Capt. Philip Watson
There is no doubt about it, Spring is here! The fish of the month are kingfish and Spanish mackerel. These fish will load up on any piece of hardbottom, ledge, or wreck. All you have to do is find the bait and you will find the fish. Typically, kingfish aren’t picky about what they eat. My favorite is a live Spanish sardine, (which usually doesn’t last long out there) but I always have great success with frozen sardine, threadfins, and risky pinfish. These fish however, can become leader shy. When your flatlines are behind the boat and not getting touched, try scaling your wire size down a little. I like to use a 30lb wire on the days when they are finicky; it will kink more on short strike and you will tie more leaders, but at least it will increase your bites. Another tactic that has a lot of success is trolling for these fish. My favorite lures to use are Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow deep divers, but your Rapala and Mann’s lures will work just the same. Planer boards and spoons work well too, especially when you’re in the thick of the school. Troll these lures around wrecks and bait balls until you get a bite and mark where you get your bites. Continue trolling that area, as they usually don’t move far or fast.
We had a particularly awesome group of anglers who were part of the FC Cincinnati Soccer team. They booked a half day trip with us in between tournaments and they had great time. We started the trip in 70’ of water on hard bottom, fishing for grouper. After a couple short fish and a few nice porgy, we moved a little deeper. We anchored on our new spot, which was a ledge in 80’ and had a nice show of snapper. We dropped baits down while I got a chum slick going and had some nice Key West grunts come up. A few minutes later the mangrove snapper turned on! We had two solid hours of fishing at this spot pulling up mangrove snapper, gag grouper, scamp grouper, Key West grunts, and porgy. Once the cooler was full, we headed east back to the dock where I cleaned and bagged their catch. The soccer team took their big bag of fillets over to a local restaurant that cooked their catch. It doesn’t get any fresher than that!
Just Kickin Back Charters
Anna Maria Island Florida
Captain Philip Watson
