnethead sharks are being taken by anglers fishing cut bait, shrimp or squid on light to medium class tackle.  This is simple fishing – even for anyone new to the piers.  It is often quite exciting for youngsters looking to catch their first shark.  Pinfish, pigfish, sardines and herring are all plentiful cut bait choices.  Bait can either be purchased at the piers, or easily caught by using sabiki-style baitfish rigs and tipping them with small bits of squid or shrimp.  Indeed, many families say their kids enjoy catching the bait as much as the sharks.  Sharks are plentiful enough right now that any basic light wire (or even heavy monofilament) rig will work well throughout the entire summer.  Most sharks caught using these tactics are only in the 2 ft. – 3 ft. range and thus are easily handled by most visitors.